Giving Girls Their Own ‘Field of Dreams’

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At my elementary school in Guatemala last year, soccer fields, basketball courts and baseball diamonds were dominated by boys and a handful of brave, tough girls.

In response to this, I proposed designating the first recess as a girls-only soccer time to introduce the sport to some who had not played. No boys allowed—and during the offsetting lunch recess, the boys would have exclusive access to the soccer field. I’d hoped to borrow an idea from the classic movie Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.”

Well, we built it, but they didn’t come. Day after day, I stood military-like fending off boys from the soccer field and trying to solicit girls to play. The girls continued skipping rope or playing on the playground equipment. A week went by. Then ten days. Other teachers started to grumble—“The boys are getting into trouble. Why don’t we let them play soccer during both recesses?” I began to worry. Why weren’t the girls coming? Why didn’t they want to play?

Finally, some two weeks into the experiment, a handful of girls ventured out. But I encountered some unfamiliar sports concerns. My soccer players fussed over the colored mesh jerseys until recess was nearly over. One player cried about getting kicked in the shins. And there was more crying about some girls saying they are better than others. What had I got myself into?

While the students familiar with the game of soccer also understood more about competition—winners and losers, my girls were neophytes.

So instead of abandoning the project because the girls weren’t getting along, I decided to put some structures into place. This included building in debriefing time to talk about issues that came up on the field. We talked about how losing a game to a friend hurts beyond the end of the game. We also talked about how to be a gracious winner and a good loser. Most ideas came from problems that arose on the field, but I found great conversation starters in “Gender Doesn't Limit You.”

My experiment lasted from October to June. Some girls are still playing. Others have kicked a soccer ball for the first time during girl soccer time. They innocently giggle as they feel the rush of playing a new sport. The adage is right, if you build it, eventually, they will come.

Turner is an international literacy coach. She is now based in Malaysia, teaching first grade.