Malawi talented female player in France for global documentary

Ascent Soccer Academy has sent talented female player, Lughano Nyondo to France as part of a global documentary being produced on gifted female players called ‘This Girl Wears Cleats’, being produced by French Dog Productions of Seattle, USA.

Lughano Nyondo
Posing under the Effeil Tower
Talented Lughano Nyondo in action

According to Ascent Soccer’s founder, George Maguire, the documentary, that has been in production since May 2018 and has seen two film crews visiting Malawi, profiles gifted female players from all over the world and the challenges they face in pursuing their goals.

Lughano is set to attend both of the semi-finals and Women’s World Cup final in Lyon, France over the coming week as well as spending time in Paris with the other players in the documentary including girls from Jamaica, America and South Africa.

This tops off an incredible month for Lughano who recently received a full athlete-scholarship to Indian Mountain School, Connecticut (worth around K46m).

She is set to become the first Malawian young female to go for a double scholarship of academic studies and football development and will become the second Ascent player to head to the US on such a scholarship after Zobran Elias, who is on a three-year scholarship at one of America’s best academic and soccer institutions, the Taft School of Connecticut.

Maguire says: “Lughano is a shining example of a Malawian success story, both powerful and of interest to the women’s’ game globally. Her talent, hard work and attitude has earned the opportunities we’ve created for her and I believe she has the strength of character and growth mindset to make the most of them.

“This trip of a lifetime to the pinnacle of the women’s game shall both inspire and motivate her to keep pushing towards her goals, both on the pitch and academically. This story is a result of a large team effort involving our team in the US as well as on the ground in Malawi.

“It again highlights the global media interest in our academy and the results we are generating following CNN’s ‘Inside Africa’ documentary on our work back in late 2017 as we continue to strive to produce high-quality players to benefit the Flames of the future.”

On Friday June 28, three other female Ascent Soccer players flew to the United States for a two-week sports leadership camp in partnership with the US Embassy.

“It’s a great thing for our players to get to travel internationally, to be inspired by different cultures and experiences,” says Ascent Soccer’s head coach, Thom Mkolongo.

“Our hope is that they are further empowered through this and return to Malawi and reach new heights. We are proud to be showing the world how gifted our female players are.”

Ascent Soccer currently top the FCB Lilongwe Under-20 table after 7 games, scoring 35 goals in the process. Last year Ascent Soccer were champions of the Under-17 Presidential League in Lilongwe, breaking all known goal scoring records hitting the back of the net 110 ten times in 30 games.

They also provided 3 Malawi Under-17 internationals who contributed half of the junior Flames goals at the Under-17 Cosafa Cup in Mauritius.

This year Ascent continues nationwide scouting between April and August to recruit a Under-12 male squad whilst completing a female squad a U17. Currently within the Academy are players from Mzuzu, Lilongwe, Dedza, Cape Maclear, Balaka, Blantyre and Zomba.

Ascent provides private education, advanced soccer coaching, character development and nutritional/medical support for its players and looks to create pathways into previously unattainable opportunities whilst creating a flow of highly gifted players to perform for Malawi national teams.

In February, Maguire was honoured with Malawi Sport’s 2019 Non-Citizen of the Year award, honoring his outstanding contributions to the development of sports in the country.

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phakamani mahlambi
4 years ago

good luck, girl!

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