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Yuwa (which means “youth” in the Hindi language) is the brainchild of Franz Gastler, from the Midwestern US state of Minnesota, who visited India as a business consultant in 2007. A year later, he joined an NGO and started teaching English to village children.

“I wanted to combat child marriage and illiteracy among girls,” says Gastler, now 38. “They are denied a future, simply because of their gender.”

Jharkhand has the highest rate of child marriage in India: six out of 10 girls become child brides, according to the 2011-12 Jharkhand census. Only 59 per cent of women are literate, well below the national average of 68.4 per cent, according to the National Family Health Survey 2015-16. Thousands of girls are trafficked from the state each year to become labourers or sex workers.

Gastler, a Boston University graduate, had expected to stay in Jharkhand for three months – but hasn’t left. One of the first things that struck him there was the difference in village life for boys and girls. “The boys would go out to play, while the girls worked at home and in the fields,” he says.

A student asked if he could teach her to play soccer. He agreed – if she could get a team together. That simple request set Yuwa in motion. Gastler, with three school friends, pooled enough money to launch soccer training in 2009.

Today, Yuwa is one of the largest girls’ soccer programmes in India, with 43 coaches training 460 girls from 15 villages. In 2015, the Yuwa Girls School was started, where 105 girls aged six to 18 are taught in English. Enrolment requires joining a soccer team. Coaches nominate girls for the classes and Yuwa offers scholarships to study in the school.

Yuwa girls start their day at 4.15am, walking or travelling by bus to nearby fields for daily practice from 5.30am to 7am. They attend school from 8.45am to 3pm. Most help with housework when they return home.

“When Yuwa began in 2009, most parents were not ready to let their daughters out to play. They had concerns, such as who would help with the housework, with working in the fields, or more unsettling concerns: what if the girls are trafficked?” Gastler says.

In the space of less than a year, 13 of Yuwa’s girls made it to Jharkhand’s age-group state soccer teams, and seven of those made it to the under-13 state team. Kalawati Kumari started training with Yuwa in 2009 and was selected for Jharkhand’s under-17 and under-19 teams. In 2011 she completed her training as a coach at the Tata Football Academy in Jamshedpur, a city in Jharkhand, and the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools. Today she is Yuwa’s programme coordinator.

“Before, in my village, girls were not allowed to play football. But parents and other girls see me going to Yuwa and teaching football to girls and get inspired. People now look up to me and are less hesitant to allow their daughters to go out and play,” says 24-year-old Kalawati, who earns more than her father.

Kusum says: “Before I joined Yuwa I could not speak Hindi or English. I did not know the importance of getting an education. Yuwa changed my life. I learned to play football, made new friends and started going to school regularly.

“My two older sisters got married when they were 17. I realised that I didn’t have to get married like them. I could study and become independent.”

“When the girls came to Yuwa, most of them spoke Sadri, the local language. Now they are fluent in English and Hindi. Their ability to communicate and express themselves has had a remarkable improvement. More than 30 girls have spoken at universities, conferences and TEDx events,” Thomson Gastler says.

Yuwa has allowed more than 100 girls to go overseas. In 2013 some travelled to Spain, the first team from India to take part in the Gasteiz Cup, a soccer tournament for teenagers, and won a bronze medal. They also took part in the Donosti Cup, Spain’s biggest youth football competition. In 2014 they became the first team from India to play in the USA Cup.

In 2017 and 2019, eight girls from Yuwa travelled to Spain and trained with Real Sociedad, a club in La Liga, the top flight of professional soccer there.

While the girls can pursue soccer coaching as a career, many of them dream of bigger things. Seema, a Yuwa high school student on a one-year exchange programme in the United States, wants to study software engineering. Sunita, who is in Year 10, is keen on pursuing a masters in business administration.

A few senior soccer players have started leading life skills workshops. “The biggest challenges in my community are child marriage and harassment of women. I lead workshops where we discuss issues like domestic abuse and alcoholism,” says Chanda, a Year 12 student.

“Most of the parents are illiterate and struggle to understand the benefits of an education. Seeing the Yuwa girls become coaches and travel overseas has made things a bit easier.”

Yuwa won the Nike Game Changers award for 2011 and the Laureus Sport for Good Award this year for using soccer to transform girls’ lives. Yuwa is raising funds for a new school campus, which will have a college preparatory academy, sports facilities and dormitories to provide a safe place to live and study. The school aims to educate 300 girls a year, half of whom will board there.

“The girls still face many challenges, but they have become better fighters. When girls realise their self worth, they are limitless,” Gastler says. “Society tells girls to fit in. Yuwa teaches girls to stand out.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: ­A whole new ball game

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