Shepolopolo star Rachael Kundananji is urging more women and girls to take sports.
This year’s International Women’s Day was been themed: “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.”
Football has taken Kundananji, 21, to Europe where she plays for Spanish Primera División club SD Eibar.
Kundananji played for BIIK Kazygurt in Kazakhstan prior to joining Eibar last year.
In an interview, the striker, who is also a runner, says sports keeps women active and stops them from engaging in illicit activities.
“My comment on women in sports is that sports helps a lot. Especially for us youths sports helps us avoid some stuff like drug abuse, early marriages and other things,” Kundananji said.
“Doing sports is a great move among women.”
Kundananji won her first Kazakhstani League title with BIIK Kazygurt in 2019 in her debut season.
“My encouragement to every lady out there, it is not too late they can stand up and do sports. There are so many sports they can do. All they can do is concentrate and believe in themselves that they can do better than they think,” she said.
Kundananji last year represented Zambia at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
She was also part of the Zambia Women’s Team at the last Africa Cup.
Kundananji made her name at Indeni Roses in Ndola before moving to Europe.
In athletics, Kundananji earned hero status after winning gold for team Zambia at the 2018 Region Five Games in Botswana.
Kundananji sprinted to first position in 800m.
