Soccer for immigrant girls - a means for integration?

Abstract: This work is a study of a project related to soccer for girls at Araby, a segregated district in Växjö. Girls can come there and play soccer under conditions acceptable for all, i. e. doors closed, no spectators and no men are allowed access. The initiative has been ongoing for a decade. Semi structured interviews of some 20 participating girls plus a few parents and brothers, show a high appreciation by the girls. The two most pronounced positive factors were the opportunity to get additional friends and a faster development of the girls’ knowledge of the Swedish language. The mothers were positive as well, n. b. sometimes after carefully investigation of the venue. It is worth noticing that mothers appear to have been decision makers within the families. The interviewed fathers were likewise in general positive. Among the brothers there were acceptance of their sisters playing soccer, respecting the decision made by the mother. It appears that the strongest resistance to the girl’s participation was indeed among boys/young men. The well-being and self-esteem of the girls appear to have been strengthen very positively by their participation. The theoretical framework is based on the concepts of acculturation and integration as outlined by Berry.