This is my story on how football proves nothing is impossible and that no obstacle stands in the way of dreams of fans in this game.
My football ambitions started when I began to participate in school football tournaments and played with my brothers at home. When my team became first place in the Schools Football League in 2018, it pushed me to participation in a football team in my city. This team was founded by Palestine: Sports for Life (PS4L). When I first trained with the team, I was warmly-welcomed and received words of affirmation from my coach. From the first day my couch was impressed with my speed, and throughout the years my skills have only improved through my coach is keen eye in identifying which skills to develop on. Not only has my skills improved over the years but the game of football developed my personality and taught me about life. Through the motivation I gained from my PS4L team, COVID-19 did not hinder my ambitions, I took this opportunity to develop my skills in football.
I have to say, I faced some backlash since I was not conforming to societies expectations in girls not playing sports. But through these difficulties I proved myself through my capabilities when me and the team participated in the 11th Football League. I wanted to show my skills and I did, by scoring multiple goals and distinguishing myself on the field. After two years, I am proud to see where I have come in terms of my skills. I will work now and in the future to become a player in the Palestinian women’s national team and a player in one of the biggest football names in the women leagues.
Many years ago, I was part of a magical moment that I will never forget and that is still giving me hope for the future. The Israeli-Palestinian football team was competing with a very popular italian team in a big stadium in Rome. Yasser Arafat was on one side and Shimon Peres was sitting on the other side. I was supporting the Israeli-Palestinian team, while representing the UN.
On October 8, 2005, in Khartoum, Ivory Coast qualified for the first time in its history in the FIFA World Cup. The victory came as civil war raged on and clashes between supporters of Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara had left thousands of dead in the country. From the locker room, Didier Drogba invited the players of the selection to kneel down and he called on all Ivorians to lay down their arms and organize elections.
I believe in an inclusive society, which explores the full potential of individuals, through sport. I realized that sport builds bridges between cultures and carries universal values. I am currently working at the FFSA to give access to sport to people with mental disabilities.
The New loveLife Trust (loveLife) was formed in 1999 as a private public partnership between the South African Government, private sector and various non-government organisations. Over the years, the vision of the organisation has moved from HIV awareness, education and inspiration for healthy living to being a leader in Youth Health promotion. Health is defined as a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being“ (www.who.int/about/mission/en).The loveLife program offering consists of various programs under three main pillars namely:
Healthy lifestyle
Sports and Active lifestyles
Youth Leadership Development
loveLife seeks to promote social activism for healthy living, active lifestyle and HIV consciousness among young people, through information, education and awareness campaigns, behavioural change programmes, and youth development initiatives.
loveLife has presence in all nine provinces of South Africa and reaches on average 1.2 million young people between the ages of 10-24 each year.
The Boy Child Programme (TBCP)
The aim of Boy Child Programme is to assist boys to make positive life choices when it comes to their health, their future and the way they respond to situations that life throws at them.
The Programme has 3 main focus areas:
Health Promotion
Violence Prevention including Gender Based Violence (GBV)
Youth Leadership Development
loveLife understands the importance of having boys and young men as an important stakeholder when discussing issues of health, violence ,wellbeing and those affecting young women and girls. It is a known biological fact that young girls do not impregnate or inflicting GBV on themselves.To address these issues, everyone who is part of the challenge needs to participate in its alleviation.
The programme aims to challenge:
certain gender norms and behaviours that perpetuate and even intensify violent behaviours towards women and girls by boys and men.
violence by men and boys towards their male counterparts.
Recent Comments