By: Josphat Maimisa (Educationist & Grassroots Football Development Advocate)
Across Lusaka Province, the growth of girls’ football has been celebrated as a major achievement. We have seen an inspiring rise of young female players, increasing participation in academies, and a promising pathway into professional football. Yet beneath this progress lies a troubling, often ignored crisis: the growing number of school-age girls dropping out of formal education after entering football development pathways.
This issue does not receive the attention it deserves. Conversations around girls’ sports tend to highlight encouragement, empowerment, and opportunity. But on the ground—where education and football collide—many girls are losing the very opportunities football was supposed to create.
This article exposes the underlying factors, systemic gaps, and cultural dynamics leading to the dropout of girl footballers in Lusaka Province. It also calls for urgent, coordinated action.
- The Paradox of Progress: When Football Opens Doors and Closes Others
Football has become a powerful tool for empowering girls in Zambia. The success of our Copper Queens has shifted public perception, opened scholarship opportunities, and inspired thousands of young girls to dream bigger.
But in several academies and clubs across Lusaka, a disturbing trend is emerging:
Girls who join football programmes are increasingly losing interest in school.
What should have been a dual pathway—education and sport—has instead become a fork in the road where many girls choose football at the expense of education.
Why is this happening? The answers point to a combination of structural neglect, cultural pressures, and institutional weaknesses.
- Lack of Academic Accountability in Clubs and Academies
Most clubs and football academies in Lusaka Province do not track learners’ school attendance, academic performance, or grade progression. Coaches and team owners often focus solely on athletic performance, assuming football alone can secure a player’s future.
But football is a short career. It is highly competitive, injury-prone, and unpredictable. Without education, most girls have no fallback plan. And yet:
No systematic school verification exists in many youth clubs.
No education–football balance policy guides training schedules.
No club personnel are assigned to monitor school performance.
Many coaches never ask whether the girls are even attending school.
As a result, girls quietly detach from the classroom while remaining active in football.
- Conflicting Schedules: When Training Steals School Time
Some clubs schedule mid-week morning or afternoon training sessions that directly conflict with school hours. League fixtures—especially for youth tournaments—are sometimes organized during active school days, forcing girls to choose between attending class and attending a match.
For a passionate young footballer, the choice is obvious.
But with every missed lesson, the academic foundation weakens.
With every ignored assignment, the transition back to class becomes harder.
And eventually, dropping out feels easier than catching up.
- The Dress-Code Dilemma: Masculinity, Identity, and School Uniforms
Another subtle but powerful factor is the masculinity pursuit in football attire, which clashes with Zambia’s traditional school uniform code for girls (skirts and dresses).
Some girls who become deeply immersed in football culture prefer shorts, sportswear, or tracksuits. When schools enforce uniform rules, these girls feel:
Restricted
Misunderstood
Judged
Out of place
This identity conflict slowly eats away at their connection to school. Many begin to avoid school altogether simply because they feel their authentic selves as footballers are not accepted in that environment.
- The Illusion of Professionalism: “Football Will Make Me Successful”
For many girls, especially from vulnerable communities, football seems like a guaranteed escape from poverty. The success of a few elite athletes creates a perception that football alone is sufficient for success.
This “football dream” can become dangerous when it overshadows education.
Girls begin to believe:
“I don’t need school; I’ll be a professional footballer.”
“Education is slow; football brings faster success.”
“School can wait; football is more important.”
Without mentors to balance this view, many girls prematurely abandon education with the hope of career breakthroughs that statistically only a tiny fraction will achieve.
- Parental Disengagement—and Clubs Don’t Step In
Many parents, due to work pressure or lack of sports literacy, are not actively involved in their daughters’ academic monitoring. Some believe that once a child is in an academy, the club will handle everything.
Yet most clubs have no welfare structure, no education officers, and no parent–club communication system.
The child becomes academically invisible.
Without parental support and club intervention, girls slip quietly out of school while continuing to attend training sessions faithfully.
- Policy Gaps: No Mandatory Education Tracking Under FAZ
The Football Association of Zambia currently has no deliberate, enforceable policy requiring:
School enrollment
Academic performance monitoring
Attendance verification
Education–training balance standards
Minimum schooling hours for under-age players
This policy vacuum allows clubs to operate freely without accountability for the educational welfare of girl players.
A girl can be a full-time footballer at 13—without anyone asking whether she is still learning.
- The Result: Silent Dropouts, Invisible Data, Lost Futures
Across Lusaka Province, many girls:
Stop attending school without officially dropping out
Attend only exams but miss regular classes
Repeat grades silently
Abandon school entirely while pursuing unstable football prospects
Drift into early marriages or pregnancies after losing academic direction
Lose the confidence to return to school after prolonged absence
Yet no structured data exists to capture how many girls are being lost to this form of “football-induced dropout.” The silence around this crisis makes it even more dangerous.
- What Must Be Done: A Call to Action
To reverse this trend, action is needed from clubs, schools, FAZ, communities, and government institutions.
A. FAZ MUST Introduce a Mandatory Education Compliance Policy
This should include:
School enrollment verification for all under-age players
Academic performance reporting every term
Non-negotiable prohibition of training during school hours
Fixtures scheduled outside school time
Club penalties for non-compliance
B. Clubs MUST Establish Academic Monitoring Systems
Including:
A designated Education Coordinator
School–club liaison structures
Academic-based selection criteria
Homework support or tutoring
C. Schools MUST Embrace Footballers Instead of Opposing Them
By:
Creating supportive dialogue
Adjusting engagement around tournaments
Allowing greater uniform flexibility where appropriate
D. Parents MUST Be Actively Involved
Parental engagement should include:
Knowing training schedules
Checking school attendance
Supporting both dreams—education and football
E. Government & NGOs MUST Conduct Research
We need clear statistical data on:
How many girls drop out because of sports
When and why they leave school
Which districts are most affected
Evidence will strengthen policy and advocacy.
- Conclusion: Football Should Not Steal the Future of Our Girls
Football is meant to empower girls—not derail their education.
We must ensure that every girl who plays football remains in school, because the two pathways are not enemies. They are partners. They can reinforce each other. And when properly balanced, they can create strong, confident, educated young women who excel both on the pitch and in life.
Lusaka Province has the talent. It has the passion. It has the potential.
What it urgently needs now is a deliberate, united effort to protect the girl child’s education in football development spaces.
The time to act is now—before more dreams are lost.
