The Wider Image: Cameroonian girls defy prejudice to pursue soccer dreams
Gaelle Dule Asheri, 17, a soccer player, who is amongst the first wave of girls being trained by professional coaches at the Rails Foot Academy, washes dishes outside her house in Yaounde, Cameroon, May 3, 2019. Asheri never gave up her dream despite strong opposition from her mother who feared she would lose her daughter to a "men's game". "I used to train with boys, so with boys there were some exercises I was not allowed to do because I am a girl," she said. When she first started playing soccer in the dirt streets near her home, she was the only girl on the informal neighbourhood teams. "I picked up the ball, I kicked it and I never looked back," Asheri said, recalling the childhood street soccer games with her male cousins and neighbours. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra SEARCH "CAMEROON GIRLS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.