Yuwa uses girls’ team sports as a platform for social development in rural India. Yuwa is one of the largest girls’ football programs in India, with 250 players, 150 of whom practice daily. In 2009

Franz Gastler Franz Gastler (born in 1982 in Edina, Minnesota) is an American social activist, teacher and football coach who works primarily in India. He is the co-founder and executive director of non-government organisation (NGO) Yuwa-India. Early life an ...

founded Yuwa with the financial help of his high school friends, Greg Deming, Stephen Peterson, and Erik Odland, to use football as a platform to combat

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...

illiteracy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

and

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

among girls in rural India. Hutup Yuwa School 1

Details

History

Vision statement: 'Yuwa, which means "youth" in Hindi, works specifically with girls from impoverished families in rural

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

, India—a place where girls are at risk of child marriage and human trafficking. It is a program that uses team sports and education to build character, confidence, and courage. It is a place where girls who don't yet know their worth can meet to compete, achieve goals, and create brighter futures. Yuwa prepares girls to break the cycle of poverty—permanently' (Yuwa About). Franz Gastler has given TEDx talks on "Sports to promote confidence in women" (2012), "The Girl Effect" (2013) and with Rinky Kumari "Yuwa - How football can change lives" (2015). The program was featured as a Microsoft Edge Partner, November 16, 2017, highlighting the new Yuwa web page. The News & Media page has a list of media articles describing Yuwa.

Donosti Cup football tournament

Participation in the 2013 tournament helped Yuwa achieve recognition in India. Their participation in the 2016 tournament in Spain was featured in a short series of four videos by the Bollywood star

Ranbir Kapoor Ranbir Kapoor (; born 28 September 1982) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi-language films. He is one of the highest-paid actors of Hindi cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. Kapoor is the rec ...

. They were the second team invited to the 2018 25th Anniversary tournament.

Awards

Yuwa won th
Laureus
Sport for Good Award in 2019.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.yuwa-india.org/ Sports organisations of India Rural development in India Women's sports organizations