Breaking Stereotypes: Meet FC Harlem Player, Danisha

This month, TONL partnered with Nike to profile various coaches and young women in soccer as they demonstrate why diverse representation matters in sport, coaching, and the athlete/coach relationship. Throughout this week, hear from the FC Harlem Lions, a specialized program for talented and committed youth of color ages 10- 19 who often do not get opportunities to pursue soccer development at the highest levels. The number 1 goal of FC Harlem is to help the youth meet their academic and professional goals. The women on this team are "Leaders n Our Neighborhoods" (L.I.O.N.S) so be sure to read the stories of these leading ladies.

Meet Danisha!

TONL: Soccer is a heavy male-dominated sport. What made you decide to play?

Danisha: Since most people think that soccer is a male sport, I was like, “ I should break that stereotype!” That’s why I also joined the football team at my school. They don’t have a girl’s football team; they only have boys so, I wanted to challenge myself to go against what people normally say about things so I was just like, SOCCER! It’s fun to do and I have strong legs. My coach told me that I have reasonable strength so I was like, let’s choose a sport that builds up my legs so soccer was the ideal one.

Amazing! That's great. The next question is…How has your culture, ethnicity or gender played a role in the way you interact with your coach and teammates?

Um, they say that Jamaicans are like ROUGH, and I know that. Like, we are. People say, “Lookout for Corniffe! Look out for Corniffe!”. Like, why say that? I know that I am aggressive, but I don't use too much force, especially in this [sport]. I'm like accident-prone. I'm always getting hurt so I wouldn't want anybody else to be getting hurt. I’m like a FULL Caribbean so I’m like running, running “Move out my way!”. But, I’ve got to tone it down, so I am simple in my choice of words because I don’t want to hurt anyone.

What about as far as being a woman? You're on a team full of other women so like how important is that for you?

It’s important to me because I was told that stereotype that “women should stay at home and cook, clean, take care of the children”. But, I don’t like that. First, I don’t like to clean! My Mom knows that for a fact. But, I would do it if I’m getting paid for that. So I'm just thinking that I should be able to move around and do some sports because people think that women are not supposed to. So as a person, personally I love breaking stereotypes. So playing this sport as it’s known for guys to be playing it, I’m just like “Imma play it instead.” Especially with a team full of girls, I know that all of us combined are like one great character – one person.

Have you ever had a coach who wasn't a woman and how did I make you feel?

All my coaches are males.

What is the difference between male coaches and women coaches? Is there any?

Again with the stereotypes. People are told that men are more aggressive so like me being able to work with a [male] coach, I’m able to not think about what other people say…the beef stirring, “macho-mucho”..any one of those. I’m just like thinking, “I have a male coach so I’m going to be strong with it; I’m going to be fierce”. But, then if I have a female coach I will be thinking that they did would be stern with me also. But, then people will think about how I have a female coach so I’m going to be like soft, but me having a male coach I'm just thinking why does gender matter? We should all just be like one person. It just matters on skills and not actually our gender.

And that's true. That's really good. What is a common misconception you wish to dispel as a female soccer player?

That women are weak. That women should not play sports. That’s the main one.

That's great. That's good.

Because I love sports. I probably play like seven team sports so far.

Wow.

Yeah, at my school I played almost every single sport. Other than cheerleading because I’m not a “prissy prissy”. That’s what cheerleaders are known for being.

What is the favorite part of your relationship with your coach?

He’s like my third father so I talk to him about everything. I see him every day. Every period, if I am late to school, I will go to my class and then I will pop into his office like, “Wassup, coach"

So he’s your third [father]. Who's your second father?

My uncle. Other than my actual father, he is my father.

Everybody on this team is my family. Like, I’ve seen them since Freshman year so I can’t imagine graduating and leaving them all here or not seeing any of them for a while so it will hurt me personally. I love my girls and I love my coach. Leaving them is going to be hard.

It’s like a family.

It’s not “like a family” it IS a family

That’s real. That’s real. Did you have any sports role models while you were growing up? Whether is family or somebody you saw on TV or maybe games?

No, no role models because not many people in my family play sports. So, I’m like the one…actually, that’s not true! My brother, he used to be an MMA wrestler so that’s why I picked up wrestling because he wrestled me to the point that I was like, “imma get you back! I’m joining this sport so I can win you back…beat you!” So him, I looked up to him because he’s like a big guy, like tall so I hate that he looks down on me. So one day imma just pin him and be like, “wassup?!” And, he’s bad at soccer so every now and then we would play soccer together and I would always win. I think he should pick up some skills because he makes it a little too easy for me.