Emily forwards this note from the Fugees coach and founder Luma Mufleh…

The time has come.

One of the most common questions that I get is: “Why don’t you have a girls’ team?” The answer is simple but complex at the same time. When I first started the Fugees, it was a pick-up game in a parking lot with kids who lived in the neighborhood. On our first team, we did have one girl play, but she left after a few games to play basketball. From time to time, we have considered adding a girls’ program, but felt that we didn’t have the facilities or resources to add more. I mean, having grown up in the Middle East, and attended Smith College, I always knew that we were going to do programming for girls. I just wanted to be sure that we were ready to do it as well as we do programs for boys, and that our boys programs were solid enough to take on more. So we have focused on doing what we do, and doing it well. But lately parents have been asking us to do the same for their girls as we do for their boys, which means we’ve earned the trust of the community.

When I asked the boys earlier this year if we should start a girls team, I was a little surprised at their responses. “Yes,” they said. “It would be great if my sister can play for the Fugees.” And: “We need the girls to go to college, Coach.”

Every spring we run an after-school program at the local elementary school. The older Fugees provide coaching and tutoring to the younger kids. From this program, we field our future U13 team. Both boys and girls participate in this program and we’ve been doing it for 4 years. This year I gathered the students outside for their first practice to explain how things were going to work. They have all listened to my spiel before, or heard it from kids in their neighborhood. When I got to the part about fielding teams from this program, one of the girls got really excited until another girl rolled her eyes and said, “They only do it for the boys.”

“No,” I corrected her. “This year we are going to have our first Fugees Girls team!

Her eyes bugged out, she looked at me for reassurance, and I nodded. “I promise you this year we are having a girls team.”

So the next few months will prove challenging, as we form the team, play games, and then get ready for summer camp. In line with our programs and expectations for the boys, the first girls team will attend a 6-week summer academic camp. In the fall we will bring in our first class of girls into the Fugees Academy.

As in everything that we do, we are going to need your support. The girls, just like the boys, will be outfitted by Nike. But we are going to have to raise some serious money in the next few months. Registration fees have to be paid, summer camp scholarships, academy tuition and we will need to add a bus. We currently have 86 boys and one 14-passenger bus. Don’t ask me how that works, but it involves a lot of shuttling. To add another team, we will definitely need a bus.

We have set up a donation page, with a breakdown of how it all works. So it’s time for everyone to step up and give and give generously, because it’s time for “our sisters to be in the Fugees.” With everyone’ support, we can find the resources to make this happen.

Please click here to make a contribution to our girls program.

Coach Luma