Celebrating International Women's Day with DC SCORES stories

Written by Dahlia Chaudhury 
Communications Intern

In honor of International Women's Day, we're sharing some of our favorite stories and poems from an incredible group of DC SCORES young women. These are just a handful of the thousands of girls who find their voices, their power, and their sense of belonging through DC SCORES.

1. Alumna Ingrid Melendez

Ingrid Melendez was a DC SCORES student at Tubman Elementary School and Lincoln Middle School. She met some of her best friends playing at Lincoln as well as a coach, Asa, who served as a mentor and life coach during Ingrid's most difficult years. After aging out of DC SCORES, Ingrid stayed involved and worked for four consecutive summers at Marie Reed Elementary as a Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) counselor. After overcoming great obstacles during her high school years, Ingrid headed to college in the fall of 2015 -- the first from her family to attend college. Through all of her hardship, Ingrid found an outlet in playing soccer. On her time as a summer coach: “I always tell them it doesn’t matter if you’re a girl,” Ingrid said. “A girl can do anything a guy can do.”

Read Ingrid's inspiring story here.

2. A poem by Delaney B.
Kelly Miller Middle School poet-athlete, 11 years old

"Yes, I understand that I may have some ups and downs, but all people do/ But the fact that I'm black and I'm a girl makes it even harder too. These are the things you don't know about me/ I'm smart, intelligent, wise, strong and also pretty"

3. Alumna Claudia Umaña

Claudia Umaña participated in DC SCORES at Bancroft Elementary School. With her mother working to support the family, Claudia was tasked with taking care of her younger brother, and so encouraged him to join SCORES as well. Claudia went on to play soccer in high school, and became not only the first high school, but also college graduate in her family. Her brother followed in her footsteps as well. Claudia went on to work for the nonprofit Women's Policy to create opportunities for women and girls in sports and other areas. “I take a great amount of pride because that means these girls are being active but also being treated equally and taking advantage of sports in general that maybe before —even before my generation — (they) could not,” Claudia said recently.

Read Claudia's full story here.

4. Nohemy S. speaks on Capitol Hill

DC SCORES poet-athlete Nohemy, who participated in the Soccer for Success program at Chavez Prep Charter School, spoke in 2015 alongside professional athletes and members of Congress on Capitol Hill at the "How Sports Can Improve Girls' Health" briefing about her experience playing soccer and being on a team through SCORES.

"The biggest thing that I have learned from playing soccer is to feel confident in myself," Nohemy said. 

Watch her whole testimony here.

5. Arnye Y.'s poem at the 2016 Poetry Slam!

"I am a powerful young woman who raises my hand to speak/ I should be treated like who I am, and should always be offered a seat/ They say 'man down' but what about 'woman down?'/ They say 'man up' but what about 'woman up?'/ There has never been a woman president, that's what I see"

-- Arnye' Y., 10 years old
Thomas Elementary School

6. Alumna Nijah Armstrong

Nijah Armstrong scored a goal in her first DC SCORES game with the Burrville Eagles. After playing for one year with the Tigers, Nijah played for a year at Kelly Miller Middle School, though she never forgot her time at Burrville. Nijah went on to graduate high school and attend North Carolina A&T State, where she double majored in forensic science and psychology. She hasn’t played much since that year, but Nijah carried the lessons instilled in her by the Burrville coaches to where she is today. “They taught me never to quit even if it’s tough -- life in general and in sports,” Nijah said.

Read Nijah's story here.

7. Alumna Myiah's poem

As a DC SCORES poet-athlete, Myiah attended Burrville Elementary School. She is now a student at Georgetown University, and performed at the Our Words Our City poetry showcase earlier this year. Myiah embodies the confidence and passion DC SCORES fosters, and thinks that one of the best things in life is working with young minds to create.

8. Alumna Ana Galeas

Ana Galeas joined DC SCORES to play soccer, but in doing so found confidence and a voice that she has used in multiple avenues. After playing for three years in elementary school and in her final year at Lincoln Middle School, Ana kept lasting connections to her team and coach which led to her becoming the assistant coach at Lincoln, as well as a summer camp coach during her high school years. With each year of coaching, Ana’s confidence rose along with others’ trust in her. She became a strong leader and advocate for her team. In May 2015, she spoke on a President’s Council on Fitness panel about her DC SCORES experience, and in 2016 she spoke about the program in front of 150 people at a Brookings Institute event. “Continue to not stop and to never look back,” Ana tells her summer campers. “The more things you’ll do, the more you’ll be happy about yourself.”

Read Ana's story here.