Winners…Grinners…who cares about the scoreboard!
The East Kwaio region of Northern Malaita (one of the bigger provinces in the Solomon Islands) is known for its strong “kastom” - pijin for custom – which dictates expectations of men and women. Kastom in Northern Malaita is particularly restrictive of women, there’s just no way that women are allowed to play sports that are considered “unsuitable”. Its not surprising therefore, that the East Kwaio women’s soccer team grabbed all the headlines when they walked out for their opening match against Auki (the Provincial capital) in the recent Malaita Provincial Games.
Their involvement in the Games is thanks largely to the courage of the local school principal who heard about the Games, and its push for women’s inclusion, and immediately met with the village chiefs to request permission to form a women’s soccer team. The chiefs were initially reluctant but agreed to allow the principal to organise a meeting with parents to canvass the idea with them. To his great delight, enough parents agreed to give their daughters a go. The girls managed a crash course in soccer and in just a few weeks were on their way to Auki.
Decked out in uniforms they hired from a local club, the young women seemed unphased by the more than 200 interested women and men who were cheering, oohing and aahing their every move. No-one cared about the result, but it was clear that the crowd were curious and genuinely happy to see East Kwaio women getting involved, saying “this is the first time I’ve seen women from East Kwaio play soccer. It’s a good thing to see them here”.
The players were uncertain about whether they’d continue to play when they got home, most thought that this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity, but they thoroughly enjoyed the the moment and the memories.
The Malaita Games were part of the AusAID funded “Solomon Islands Provincial Games Project”, a joint initiative of the Australian Sports Commission and the International Women’s Development Agency. The project supports the establishment of volunteer local organising committees in each Province to coordinate the planning and delivery of multi-sport Provincial Games. The project prioritises maximum involvement by women and men from outlying villages in sports such as volleyball, netball, athletics and soccer. IWDA has been contracted to promote maximum involvement of women.
