Asisat Oshoala, four-time African Footballer of the Year and FC Barcelona Femení star, announces the launch of the ‘Asisat Oshoala Academy,’ (AOA) in partnership with Nike and Women Win.
AOA is designed to provide access to football and lifeskills for marginalized schoolgirls in Lagos.
The Academy is the latest initiative of Asisat that will build upon her mission of providing access to sport and education for young girls in her community.
“I have always strived to give back to the girl child in my community and I believe this football academy will provide opportunities for more girls to excel through the combination of sport and education. I want to thank our partners Women Win and Nike for helping bring this platform to life. Together we can go further and achieve a lot more” Oshoala stated.
The Asisat Oshoala Foundation, established in 2015, will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the academy. Women Win, the Amsterdam-based global women’s fund dedicated to advancing girls and women’s rights, will bring their expertise to the Academy’s development.
“Women Win is very proud and excited to be partnering with our longtime partner Nike, Asisat and the Asisat Oshoala Academy to leverage the power of sport to support girls in Nigeria to become better equipped to exercise their rights. This partnership and program will be key in ensuring girls can thrive as they face the most pressing issues of adolescence and realise their inherent leadership potential.” Yvonne Henry, Women Win, Brands Director declared.
AOA will provide 30 girls (age 12 – 18) with access to 90 mins of football training three times a week. The program will be complimented with life skills education covering a range of empowerment and rights-based topics. Graduates from the academy will be encouraged to convert their leadership skills to make a positive impact in their respective communities.
In addition to the weekly programming, the Academy will host 4 ‘She Plays’ events a year. These events will broaden the reach of the academy’s activities and will host up to 100 schoolgirls, aged 12 to 18 years, every session.
The Asisat Oshoala Foundation
The Asisat Oshoala Foundation, which was launched in 2015, is a non-governmental, nonprofit organisation, established with a mission to Give hope to the girl child through education and sports.
Born of a passion for mentoring young girls to embrace education while aspiring for success through sports, the Foundation has frequently collaborated with partners at home and abroad to bring the vision to actualisation, including the Lagos state government, pan-African pharmaceutical company Emzor, and African Children’s Talent Discovery Foundation (ACTDF). It holds an annual ‘Football4girls’ tournament in Lagos, Nigeria.
Women Win
Women Win is a global women’s fund guided by the vision of a future where every girl and woman exercises their rights. As part of its GRLS initiative, Women Win and its global portfolio of local implementing partners advance the playing field that empowers adolescent girls, young women and gender non-conforming people through sport and play. Their intra and cross sector collaborations with a wide variety of grassroots women’s organisations, corporations, development organisations, sport bodies and government agencies are essential in achieving the GRLS mission.
Nike
We believe in the transformative power of sport to help move the world forward and create change. To help create a more equitable and inclusive world, we’re tackling systemic inequality through our commitment to getting kids active and building inclusive communities. We’re empowering adults to welcome all kids to play through community partnerships and coaching resources. And we’re teaming up with organizations and our employees around the world – to rewrite the playbook so everyone can win in life.
