WE United executed The #DareToShine program in coordination with the US Embassy Sports Visitor Program (SVP) and trained the five participants from that program, and an additional five participants competitively selected by The WE United Project, to be soccer coaches. Edward Denny, a consular officer at the American Embassy in Kathmandu wrote about this partnership in The Official Magazine of the U.S. Department of State, State Magazine.
For every professional women’s soccer coach or athlete who has reached their lofty goals, there are scores of other young female athletes who are tackling challenges in their field, climbing to the next level. To assist Nepali women who are eager to leave the sidelines, Embassy Kathmandu has been partnering with The WE United Project (WE United) for the past two years to promote women’s soccer and empowerment programs in Nepal.
Founded in 2014, WE United organizes games for girls throughout Nepal and launched the first women’s futsal (indoor hard court soccer) league in 2017. Embassy Kathmandu first worked with WE United in 2019 when the organization sent five players who represented Nepal’s rich cultural and ethnic diversity, aged 15–18, to the United States for the Sports Visitor Program (SVP)
“My visit to the United States as a sports visitor was a great experience and has changed my life,” said SVP alum Saraswati Saud. Reflecting further on the impact of the embassy’s sponsorship of WE United, Saud added, “I feel like I am capable of changing my society’s thoughts and views on what girls and women can do. As a mentor coach…I feel like I have the power to give back to the community.”
