The Ile-de-France association Graines de footballeuses wins the Grand Prix for inclusion through sport L’Équipe

For better inclusion of women, through football: it is the fight of Graines de footballeuses, an association from the Ile-de-France region which won, Thursday, November 28, the Grand Prix de l’Inclusion par le Sport, a competition organized by the newspaper L ‘Team.

Trophy and giant check for 2,000 euros in her hands, Pauline Le Mouellic, 29, is all smiles. She is the one who founded and co-directs Graines de footballeuses: “When I was little, I was always singled out as the only girl who played football. I was told, ‘You have nothing to do here. You shouldn’t do that.’ also that I was a ‘tomboy’, an expression that I hate by the way, she reveals. And by internalizing all these discriminating prejudices, at the age of thirteen, I went to see my mother and I told her that I wanted to stop playing football and become a real girl again.”

“Like my little sisters”

So so that her story never repeats itself, she created Graines de footballeuses. In four years, the association already has more than 300 beneficiaries and 50 volunteers. Table football is offered to girls aged 3 and over, as well as courses for teenagers. Raising awareness of inclusion through sport and equality between women and men is also carried out in clubs, schools and businesses: “I always say that the young girls we support are a bit like my little sisters. We want them to be proud of who they are and proud of what they do. It’s fundamental.”

Alongside him, Biré Doucouré, 19, was also awarded. She says that originally, she was one of the beneficiaries of the association and that, thanks to her and despite her failure at the Baccalaureate, she was able to get involved in the association where she carried out civic service. then was able to be hired as a coach for young girls. “Without Graines de footballeuses, I would not be where I am today”she smiled, moved.

With this price, Graines de footballeuses will be able to “continue to develop”concludes Pauline, and perhaps even in the rest of France.

Complete winners of the Grand Prix de l’Inclusion par le Sport L’Équipe

• Grand Prize for Inclusion through Sport L’Équipe and Education Prize with Sport in the City – Club/Association: Seeds of female footballers for their project Les Terrains des Possibles (Île-de-France)
• Education with Sport in the City Prize – Young: Ismaël Bacar (Mayotte)
• Job Prize with Apels and supported by Keolis – Club/Association: Association Élan Béarnais Pau Nord-Est (Pau)
• Job Prize with Apels and Supported by Keolis – Young: Moustapha Djitte Cissé (Pas-de-Calais)
• Health & Disability Prize with Premiers de Rope – Club/Association: Club Inaya Athlétisme (Le Mans)
• Grand Prix for Inclusion through Sport L’Équipe and Health & Disability Prize with Premiers de Cordée – Youth: Léontine Peter and Louise Dookun (Belfot)
• Gender diversity prize with Alice Milliat Association – Club/Association: Socios Solidaires (Paris)
• Diversity Prize with Alice Milliat Association – Young: Biré Doucouré (Île-de-France)
• Matmut Prize, VERY Collective Sport: Afev Saint-Nazaire