Footprints Foundation’s mission is to empower disadvantaged youth, with a focus on marginalized girls, by implementing school-based programs that create opportunities around education, sports, and personal development. The organization has positively impacted more than a million beneficiaries, fostered micro-enterprises, and established key partnerships for sustainable community resilience.
In many rural and disadvantaged communities across South Africa, girls face intersecting challenges of gender inequality, limited access to structured sport, and a lack of safe spaces for personal growth. Poverty, cultural norms, and geographic isolation often restrict opportunities for leadership, education, and economic participation. As a result, girls are disproportionately vulnerable to early school dropout, gender-based violence, teen pregnancy, and exclusion from decision-making spaces.
With support from the Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund, Footprints Foundation will implement its Girls, Gender, and Footgolf program. Footgolf blends football and golf, and the sport requires minimal infrastructure and is easier to implement in open rural spaces. The program breaks structural barriers, builds personal and community capacity, and creates lasting pathways for rural girls to thrive. All activities integrate life skills training, gender-based violence prevention, health education, and leadership workshops. Local women and youth will be trained as coaches, referees, and program managers. Girls will also participate in regional, national, and eventually international tournaments, giving them access to new opportunities and global exposure.
Footprints Foundation anticipates reaching 9,000 adolescent girls and more than 5,000 additional community members, including parents, educators, coaches, and local leaders through this project. The organization hopes that every girl, whether from a rural village or an underserved urban area, will have the opportunity to become a role model, community changemaker, and future leader on and off the field.
To learn more about Footprints Foundation, please visit the organization’s website and social media pages:
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