Yuwa is a girls' football program in India. It uses girls' team sports as a platform for social development in rural India. [1] It is one of the largest programs, with 250 players, 150 of whom practice daily. [2] In 2009, Franz Gastler 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, illiteracy and human trafficking among girls in rural India. [3] [4]
Vision statement: 'Yuwa, which means "youth" in Hindi, works specifically with girls from impoverished families in rural Jharkhand, 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). [5]
Franz Gastler has given TEDx talks on "Sports to promote confidence in women" (2012), [6] "The Girl Effect" (2013) [7] and with Rinky Kumari "Yuwa - How football can change lives" (2015). [8]
The program was featured as a Microsoft Edge Partner, November 16, 2017, [9] highlighting the new Yuwa web page. The News & Media page has a list of media articles describing Yuwa. [10]
Participation in the 2013 tournament helped Yuwa achieve recognition in India. [11] Their participation in the 2016 tournament in Spain was featured in a short series of four videos [12] by the Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor. They were the second team invited to the 2018 25th Anniversary tournament. [13]
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 is the 15th largest state by area, and the 14th largest by population. Hindi is the official language of the state. The city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka its sub-capital. The state is known for its waterfalls, hills and holy places; Baidyanath Dham, Parasnath, Dewri and Rajrappa are major religious sites. Jharkhand is primarily rural, with about 24% of its population living in cities.
Child marriage is a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, between a child and an adult, or between a child and another child.
Marcel Desailly is a French former professional footballer, capable of playing as both centre-back or defensive midfielder. During a successful career at club level, lasting from 1986 to 2006, Desailly won several titles, including UEFA Champions League medals with both Marseille and AC Milan, and also played for Nantes and Chelsea, among other teams. At international level, he collected 116 caps between 1993 and 2004, scoring three goals, and was a member of the France international squads that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation founding patrons Daimler and Richemont. It is supported by its global partners Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. The awards support the work of Laureus Sport for Good, which supports over 160 community projects in more than 40 countries. These programmes aim to use the power of sport to end violence, discrimination and disadvantage, and prove that sport has the power to change the world. The name "Laureus" is derived from the Greek word for laurel, considered a traditional symbol of victory in athletics.
Arjun Munda is an Indian politician. He is the former Minister of Tribal Affairs and Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare in the Second Modi ministry. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was also Chief Minister of the Indian state of Jharkhand. He has also served as a member of parliament, having been elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the Jamshedpur constituency in the 2009 parliamentary elections. The BJP has appointed him as one of the general secretary of the party.
The Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of those individuals or teams who have made a breakthrough performance in the world of sports. It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the seven constituent awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards. The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people. The first ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech. As of 2020, a shortlist of six nominees for the award comes from a panel composed of the "world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters". The Laureus World Sports Academy then selects the individual winner or winning team who is presented with a Laureus statuette, created by Cartier, at an annual awards ceremony held in various locations around the world. The awards are considered highly prestigious and are frequently referred to as the sporting equivalent of "Oscars".
The Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year is an award honouring the achievements of those teams who have demonstrated "supreme performance" in the world of sports. It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the seven constituent awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards. The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people. The first ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech. As of 2020, a shortlist of six nominees for the award comes from a panel composed of the "world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters". The Laureus World Sports Academy then selects the winner who is presented with a Laureus statuette, created by Cartier, at an annual awards ceremony held in various locations around the world. The awards are considered highly prestigious and are frequently referred to as the sporting equivalent of "Oscars".
The Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is a prestigious international inter-school football tournament that is held in New Delhi, India. The tournament held annually since 1960, is named after the Indian Air Force Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee. It is the oldest national school football tournament in India and was instituted to promote and encourage the sport at the grassroots level in the country. Students from different countries across Asia participate in this tournament, making it one of the more noteworthy school-level football competitions.
Binita Toppo is an Indian former field hockey player who played for the India women's field hockey team. She played with the team when it won the Gold at the 2004 Women's Hockey Asia Cup. Toppo is currently employed with Western Railways.
Robin Singh is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for I-League 3 club Sporting Club Bengaluru.
The Street Child World Cup is a football tournament organized by charity Street Child United that unites street-connected children from five continents ahead of the FIFA World Cup. The tournament provides a platform to champion the rights of street children – the right to identity, the right to protection from violence, and the right to education – and challenge the negative perceptions and treatment of street children around the world. Each event is hosted by the country of the same upcoming FIFA World Cup. Previous hosts include South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar.
Child marriage in India, according to the Indian law, is a marriage where the woman and man both are younger than 21 years of age respectively. Most child marriages involve women, many of whom are poor socio-economic conditions.
Dr. Rashmi Tiwari is the Founder and Director of the Aahan Foundation for Social Change India, working to dismantle the machinery of trafficking. She is Fellow of Vital Voices (USA), Fellow of SIMP and a Certified Leadership Coach from NeuroLeadership Institute.
Bride buying in India is the practice of forced arranged marriages through human trafficking. Brides are commonly referred to as "paro" or "molki" within this framework. The brides are sold by their parents to human traffickers who transport and sell them within relatively wealthier regions of Northern India. The desire for a male child and subsequent female infanticide has resulted in a significantly lowered sex ratio within India, creating an abundance of unmarried men in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Western UP. These men resort to purchasing inter-region women from impoverished communities mainly to continue their family lineage. The key motivation for low-income families to sell their daughter is to receive financial compensation and avoid having to pay a dowry. Major sources are the impoverished parts of Northeast India (Assam), Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh.
The Laureus Sport for Good Award is an award honouring the achievements of those who have demonstrated "tremendous contribution to sport or to society through sport". It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the inaugural awards presented during the Laureus World Sports Awards. The awards are presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organisation involved in more than 150 charity projects supporting 500,000 young people. The first ceremony was held on 25 May 2000 in Monte Carlo, at which Nelson Mandela gave the keynote speech. The recipient is presented with a Laureus statuette, created by Cartier, at an annual awards ceremony held in various locations around the world. Although the Laureus Awards ceremony is held annually, the Sport for Good Award is not necessarily presented every time; it is one of a number of discretionary awards that can be given by the Laureus World Sports Academy.
The Special Area Games Scheme is a sports promotion scheme of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) that is designed to identify and train sports persons from the communities in the tribal, rural, hilly and coastal regions of the country who are considered to exhibit natural physical aptitude for sporting events. The programme was started in 1986 by the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Government of India but was suspended six years later in 1993 and was not resumed until 2014.
Thunderstrock Festival is a heavy metal music festival which takes place in Ranchi of Jharkhand, India. Thunderstrock is a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and charity concert and its idea is to support and encourage the live bands along with the hard rock and heavy metal music listeners of Ranchi and the state of Jharkhand in India. Simultaneously, the idea is to donate the income generated from the sale of tickets to groups working for the welfare of society.
Franz Gastler 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.
India is the most populated country in the world with nearly a fifth of the world's population. According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects the population stood at 1,407,563,842.
The Junior Girl's National Football Championship, is an Indian football girls tournament held for under 19 players. The competition is held every year between the teams representing state associations of India under AIFF. The tournament was instituted by the AIFF in 2001 with the first edition held at Goa.