Farida Hamisi Kopnibo , 14, certainly hopes so. She is one of the youngest of Ms. Abdallah’s teammates, and is considered by coaches to be a star of the next generation of women’s soccer. With parents who both work for the government, Farida grew up in substantially different conditions from Ms. Abdallah. But despite her socioeconomic advantages, she also reports having faced difficulty in pursuing her dream of playing soccer. While sitting in the living room with her parents, she acknowledges that some of her mother’s friends don’t think she should be playing. “They are not happy,” she said.

Typically, Farida is the only girl playing on the pitch just outside her home. She quit school and does not have a job; her father said that for that reason, he supported her playing soccer. Farida said she dreams of becoming a soccer star, and that is her true focus, which is why she quit school. “If I had the chance to play soccer in school,” she added, “yes, I would definitely go back to school.”

At the end of the game, the score was Jumbi 2-0, with Ms. Abdallah scoring one of the goals. One player had to be carried off the field in visible pain. Without the money to spare or the sponsors to pick up the tab, the women don’t play with any sort of shin guards, and the field is uneven terrain; injuries are frequent.

All of the players congratulated one another and then went to their bags, pulled out their head scarves and wrapped them around their sweaty hair.

Shannon Sims was a 2018 African Great Lakes Reporting Fellow with the International Women’s Media Foundation. Nichole Sobecki is a freelance photojournalist and writer in Nairobi, Kenya.