In August 2006, 28 disadvantaged girls, ages 14-19, were screened and selected for the one year pilot project.  All are from Aali Village, a semi-rural, minority, mostly Muslim community, next to a railway line in the outskirts of South Delhi.  None had played any games before, not even childhood games.  For 10 months, they have been playing netball twice a week on a small field generously loaned by one of the village farmers.  Though most of the girls are school drop-outs and can barely read and write, all have returned to education in some form or another since participating in the GOAL project. 

Their coach maintains that at least 5 girls from the team can qualify for the National team which will play in the 2110 World games in New Delhi. 

Besides netball, GOAL includes a 45 hour modular training course: communication, entrepreneurship and wellness, including sex education and HIV prevention. Financial literacy is part of the program and scholarships are planned to further motivate the girls to study and develop vocational skills

These young women, who at the start of the project hung their heads and covered their lower faces with dupattas (veils), now take off their dupattas and speak out with heads held high.  In body language and by their performances both on and off the field, they clearly demonstrate that their lives are being transformed by their netball experience. .

~DMG