Without the organisation TYSA, Pascilia Naloka would not have been the woman she is today – and as a coach and mentor she now passes her skills on. Seeing girls that come in with little self confidence change into self-conscious people is what she does it for. ‘If you get discouraged or insulted, always keep on believing in yourself.’
Pascilia started playing football the way many African players do – even the most famous stars: with a ball made from paper. Behind the house she grew up in, there was a small playing field on which she would always play football with other children and her brothers and sister. ‘I was brought up with football’, she says, ‘and that made me into the woman I am today.’
It was even possible for the Kenyan Naloka to finish high school thanks to her talent in football, as she received a scholarship in return for playing for the school football team. ‘We had to pay half of my tuition ourselves, the rest was taken care of by the school.’
She comes from a family with a modest background, she explains so herself. Her father passed away when she was young, and it was her mother who raised the family – consisting of three boys and two girls – alone. Pascilia is the youngest and still lives at home, with her mother.
‘My brothers and sister were also crazy about football’, she continues. ‘This was because of our father. He was not only a footballer, but also a coach and a referee. He passed on that passion onto his children. My older brother Francis is even a qualified FIFA coach and does many assignments for the KNVB, the Dutch football association.’
Collecting firewood
Since she comes from a true football family, and she wanted to honour the memory of her husband who passed away, Pascilia’s mother always stimulated them to do sports. ‘This was also because my father was able to maintain our family through football’, she says. ‘Since I was little, my mother was always convinced the sports field brought nothing but good. She always stimulated me to go after my passion for sports.’
This is not self-evident, she adds to that. ‘There are also families that do not encourage their daughters to play sports, because they think they will drop out of school, or become pregnant at a young age due to spending much time together with men around the sports field, or because they think it is the duty of a girl to get firewood and watch their little brothers and sisters.’
When she was fifteen, Naloka came into contact with Transforming Young Stars of Africa (TYSA), an organisation in the city Kitale, in Kenya. The organisation was founded by the charismatic sports pedagogue Francis Gichuki and has as a philosophy talent development among children and youth, particularly through football and artistic expression.
TYSA works from the idea that social transformation of individuals also leads to change in the community. When you create safe spaces for youth in which they can come together, such as a football field, and the youth gets the opportunity to take part in decision making processes, you can change society in a positive manner.
Naloka will never forget the moment she signed up for TYSA’s activities. ‘My older brother Francis was already involved, which is how I learned about them. I started doing volunteering and got the opportunity to do courses and trainings. Now I am a coach, referee and mentor to young girls and boys.’
Play, learn and do
It continues being volunteering, which she mainly does on the weekends. She earns her living as a farmer, by cultivating corn and beans, and through her own catering company. Naloka mainly cooks for groups when there are events organised in the neighbourhood. ‘Especially my chapati’s enjoy a certain level of fame’, she says laughingly.
During the conversation, Naloka speaks so passionately about TYSA’s impact – among others also on her own life. ‘Without TYSA, I would not have become the person I am today, I would have gotten married and had children at a young age, as many other girls do. Thanks to TYSA, I was able to travel abroad, to Canada and to the Women’s World Cup in France last summer. During that tournament, I was even a delegation leader for a group of young Kenyans. I am very grateful to the organisation for this opportunity.’
‘Als around me’, she continues, ‘I see many youth whose life has been positively influenced by the sports activities we organise. We integrate sports with life skills and include game tactics in which we teach youth and children about decision making and how to make decisions themselves.
‘We train youth in how to stand before a group and to speak in public. That leads to self-consciousness and self-confidence, as you have to be brave to do that. Youth that are active within our organisation, are able to make informed decisions for themselves and think outside existing frameworks. Our slogan is: play, learn and do.’
As their sisters
The groups with whom Naloka works as a coach, exists from both girls and boys. Does she see obstacles for girls to participate? Naloka thinks for a moment and says: ‘The biggest fear that girls have to do joint sports, is being afraid that boys play too rough. Physically the boys instill fear, especially in the adolescent age. For example, girls do not want to be a goalie because they are afraid the boys will shoot the balls too hard.
‘We ask boys to take this into consideration and to not play too rough. In the beginning, the boys were not too happy about that and also not very enthusiastic about playing football with girls, but as time moved on, an increased family sense was created and they started seeing the girls as their ‘sisters’, on whom you should not be too rough. And they see that girls can certainly play football, and that is is fun to play together.’
Are there specific hindrances for female coaches or mentors in their work? Naloka starts laughing. ‘Firstly, there are far less female coaches than male coaches, that is a fact. Some people still believe the stereotype that a coach has to be a man, and that this kind of work can only be done by a man.’
‘They think that female coaches are weak and they cannot make any decisions; they think that women cannot think in the interest of the team. The only way to surpass these prejudices, is by working hard and showing you know what you are talking about.’
‘If you get discouraged or insulted, always believe in yourself; then you always have to develop yourself and convince yourself you will manage. Eventually, you will also win the respect of the men. Besides from that, best is to distance yourself from the prejudices and continue doing what you are good in.’
Naloka does not feel youth treat her different than a male coach. ‘It is about how you communicate with them. To me, the children listen really well – both the boys and the girls. They also see me as a role model, since I have been working with them for a longer period of time and they feel equal to me.’
‘With adolescents it is sometimes a bit more difficult. When you look at my physique, you can see I am small. Youth often think I am much younger than they are – sometimes that means it takes a bit more time to gain their trust.’
Hold your ground
Pascilia Naloka gets the most satisfaction out of seeing the girls that come into TYSA with little self-confidence, change into self-conscious people with high levels of self-confidence: that is precisely the transformation TYSA is all about.
‘I have seen so many great examples, especially girls that have been training with us for quite some time. At school, their grades improve and they get compliments from their teachers. The great thing is that teachers also recognise the positive developments that are made possible thanks to TYSA. The girls often get leadership roles at school. And the parents are happy with their children’s character.’
Naloka wishes to remain active within TYSA and being a role model for the young people that come to the organisation. ‘I want to continue to guide them and see them grow into valuable pillars of the community.’ For herself, she would like to expand her catering activities, beyond the community.
Does she have advice for the community sports coaches in the Netherlands? ‘This links to what I said before: stay strong and retain your confidence. You can only gain the trust and confidence of a group of youth by holding your ground in your decisions.’