in Douala, the devotion of young footballers from Cayman

This soulless terrain has something special for them. Each drop of sweat poured under this oppressive heat tells a bit of their journey and the sarcasm – more emphatic than a tackle – that they had to face. Every dribble is a victory over doubts, doubters, family and prejudice. Each stride on this dented and dusty ground can bring them a little closer to their goal: to integrate a big club in Europe and put on the jersey of the Indomitable Lionesses. “Until I succeed, I will not stop working every day”ton Emilienne Endale, 29 years old.

The center-forward of Caïman de Douala and her teammates will face Canon de Yaoundé on Saturday, April 16. It will finally be the kick-off of the Cameroonian first division football championship which took a long time to start because of the holding in the country, at the beginning of the year, of the men’s African Cup of Nations (CAN) . “Our goal is to be champions and to participate in the Champions League”launches Tatiana Eboumbou, the coach.

A family story

A tough competition. Last season, this mythical club finished in sixth place. In 2013, the Cayman girls took first place and won the Cameroon Cup. ” We doubled that year.”, smiles the trainer, at the head of the team for eleven years. Long braids attached, dark glasses, black tracksuits, black sneakers, this quadra could talk about hours of the ball, the game, tactics but, for the moment, she remains focused: her players face an opponent for a preparation match.

That Friday, in the middle of the afternoon, on a kind of wasteland located in the heart of the working-class district of Bonamoussadi, Tatiana Eboumbou did not take her eyes off her “girls”: a bad placement, a bad shot, a bad pass, c is a call to order or a reproach. In this corner of Douala, we do not joke with the ball. Even torn. “Football is more than a passion, it’s in the blood”claims Emilienne Endale, who is attacking her eighth season with Cayman.

Here, we are far from the splendor of European clubs: no stadium, just land that the club rents; no lawn, but a stony surface to tear ligaments and which “kill the spikes”, blows Virginia Leedjoe. At 23, this attacker full of promise begins her second year with Cayman. A few years ago, she was playing in South Africa and was due to sign, in 2020, for a club in the Czech Republic. “The corona blocked me”, she curses. His ultimate dream of playing in Europe was wiped out by a virus, but “I had to stay on track, that’s why I joined Cayman” she says.

For most of the players at this club – aged between 16 and 32 – football is above all a family affair. “My father played, my older brother too. And from the age of 6, he took me with him, I took a liking to it.remembers Emilienne. “I immediately felt at ease in this sport”adds his partner Virginia who especially appreciates ” complicity “ with her teammates who have become “sisters”.

“If there are small neighborhood tournaments against men, we go together and we sometimes win”, launches with a small smile Emilienne. And how do boys look at them? “They are very surprised to see girls who can play better than them. A man doesn’t like a woman to dribble him. When that happens, the next action he will try to hurt her”she assures.

The reaction speaks volumes about the misconceptions these players must have endured, especially from their male alter egos. “Some thought we were gay. As we practice a contact sport, they took us for boys. For them, a woman is necessarily delicate.explains Virginia Leedjoe.

“Very very difficult” conditions

“Parents have often thought that their daughters came to football to prostitute themselves with other lesbiansdescribes Théodore Gaston Mbangue, assistant coach of Cayman. I had to explain to them why their daughters wanted to play football and I kept telling them that the members of the management are like their second parents. We do more in the social and the sentimental when we take care of players. »

Badly perceived in Cameroon, women’s football came out of the shadows during the 2015 World Cup, organized in Canada. For their first participation in the tournament, the Lionesses reached the round of 16 (1-0, against China). “The course of the national team at the World Cup has made it possible to break down prejudices. To become a footballer was to choose to be a failed woman, it was a delinquent’s sportrecalls Nadia Ndeme. Today, a girl who knows how to hit the ball attracts attention. Everyone is interested in it, even parents motivate their children. »

The goalkeeper – and captain – of the Cayman for five seasons is formidable, and not only in her cages. When this 31-year-old woman talks about her career, every word is calm and precise. His love affair with football begins in high school. She is interested in it and stands up to her parents: “I had to lie to them to go to train”, she recalls. She entered a training center at the age of 20 and became a goalkeeper because it was the only position available. In 2018, she participated in the CAN with the Lionesses as a substitute door (Cameroon finished 3^and of the competition). And intends to be selected for the next edition, scheduled for this summer in Morocco (July 2 to 23).

Cayman players, some of whom are international, try to ignore the conditions “very very difficult”, as Emilienne Endale reminds us. The club – like Cameroonian football – is sorely lacking in resources. “It works with a lot of patronage”, underlines Joseph Moungui Ekambi, the president. For this new season, there is good news: the minimum monthly wage will increase from 25,000 CFA francs (38 euros) to 100,000 CFA francs (152 euros). This is as much as the men in the first division (the minimum wage in Cameroon is 36,270 CFA francs).

This increase was made possible thanks to the arrival of a new sponsor, the beer brand Guinness, at the end of 2020, whose money should make it possible to increase the visibility of the twelve teams and players of the women’s championship, renamed Guinness. Super League. This season, the players were to sign a contract for the first time, but the collective agreement is still under discussion.

It is still difficult today to make a full living from football: some continue their studies, others work like Nadia who is a sports teacher at her colleague’s school and in high school. Those who are not married continue to live with their parents. But the main thing is elsewhere. “Football allows you to express yourself and impose yourself as a woman in society”assures the guardian of the Cayman. “They emancipate themselves through this sport and earn the respect of their male counterpart”adds Théodore Gaston Mbangue.

It’s the end of the match: the Cayman has wandered in front of his opponent of the day. Around them, male teams await their turn to compete. No changing rooms, it is in front of them that the Cayman players change. Nobody pays attention to it. “Seeing the girls on a pitch is movingclaims coach Tatiana Eboumbou. Most of them don’t know how to do anything other than play ball. »