Sex education through sport

Nhlalwenhle Ngwenya
AFTER struggling for 13 years as a young mother, Sibongile Ndlovu, now 27, is finally making recovery inroads as a football coach.

When she was 14 years old, Ndlovu due to lack of sexual health, personal rights and legal information was impregnated by her then boyfriend who refused to take responsibility.

Chased away from home she spent a terrible 13 years suffering. At one time she sought shelter on street pavements until her aunt rescued her.

a�?I was young, naive and didna��t see the repercussions of failing to adhere to sexual health until it was too late,a�? said Ndlovu.

In the first place she shouldna��t have been having sex at that age considering that under Zimbabwean law, she was a minor and the age of consent is 16 years.

There are many teenagers likely to fall in the same pit. According to the National Teenage Fertility Study, Zimbabwe has the highest teenage fertility rate in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is reported that 10 percent of girls aged between 15-19 fall pregnant every year in the country. The report adds that between 500 000 and 700 000 teenagers fall pregnant every year in the region, with 20 percent of the pregnancies accounted for in child marriages.

Ndlovu qualified as a coach after a two-week long course at Grassroots. This has given her a voice for change since she is now an educator in adolescent sexual health issues through sport in her community.

a�?When I applied for the training I didna��t have any football background. I just wanted to know more about soccer. The course brought a new world to me. Now I am in a better position to teach teenagers on sexual health and reproduction issues,a�? she said.

Taking football to her community, Ndlovu hopes to assist teenage girls to make sound sexual health decisions which will enable them not to fall into a situation like hers.

Although Ndlovu doesna��t consider joining competitive football coaching, she believes that her efforts will go a long way in saving the girl child in her community as most of them are still vulnerable.

Looking at her students, she sees herself back then as a clueless teenager.

a�?Most adolescents that I deal with have a problem of opening up or sharing their problems, but as time goes by they open up, thata��s when you realise how deep in trouble they are. For example one of the girls was courageous enough and told us that she was addicted to masturbation since she was 8 years old. These are some of the things we deal with through soccer,a�? she said.

Annually, Grassroots soccer trains 118 coaches not only in football but also counselling, psychosocial issues and sexual health reproduction, and this year communication officers for Grassroots soccer said that they will be extending their services to rural areas.