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Nicole Matuska is a freelance sports development consultant working with the British Council, the Premier League, and L’Association Marocaine Sport et Développement in Casablanca. Her independent project, the Women’s Leadership through Sports Initiative, Morocco, is funded by various non-governmental organization, foundations, and the US Embassy. She first arrived in Morocco in 2006 as a US Fulbright scholar, researching women’s football and filming a documentary on the same topic. Nicole graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois with a degree in Journalism and International Studies in 2006.
Several months ago on a Tuesday afternoon, a local girls football team was practicing on a dirt field in Sidi Moumen, a notorious 350,000-person shantytown on the outskirts of Casablanca, Morocco. A crowd of boys had gathered along the fence. One of the boys began making comments. “Look at her touch on the ball,” he mumbled to his friend, “where did she learn to play football?” “My five-year old brother has better control,” shot back the other, slapping his friend’s hand and laughing.
