More Than a Game: The Role of Sports in Empowering Migrant Girls in Peru
I first felt a deep connection to my community not through educational programs nor government support, but on a dusty volleyball court, where girls like me gathered—not just to play, but to belong. In Peru, especially for migrant and refugee girls and women living in impoverished communities, sport-driven communal spaces offer far more than physical activity. These spaces become sites of empowerment, where young women can challenge systemic inequalities, forge their identities, and build networks of solidarity in a society that often marginalizes them.
Yet, despite their crucial role in fostering belonging and providing pathways to social mobility, these grassroots spaces are consistently overlooked by both government development agendas and international cooperation actors. Through the stories of my grandparents, my mother, and my own journey, I reflect on how sports have not only given us a sense of identity but have served as lifelines—creating spaces where migrant women and girls can thrive in the face of adversity, building leadership and challenging the very systems that seek to marginalize them.
A Legacy of Belonging: My Grandparents’ Story
Domitila and Aurelio were born in Tomas, a rural town in the Peruvian Andes, and married young—my grandmother was 16 and my grandfather 21. With only primary education available in their town, my grandfather’s mandatory military service provided him with technical training, allowing them to migrate to Yauricocha, where he worked for the Cerro Corporation mining company.
As president of the labor union, my grandfather not only organized sporting events for workers but also created independent sports spaces for the entire migrant community. These fields became critical sites for cultural connection and celebration, where migrants could build relationships and preserve their traditions. My grandmother was responsible for coordinating food preparation and caring for the athletes' equipment.
In the mid-1970s, my grandmother migrated to Huancayo, a city in the Peruvian highlands, with her seven children to ensure they had access to secondary education. She immediately recognized the value of the local sports tournaments organized by fellow migrants, enrolling her children and fostering their lifelong connection to sports, especially football and volleyball.
After my grandfather’s retirement and eventual passing, my grandmother stepped into leadership roles within the sports community, becoming treasurer and later president of a sports association that oversaw 30 teams of Tomas migrants. Despite her limited formal education, she drew upon her lived experience and the expertise of her 11 university-educated children to manage the association effectively, preserving crucial sports practices in the absence of state support. Her leadership, grounded in ethics of care, solidarity and transparency, sustained these grassroots spaces as essential centers for belonging and empowerment, particularly for internal migrants.
Navigating Lima’s Challenges: My Mother’s Story
In the mid-1980s, my parents migrated to Lima, escaping the violence of the internal armed conflict in the Peruvian highlands and seeking better opportunities for their growing family. They settled in Huáscar, a slum in San Juan de Lurigancho (SJL), one of South America’s most densely populated districts, where they faced oppression at the intersection of poverty, crime, and gender inequality. For my mother —a full-time caregiver, feminist and former sociology student— navigating these challenges was overwhelming. However, sports became her sanctuary: an empowering space where she reclaimed agency and fostered a sense of belonging in a hostile urban environment.
Introduced by her cousin to the local club Tupac Amaru, founded by highland migrants living in SJL, my mother found a community. By 2000, she had risen to lead the volleyball delegation, tirelessly fighting for girls’ access to sports in a context where their rights were often marginalized or ignored. For many of these girls, volleyball wasn’t just a game—it was a means of breaking the cycle of poverty, offering a rare opportunity for upward social mobility.
Her leadership, grounded in a feminismo comunitario, earned her roles as treasurer and a key member of the Sports Organization Committee at the Peruvian Volleyball Federation. Her transparent and ethical management, even across political divides, positioned her as a trusted advocate for her community. Over more than two decades, she engaged with over 1,000 girls and adolescents, witnessing how volleyball became a lifeline, allowing some impoverished families to secure educational opportunities for their daughters through scholarships.
