Monday, February 13

Dharavi Girl Sees A Chance To London Olympics 2012

Mumbai, India: All she needs is a few clicks from you and those in your networks. Gulafsha, who has been on the Magic Bus programme for a long time now, is participating in the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy (JFSLA) contest.


The Choose to Matter contest, driven by McDonald’s, the Century Council and Girl Talk, is an initiative that would allow the winners to attend the London Olympics 2012 and meet participating athletes and kids from around the world, in addition to sightseeing and visiting Olympics venues in UK.


Gulafsha, who has been already voted for by 1600+ people, comes from an extremely underprivileged background. However, the sporting spirit in her has taken her far ahead in the recent past, where she was one of the members of the soccer teams of girls selected to attend the a training camp at JFSLA’s California campus. Returning home then, she said, “It’s about leadership qualities – how to communicate with other people? How to be confident? It’s about how to stand up.”

Today, she has come to the contest with a goal of getting every girl from my community out of their houses and onto the playing field. “I would love to see each and every girl getting the opportunity to play and excel in any sport if they are capable”, she says. She initially faced with a lot of opposition, but eventually managed to convince a few parents and elders to send their daughters and granddaughters out to play in an organized environment.

Gulafsha also managed to get her family’s support for project which brightly flashes ‘Empowering girls through the medium of sport in my home in Mumbai, India; getting girls out of their community and giving them a chance to play’. She feels that she has definitely made a few people think and change their attitude and outlook towards girls at least in my community.



The young footballer is very hopeful of making it to the London Games later this year. Magic Bus is supporting her in every possible way and looking forward to her being there with the players for the biggest event of the year!

To support Gulafsha, login to the Choose to Matter contest website and cast your vote there. Please like / recommend and tweet for them through your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Bringing riches from poorest India is a video-story on ESPN telling more about the training camp at San Jose.
Photo courtesy: ESPN / JFSLA

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