Vida Opoku-Agyemang, a Ghanaian based in Australia, has urged football authorities to support women’s football.
The registered nurse was speaking at the 2022 Refugee Week in Australia, where six African countries competed in a football tournament, including Ghana.
Opoku-Agyemang who left Ghana to pursue her dreams, featured for the West Africans who were eliminated by eventually champions Sierra Leone.
“Growing up in Africa, women are not supposed to play ball. You are expected to help your mum in the kitchen; cooking, cleaning… Girls are supposed to do, ‘girls’ stuff’ not play sport,” explained Opoku-Agyemang.
“Due to that, getting family support is difficult, even when you are good. I had a family member tell me to stop playing football because nothing could come of it, which was discouraging.
“I also come from a poor background, so I didn’t have boots or a jersey,” Opoku-Agyemang continued.
“I remember countless times where I played barefoot or without shin pads and was injured many times, but if you love the game, you love the game. Football is everything, it’s part of my identity nobody can take away from me.”
“I hope the African Women’s Cup is scouted for players because I believe we have some great, quality players who are capable of playing in the A-League Women’s,” she said
“We need more opportunities to showcase what we can do. It’s sad to see talent go to waste because of a lack of opportunities, but the fact that there is NSW African Women’s Cup shows how much the game has changed.
“We have many girls of African heritage who are good players. A competition like this definitely opens up opportunities for those of us who have been working really hard and that’s exciting.”
