Five Judge Memorial CHS soccer players to spend Christmas break helping girls in India

Friday, Dec. 23, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — Just after Christmas, five Judge Memorial Catholic High School girls will travel halfway around the world to play soccer and, at the same time, benefit their peers in India through a program called Goals for Girls. 

In India, as in many countries around the world, soccer is more than just a sport. It is a powerful way to connect with others from far-flung corners of the world, said Jackie Skinner, co-founder of Goals for Girls, an international program whose goal is to allow girls help other girls through soccer, according to the organization’s website, goalsforgirls.org.

Not only do the American players travel to India in order to share their love of soccer with the local girls, but they will get to talk with them and help brainstorm ideas to improve the Indian girls’ conditions and standing in their respective communities, said Skinner.

At the annual Leadership Summit, American and Indian girls will sit down and help plan projects to benefit Indian communities and work to change stereotypes about women in India.

Some of the girls from India have dealt with horrible experiences at a young age, Skinner said. The girls who play soccer with the Goals for Girls team are “war-torn,” she said. Some of the Indian girls attending this year recently were rescued from the sex trade, sold into it as child brides or as slaves, Skinner said.

Being able to reach out and help these girls through the Goals for Girls program will allow the Judge Memorial students who participate “to practice what we preach,” said Cassidie Nelson, coach of the JMCHS girls’ soccer team. 

Nelson strongly encouraged her players to sign up for Goals for Girls. “I told the girls that I thought they’d be good for this program. They’re leaders,” she said. 

To participate in the Goals for Girls program, each girl was required to raise $4,000 before the end of the year.

JMCHS sophomore Jillian Nelson said she loved the idea of empowering other girls, no matter the cost. She asked for donations online, held a yard sale and sold cookies to raise the money she needed.

“Girls that don’t get as much as us need to know that they are still just as great, just as beautiful,” Jillian said.

In addition to the money that each individual girl raised, JMCHS hosted several events to help fund the overall trip. These events included a school-wide yard sale and a fundraising soccer clinic for local refugee girls.

“Judge Memorial has been pivotal in helping (my organization),” said Skinner. “I’m forever grateful to Judge.”

On Dec. 27, the five girls from JMCHS, as well as eight other girls from other Utah high schools who are participating in the project, will fly to India. Goals for Girls has booked the third largest stadium in the country, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, for the girls to play in and where the leadership summit will be held. Afterwards, a New Year’s Eve party will be held on Dec. 31, where the American girls can celebrate with the local people.

“(Girls) are just as smart, just as strong, just as powerful as anyone else,” Nelson said. “And you can always change your situation.”