A dream has come true for Loza Abera, who this month became the first Ethiopian woman to sign a contract to play professional women’s football in the United States.
“I am thrilled,” she said during a TV interview with VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.
“I used to say to my friends, ‘I will be the first woman professional international player.’ No one believed me during that time … this was my dream,” Loza said of her journey from playing street football outside her home in a small town in southern Ethiopia to a professional league in America.
Earlier this month, Washington’s entry in a newly formed Division 1 women’s football league announced the signing of Loza, the captain of Ethiopia’s Women’s National Team. The club, DC Power, said it was the first-ever contract for an Ethiopian-born woman’s football player in a first-division U.S. professional league.
Loza, 26, says she understands she has a responsibility to not just achieve her own dream, but also to inspire other Ethiopians.
“I thank God for helping me reach here. I was happy.”
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