Our Executive Director sat down with Bossan U-13 Coach Marie Flore after her team won our Spring tournament championship. Here is what Marie Flore had to say:

“I started to play soccer when I was 12 years old. During that time there was not a lot of girls playing soccer. We would play barefoot by kicking around whatever we could find, even a can. After that I looked for opportunities to play in the area. In Leogane the team to play for was Anacaona and I joined them as their goalkeeper.

I was selected by the Haiti National team and was their goalkeeper for 7 years. I left playing professionally when my mom became ill as I had to takeover caring for the household. When GOALS came into the area I started volunteering with the young girls team. I wanted to help other girls play soccer.

Because of GOALS I was trained and certified by the Haitian National Football Federation as a coach. I have been a coach for GOALS since 2014.

GOALS helps kids to stay motivated and occupied in positive activities. Bossan is a village made up of families that are related. It is a rural fishing village and before GOALS soccer and other sports were not part of daily life.

The kids love to play soccer and take part in the other activities of GOALS such as recycling and the community garden.

A lot of talent would be wasted if GOALS was not in our community. We now have 12 kids from Bossan that have been recruited to the Haiti Youth National League. They would not have been nurtured and discovered without the program of GOALS.”

Congratulations to Marie Flore and her team for winning the championship in their division. To see pictures from the tournament check out our Facebook album.