By Ingrid Green
How do you combine football with social change?
Very successfully, in the case of the 12 women who attended the Sportswomen for Change Leadership Forum, held recently at Sydney's National Centre for Indigenous Excellence.
Hosted by Football United, with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Council for Australian-Arab Relations, the residential program brought together six women practising sports for development (S4D) in Arab nations to connect and learn with six Australian women in the field. Symes Group was lucky enough meet them when Sirine Demachkie facilitated Symes Group’s signature Presenting with Impact program to the cohort of sportswomen. And they were truly inspiring.
It is well accepted that sport and exercise are good for physical and mental health, but their benefits extend much further. Sport’s wide appeal and ability to cross boundaries make it a powerful platform in promoting gender equality, social inclusion of people with disabilities, international cultural exchange, child protection and safeguarding, and education.
The forum participants, hailing from Jordan, Egypt, Palestine and Sydney, are all involved in organisations promoting these concepts, and are all highly passionate about the issue.
Palestinian player-turned football and life skills coach Yumon Masri was keen to develop her skills and knowledge while in Australia, and use those new tools to help make social change. She was also excited about meeting the other participants and learn how they had overcome their challenges.
As a five year old and the West Bank’s sole female player, Yumon had no option but to play with boys. Initially resistant, they couldn’t ignore her skills on the field and eventually accepted her.
She later became the first female to major in football at any university on the West Bank, and went on to achieve very high marks. Since then she has been involved in cultural exchanges, courses and summer camps in Germany, Switzerland and the UK.
Like the other forum delegates, her passion for implementing social change through sport is backed by steely determination and absolute conviction. Adversity does breed strength; these women are living proof.
Miriam Abu Ghanem, a Palestinian from a conservative Bedouin community in Southern Israel, said it was a dream to be here in Australia. She would love, she said, for the whole room to see her as more than just a Palestinian woman.
Miriam too, faced extreme opposition to playing football. She was forced to train in secret, and after 10 years’ participation, does not have a single photograph of herself in action. Again though, drive and dedication to the game paid off, and led her to become the first female Bedouin certified football coach.
Egyptian Basma Fouad Ali Ahmed joined a local Cairo football team while living in a shelter created to steer girls in a positive direction in life. Here she first encountered Nafas (which translates as breath in Arabic) and now works with the organisation helping struggling children and adults. To try to keep them out of trouble, the group uses sport and camps.
Australian women too, have faced animosity.
Ola El-Zahab is the vice president of Greenacre Eagles FC. Ola said she had challenged every hurdle put in front of her because she didn’t want her children to have to do the same. Deciding to wear a scarf on entering high school, she found herself instantly cut from track and team sports despite her previous high performance. But this, she said, just made her more determined to fight for equality – for women, people from the Arab nations, and for the disabled.
Another Australian, Eve Wilcox, was also motivated by her struggles. So talented she found herself the sole female member of a men’s team, she said she was laughed at daily. Again, her love for football kept her going.
Eve now works for Football United and Creating Chances and welcomed the opportunity to participate in the forum and meet the other delegates.
She felt that having her students share their stories would help them develop empathy. “Sport teaches you about yourself, and about other people.”
For Lebanon-born Australian Yashar Kammoun, sport had given her the confidence she desperately sought, and inspired her to pass that on.
“If it can work for me, imagine what it can do for others with even lower self-esteem.”
She said she had found the personal stories she’d heard at the forum captivating, and credited the open environment with facilitating it.
Basma Ahmed from Egypt takes the floor to tell her story.
Opposite page: Yumon Masri from Palestine in action.
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