Gaza girls will prove that football is not a game just for men
Nisaa FM: - Aseel Nawas is passionate about football. After school and homework, the first thing this 15-year-old will do is catch up on the latest football news, especially about Real Madrid, her favorite team. And she plays.
Training for the Khadamat al-Nuseirat junior women’s team
Every Monday and Thursday, Aseel trains for the Khadamat al-Nuseirat junior women’s team in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
“Football is the best thing that has happened to me and I wish one day that I can go to Brazil where women can play freely,” Aseel says trying to explain a passion that started when she was 8.
Her junior girls’ team comprises some 20 players and was established in 2016 when the club announced an effort to enroll girls. The effort was coordinated with UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, but the
first obstacle was to convince families, tells Hussam Abu Dalal, the club’s public relations officer. “At the beginning, it was difficult for us due to the social misconceptions that this game is just for men, and the
refusal of families to let their daughters participate.”
Club members then took the initiative to make home visits to families to gain their trust and motivate them to allow their daughters the opportunity to break these social stigmas. Eventually, a number of girls were signed up and now families regularly turn out to training sessions to encourage their daughters.
16-year old Ghadir Shalabi plays midfield for Khadamat al-Nuseirat but had to battle her family long and hard
to be able to do so. “I had to argue strongly, persist and promise that playing football would not affect my studies,” says Ghadir.
Ghadir’s father Muhammad Shalabi says that he was not keen on the idea of a women’s football team, especially one that included his own daughter. “Now, I can see the difference in her. She is so active, she has organized her time to make room for studying and for football. I’d advise my friends and everyone else to let their sons and daughters practice the sport they love.”
International – and national – competition is for now a distant dream
The ability to travel is one of the biggest obstacles to sport in the West Bank and Gaza: for both women and men. While funding is a perennial problem, access to the outside world condemns Palestinian sportspeople to a life of isolation.
In February, Khadamat al-Nuseirat won a local tournament and attracted attention from West Bank clubs. The team remains confined to Gaza, however, since Israel has not granted permits for travel to the West Bank. No team from Gaza, therefore, contests the Palestinian national league.
And Israel is not the only obstacle. In September, Khadamat al-Nuseirat was invited to train and play in Egypt. But the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing on Gaza’s southern boundary remains largely closed, so such participation also remains a pipe dream for the ambitious youngsters.
“The girls are very passionate about the game and after winning the tournament here, are very eager to participate in the West Bank league. But due to the siege imposed by the occupation, this is not possible,” says Ahmad Haroun, the sports supervisor with Khadamat al-Nuseirat.
In spite of the difficulties, Khadamat al-Nuseirat is hoping to expand female sport with plans for tennis and volleyball teams.
Palestinian women’s football began in earnest in 2004, when the first national women’s football team was established. In 2008, the first women’s football tournament was organized in the West Bank with the participation of six teams. According to the Palestinian Football Association, there are 12 women’s football teams in the West Bank, but just six junior teams for players aged between 12 and 16 in Gaza.
Source: www.electronicintifada.net