{"id":13678,"date":"2016-01-26T04:59:43","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T04:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=13678"},"modified":"2016-01-26T04:59:43","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T04:59:43","slug":"coaching-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees","title":{"rendered":"A Nigerian Football Star Is Coaching Young Refugees in Sweden"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p>Perpetua Nkwocha, a professional female football player from Nigeria, has had an amazing career. She is based in Skelleftea, Sweden and has played for the Swedish football club Sunnan\u00e5 SK. She currently coaches the club Clemensn\u00e4s IF. While playing for the Nigerian national team <em>The Super Falcons<\/em>, she was the top scorer in the Africa Women Cup of Nations three times. She was voted African Women&#8217;s Footballer of the Year in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011 by the Confederation of African Football. Plus, she played in the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup four times and the Olympic tournaments of Sydney, Athens, and Beijing. Now, she is doing something equally as amazing &#8211; coaching young refugees in Sweden.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Helping the kids assimilate<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The initiative, called <em>Football For All<\/em>, was created by Nkwocha\u2019s club, the local football union and the Swedish church to aid some of the young migrants that have arrived in the country. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>\u201cIt is really a way of giving these immigrants and refugees something to do during the day,\u201d said Jens Karlsson, the chairman of<\/strong> <strong>Clemensnas. \u201cIf they love soccer they can come here and practise with Perpetua, who is a great soccer player \u2013 so that\u2019s the purpose of the whole thing, to help in the immigration of these guys.\u201d<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Clemens\u00e4s\u2019 website states that the goal of the project is to help integrate the young players into society, so there is no feeling of \u201cus vs. them.\u201d By being part of a team, the kids are able to get some exercise, make friends, and improve their Swedish-speaking skills. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13680\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13680\" style=\"width: 716px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-13680\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/czqxr9nu8aexbhs.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"716\" height=\"403\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/czqxr9nu8aexbhs.jpg 599w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/czqxr9nu8aexbhs-85x48.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 716px) 100vw, 716px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13680\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CZQXR9NU8AExBHS.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Achieving her dream<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coaching and encouraging young players has always been a dream for Nkwocha. Back in 2014,\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/0\/football\/29780851\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">she told BBC<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c<strong>My dream is to encourage the young ones, to tell them [that] if they have talent for football, they need someone who can encourage them.\u201d \u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now she has made her dream a reality with this project. This winter, she has been coaching a team of young immigrants from Afghanistan. Nkwocha believes that anyone can learn the sport and that football has no language. She can also relate to their struggles as she once was new to this country as well. \u00a0Even though the winters are tough, now Nkwocha loves living in Skelleftea. She said she tries to keep the young ones happy\u00a0since she knows where they came from. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;I feel so glad that I connected with them and we started this project together. We try to make them feel welcome, try to make them feel happy, try to make them get friends and associate with other Swedish [people].&#8221; <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0When football season resumes in May, she will have to shift her focus back to coaching Clemensn\u00e4s. But for now\u00a0Perpetua is enjoying her time with the project. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;I feel so great being with these lovely children here. \u00a0I feel like I&#8217;m home.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13681\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13681\" style=\"width: 707px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-13681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/czrt-atwwaa-poe.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"707\" height=\"397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/czrt-atwwaa-poe.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/czrt-atwwaa-poe-85x48.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 707px) 100vw, 707px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13681\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CZRt-atWwAA-PoE.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/syrian-refugee\">SEE ALSO:\u00a0Cristiano Ronaldo Makes An 8-Year-Old Syrian Refugee\u2019s Dream Come True.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perpetua Nkwocha, a professional female football player from Nigeria, has had an amazing career. She<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":13681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Nigerian Football Star Is Coaching Young Refugees in Sweden<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The kids are able to get some exercise, make friends, and improve their Swedish-speaking skills.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Nigerian Football Star Is Coaching Young Refugees in Sweden\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The kids are able to get some exercise, make friends, and improve their Swedish-speaking skills.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afrizap World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfriZapMedia?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-26T04:59:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/czrt-atwwaa-poe.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"337\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Afrizap\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Afrizap\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees\",\"name\":\"A Nigerian Football Star Is Coaching Young Refugees in Sweden\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-26T04:59:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-26T04:59:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e7b2edee11807795d4eaa5ec8a2235bb\"},\"description\":\"The kids are able to get some exercise, make friends, and improve their Swedish-speaking skills.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Afrizap World\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e7b2edee11807795d4eaa5ec8a2235bb\",\"name\":\"Afrizap\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5eb515581c44997d055bb0228dbc93bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5eb515581c44997d055bb0228dbc93bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Afrizap\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/author\/buzzer\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Nigerian Football Star Is Coaching Young Refugees in Sweden","description":"The kids are able to get some exercise, make friends, and improve their Swedish-speaking skills.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Nigerian Football Star Is Coaching Young Refugees in Sweden","og_description":"The kids are able to get some exercise, make friends, and improve their Swedish-speaking skills.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees","og_site_name":"Afrizap World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfriZapMedia?ref=bookmarks","article_published_time":"2016-01-26T04:59:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":337,"url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/czrt-atwwaa-poe.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Afrizap","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Afrizap","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees","url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees","name":"A Nigerian Football Star Is Coaching Young Refugees in Sweden","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-01-26T04:59:43+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-26T04:59:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e7b2edee11807795d4eaa5ec8a2235bb"},"description":"The kids are able to get some exercise, make friends, and improve their Swedish-speaking skills.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/coaching-refugees"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/","name":"Afrizap World","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e7b2edee11807795d4eaa5ec8a2235bb","name":"Afrizap","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5eb515581c44997d055bb0228dbc93bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5eb515581c44997d055bb0228dbc93bc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Afrizap"},"url":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/author\/buzzer"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13678"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13678"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13682,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13678\/revisions\/13682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}