Fighting Against Stereotypes in Achajour

Tatevik Movsesyan is a sixteen year old girl from Achajour village playing in GOALS Tavush league. She is the captain of the team, which won first place in the GOALS 2017 Fall Tavush league. Through an interview with Tatevik we heard about her childhood and her passion for soccer, which began when she was only eight years old. It all began when she was watching boys play soccer in their village field and she dreamt of taking part but it seemed like an impossible dream for her. It was unacceptable for girls to play soccer in her village. Then, when she was 11 years old there was an announcement for a soccer tournament for girls held by Coca Cola. Despite her parents disapproval, she joined the competition. After 3 years playing in this tournament she was nominated “best soccer player” among girls and boys alike, which filled her with pride and encouragement. Shortly thereafter, there was an announcement for participants to join the GOALS Achajour team. It was strange at first for the village to accept the idea of a girls’ team and there were feelings of insecurity. As the fall season started, however, the team and Tatevik began feeling more confident and mastering their soccer skills. Her father even observed her practices and started to recognize her skills, slowly changing his mentality.

Since GOALS, there has been a transformation in her village. More girls want to join the team and boys accept and encourage girls to play soccer. Tatevik feels more confident and dedicated. She wants to continue her studies in sports and soccer, with a dream of becoming a referee and soccer player for the Football Federation of Armenia. Without GOALS, she does not think she would have these opportunities or aspirations.