Mayan Families changed the face of our program making it a precedent setting sports program for Mayan children and particularly female children. Instead of high minded pronouncements, Mayan Families simply put girls on our playing fields and into our teams. Now almost half our athletes are girls. More than 40% of our coaches are now women. The social impact of these changes is significant in rural Guatemala where traditionally sports were for boys only and girls were supposed to stay home, wear their traditional ankle length skirts and care for smaller children. Girls did not participate in physical education in school. That is changing. All of a sudden their dads are buying them athletic shorts, T shirts and sneakers. Moms and dads have seen their daughters playing on our teams and winning - they are proud of their daughters and want to support their efforts in sports. And the girls have a new confidence. They know they can play well, that they can compete with boys and win. We even have mixed teams, up to 16 years old, the girls are highly valued by their teammates and the boys want them on the team because they are winners. Mayan Families pointed us in the right direction, supported us along the way and helped create a program that is lighting the torch for social change in the Guatemalan Mayan Highlands.