But my mother’s influence extended far beyond the volleyball court. She organized fundraisers to improve Tupac Amaru’s sports facilities, and fostered protective spaces where girls could resist the structural violence that surrounded them. Known as "Mamá Elvia," she became a symbol of leadership and care, redefining what it meant to be a woman in a space where women’s voices were often sidelined. Her story demonstrates how sports, when led by committed feminist women, can transform spaces of exclusion into opportunities of empowerment, providing girls with the tools to challenge systemic inequalities and build futures on their own terms.
From Player to Advocate: My Own Story
From a young age, I followed in my mother’s footsteps, immersing myself in volleyball. Through her persistence and the support of grassroots sports spaces, I joined teams that competed locally and nationally, sharpening my skills and opening doors I never imagined. These spaces were more than training grounds; they became pathways to opportunity, allowing me to earn scholarships that funded my education—from secondary school to university in the United States. My mother often reflects that these opportunities did not come from state resources or institutional support but from the community-driven spaces that she and other women fought to sustain.
Volleyball gave me more than an education—it gave me perspective. Traveling across Peru, I witnessed the realities of girls like me in vulnerable communities. From rural villages to urban slums, I saw how sports provided a vital space for belonging, resilience, and, at times, survival. Girls who might have otherwise been constrained by their circumstances found agency through these courts. They developed teamwork, discipline, and confidence—tools that extended far beyond the game.
But as I grew older, I realized that these spaces could do even more. What if, alongside sports, girls also learned about their rights, leadership, and feminist activism? What if these courts became not just spaces of play, but platforms for transformation? This vision led me to create Las Micaelas Solidarias, a project inspired by my family’s work but designed to go even further. Launched in 2022 in SJL and expanding to Piura in 2025, it provides safe, empowering spaces for migrant girls from Venezuela and Peru—spaces where they can play, learn, and build networks of solidarity.
Rooted in feminist solidarity and collective belonging, Las Micaelas Solidarias ensures that sports are not just an escape, but a tool for resistance. The lessons I inherited from my grandparents and my mother—about the power of sports to build community, leadership, and self-determination—now guide me in creating spaces where girls can thrive on their own terms. From the highlands of Yauyos to the urban sprawl of Lima, volleyball has always been more than a game—it has been a sanctuary of empowerment for those society seeks to sideline.
Why Are These Spaces Still Overlooked?
The stories of my grandparents, my mother, and my own journey illustrate how sports serve as a transformative force for belonging, empowerment, and social mobility, especially for migrant girls in marginalized communities.
Yet, despite their undeniable impact, these grassroots initiatives remain invisible in government and international development policies. Instead, resources continue to flow into top-down, bureaucratic solutions that fail to reach the girls who need them the most.
Why are community-driven sports spaces, which have proven their power to uplift entire generations, still neglected?
This is a call to governments, researchers, and international organizations:
Recognize and fund grassroots-led sports programs as tools for gender equality and social mobility.
Invest in research to document how women-led sports initiatives are shaping the futures of migrant and marginalized girls.
Integrate feminist popular education into sports programs, ensuring that girls not only play but also learn to fight for their rights.
From the rural highlands of Yauyos to the urban sprawl of Lima, volleyball has provided a space for belonging and resistance—a court of empowerment where migrant girls can reclaim their place in society. If we truly want to create a more inclusive and just world, it’s time to invest in the spaces that have been empowering women for decades, long before anyone thought to pay attention.
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About the author:
Gianina Marquez Olivera is a feminist activist, researcher, and educator specializing in gender, education, and human rights. She holds a Master’s degree in Education, Gender, and International Development from University College London (UCL) and a Master’s in Gender Studies from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP).
As the co-founder and executive director of Quinta Ola (2019–2025), Gianina has led the design and implementation of innovative programs such as Las Micaelas Solidarias and Chamas en Acción, reaching and empowering over 500 migrant and refugee adolescents. Her work brings together research, activism, and feminist pedagogy, leveraging sports, the arts, and community organizing as transformative tools to support and uplift migrant girls and adolescents.
