Build Community through Sport for Girls in Jordan

At Reclaim Childhood, the coaching staff is at the heart of everything that we do. Made up of Jordanian and refugee women from the same communities as the participants we serve, coaches recruit girls, maintain ongoing communication with their families, supervise bus pickup and drop off, and run all of our practices and camps. While that list is already long enough, it doesn’t even speak to our coaches’ most important role: building caring relationships and acting as mentors for every girl that comes through RC’s programs.

One of RC’s main strategic pillars is investing in coach development to support these women in what can be a challenging role. We have long run coach clinics before each season, interspersed with one-off training sessions. This fall, we had the opportunity to invest even further in coach development. Thanks to the support of the Viking Global Foundation, we partnered with Edgework Consulting, one of the global leaders in trauma-informed coaching.

Over four days, twenty coaches and Maren from Edgework dove into the overarching question of how healing happens and how RC can be a part of it. Many of RC’s participants (and coaches) have experienced trauma, whether through displacement, conflict, poverty, or a combination of factors. Research shows that when designed correctly, sport can be a powerful force in recovery.

The training’s goal was to link the brain science of the effect of trauma on the brain with specific techniques and games that our coaches – in this critically important role of caring adult – can use at RC programming to support girls dealing with this. With this in mind, we spent more time on the field than in the classroom, mirroring the coaches’ context (and having a whole lot of fun playing new games)!

After a fantastic fall soccer season, we’ve transitioned into basketball season for the rainy winter, and it’s been amazing to watch coaches put the training into action at practice. We’re grateful for this opportunity and we can’t wait to see how it continues to make RC programming a healing space for all girls!

This summer was jam-packed with fun and exciting activities! RC had more than 360 girls join our four hub sites for six weeks of camp and leagues. At camp, the girls played the main RC sports while also enjoying fun activities that build teamwork. During the second half of the season, participants transitioned into leagues, practicing their new skills and fair play during matches against their peers. 

With so many girls sitting at home during the academic break, summer is a great time to engage new participants. RC organized week-long outreach programming for three different areas, allowing 265 additional girls to experience the fun of summer camp. “The camp was really fun, and a new experience that we don’t usually do here in Umm Al Jimal, we got the chance to meet new people, be more confident…the activities we did were super fun and we had the best time,” one outreach camp participant told staff. Combined with additional outreach, RC’s summer activities reached over 700 girls.

The excitement didn't stop with the return of the school year! In September, we kicked off the first season for our fourth RC hub site in the Jabal Natheef and Jabal Zhoror communities in East Amman. While RC has had a presence in East Amman for over a decade, this expansion enables us to serve twice as many girls in Jordan's largest and most diverse city. The site, launched after months of community engagement and outreach activities, joins Zarqa, Amman, and 2022 addition Mafraq.

Thank you for your support in helping RC to reach more girls! We’re looking towards Giving Tuesday this November as we aim to raise over $25,000 for our 2024 programs. With your help, we can continue to give girls in Jordan the opportunity to play, learn, and grow.