Four athletes from Brazil will participate in the Sports Visitor Program and will be sent to the United States for a two-week exchange. The U.S. Department of State initiative combines high-level athletic training with leadership development and cultural exchange.
Brazilian participants are aged between 16 and 18 and are from Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and the Federal District. With all costs covered by the American government, they will be part of an international group with young people from Sri Lanka, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Central African Republic, Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago.
The two-week program (June 12th to 27th) will include physical training, sports clinics, workshops on communication, public speaking and conflict resolution, as well as visits to community organizations, schools and universities.
Participants will also explore the history of American women’s sports and participate in the Julie Foudy & espnW Sports Leadership Academy.
The “Advancing Women’s Leadership in Sports before Los Angeles 2028” program will offer participants the opportunity to learn about the trajectory of the Olympic movement in the US and prepare for the next edition of the Olympics.
Meet the participants
Amanda Tavares is part of the U20 women’s team. She began her career playing on men’s teams, due to the lack of women’s teams at the time.
The 17-year-old athlete is currently looking for professional opportunities in football and intends to combine her sporting career with higher education in the USA.
“I’m very happy and grateful with this opportunity. I think it will be a unique experience to meet new people, learn from different stories and see sport from other perspectives. I hope to return with lots of learning and better understand how sport can impact lives in different ways”, commented Amanda.
Bárbara Saar is the current coach of the Fluminense women’s under-20 team. With international experience in football, she represents a new generation of professionals focused on the technical and strategic development of Brazilian women’s football.
“I am extremely looking forward to this opportunity. From the moment the possibility of participating arose, I was very happy and motivated. It is a program very rich in content, which I am sure will have a significant impact on both my personal life and my professional career”, declared the coach.
“I hope to learn a lot through exchanging experiences with the other participants, through exchanging knowledge and networking, as well as being able to share a little of our history as women who make a living from a sport that still faces so many challenges and resistance in Brazil. I’m also very happy to get to know more closely how sporting excellence is developed in the United States”, he added.
Analys Oliveira, 18, is a former high school student in Brasília who started playing football at the age of 14 on the Rede Gol program.
She has already played in important youth competitions, such as the Brazilian Under-17 Championship, and played for clubs such as Real Brasília, Vila Nova and Grêmio.
Beatriz Scheidt Albuquerque, 17 years old, has 10 years of experience in football. He has played for teams such as Pelado Real Futebol Clube, Estrelas and SESI, where he reached a high performance level.
Finally, Rafaela de Souza Barbosa, 16 years old, is from Belo Horizonte. Passionate about sports, she discovered football as a child, alongside her sister, and has followed the game ever since.
