Mariline joined the GOALS program at age 6. Now at age 18 she has gone on to play soccer with the Haitian National League. We spoke with Marline about her journey.
“I currently play for the Leogane Exafoot soccer club in Haiti, and I play for Haiti's National team. The GOALS coaches: Jerson, Elbrane, and Nadege all helped me so that I was able to play soccer on a professional level.
As a current professional soccer player, GOALS has contributed a lot to where I am at today in my professional career. For example, it was GOALS that taught me how to play soccer. Before joining GOALS, I did not know how to play soccer and because I was a girl, I was not allowed to play sports. GOALS changed that.
Being a young woman playing soccer for my country and traveling all over the world means a lot to me. I feel proud of myself that GOALS has put me in a position to be able to represent my country with pride and dignity.
What I learned in the programs of GOALS as a child has helped me a lot in life. For example, GOALS taught me sex education and what I learned in those sessions is the reason why I am not prematurely pregnant.
My advice to young girls that are playing soccer, is to not give up on school and soccer. You have to fight and keep fighting in order to be successful. There are so many kids, especially young girls that don't have the opportunity to play and learn soccer.
The first time my family saw me play soccer they were not happy, and they said young girls are not supposed to play soccer. It was extremely difficult for me to play soccer because my family did not like the idea of me playing any sports. It is when I started to get older, and my soccer skills were developing more that they started to change their mind. Still, it was a difficult and challenging process but with perseverance, I succeeded.
My success was unbelievable to my family. They never thought that my soccer skills could've taken me to a level where I would be playing soccer all over the world. They are so proud of me now.
Everyone in my community enjoys seeing me. Seeing a young woman playing professional soccer from my community, it makes a lot of people proud. I know for sure that I inspire more young girls to want to follow in my footsteps.
I believe one of the biggest obstacles that keeps young girls from playing soccer is a lack of self-confidence in themselves. GOALS has made it more acceptable for young girls to play soccer. We now have lots of young girls that are talented in playing soccer in my community.
There are still lots of people in my community that think young girls should not play soccer, but I feel that number is decreasing because of the examples that others and I have proved. We are showing we can play soccer on an international level. This is also why I feel GOALS is still very important and necessary for my community and others so people can believe more that girls are capable of playing soccer just like boys are.”