Fountain of Hope, where no one can take your hope…

The first time walking through the gates of Fountain, I was greeted with an abundance of hugs and lots of smiling faces beaming up at me. What an amazing atmosphere this placement site has – a real family feel. Mirriam, Felicis and Steven, my peer leaders, introduced me to the group of girls I would be coaching for the 6 weeks. They were all so keen and raring to get started, I knew I would get on well here.

Over the 6 weeks we worked on skills such as passing, defending, shooting and game play. Each session they greeted me with hugs and high fives, and they all trained so hard. It was extremely overwhelming seeing the vast improvement in all the girls’ performance. I worked closely with 4 of the U18 girls during each session, upskilling them to be able to take on a leadership role in netball in the near future. They were very good netballers and will all make brilliant coaches one day. It was a pleasure to be able to work with them. They were such a help, especially when explaining drills as sometimes there was a language barrier.

One of the highlights of my time at Fountain was seeing both the U15 and U18 girls compete in the Wallace Tournament. They all looked so smart in their dresses. Both teams left everything on the court and played brilliantly, using all the skills they had learnt over the past few weeks. The U18 team had an outstanding play off against the Munali team – one of the best games of the day only missing out on the final 1 point. The U15 team made it to the final against Mutendere. They played so well together and kept fighting right to the end. Seeing all the girls play at such a high standard gave me a huge sense of pride, incredibly proud at how much they have improved.

Fountain of Hope helps to empower girls and young women by giving them the opportunity to participate in sport in a safe environment, and in turn, helps them to develop essential life skills and values. All the peer leaders at Fountain do an incredible job. They are all such hard working individuals who are adding so much value to the lives of girls – invaluable.