“In the hospital where I was born, only boys had been born before. I was the first girl to be born in that hospital.”Vanessa Arauz explains. Her story is not the kind of story you read everyday in newspapers. It is not even the kind of stories where women thrive in a male dominated environment. Her story is a story that reaffirms and re-echoes the popular notion that: Women can excel not just exist as passers-by even in a male dominated environment.

She is the first woman to earn the title “COACH” in Ecuador. She is also the first person to lead them the National Women's team to unequalled success. Having qualified them for the FIFA WOMEN WORLD CUP for the first time in the history of Ecuadorean football. She is set to conquer the world.

Her footy journey didn’t start in the limelight. It started when she was very little. At the age of eight as she recalls. “I trained from the age of eight with boys teams because there were no girls football schools. During the games there were shouts from the stands that I should be washing dishes, that I shouldn`t be there. I remember a particular game where I took the ball, overtook a boy and scored the goal that gave us victory. My mother always said, when I was inside her, kicking a lot, I must have been playing 20 games of football"

She played so many games as a young lad so much so that if we include the ones she played in her mother’s womb she would have had maybe hundreds of caps. Hence the reason she couldn’t wait to get out. To get started on the terrestrial plane, not as a footballer eventually, but as a football coach.

Coach Vanessa Arauz was awarded the Guinness World Records title as the youngest coach in a FIFA Women’s World Cup. At 26 years old, Arauz is also the youngest coach, male or female, in the history of both the men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Though Aruaz team lost to cameroun and others in the on-going Womens FIFA world cup in Canada, they were admired by all for the courage and the inspiration they have given to many in nations untold. "I`m only 26 years old and the coach of a national team, she said. It`s a great privilege, we`re trying to develop women`s soccer in Ecuador. This is a platform so other young players will be able to make it to this level.
It's not an easy feat to coach a National team at such an age. She may be just 26, but she has made her mark in world football. We wish her more victories in the days ahead.

To our Nigerian and Africa girls, ladies, women, know that it is even more possible than ever before to shine in any field you put your mind, heart and hands to irrespective of who ran the show before you came... be in it sports, academia, business, homefront, military, entertainment, philanthropy..just name it.... yes you can do it!!!!

Boys and men, tell you mama, tell your sister, tell you babe, tell your friend,...she can do it.

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Lass should be sub for Lad,nice write up$I just learn something.