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Shireen Ahmed – Interview

 

Shireen Ahmed is a writer, public speaker and Sports Activist focusing on Muslim women in Sports. She is an athlete, advocate, community organizer, and works with Youth of Colour on empowerment projects and is an avid sports coach and mentor. She is a regular contributor to Muslimah Media Watch, a Global Sports Correspondent for Safe World For Women and works on the Muslim Women in Sports website.

Shireen shared her sporting story with us and her experience of coaching soccer in Canada…

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

When my daughter was younger, I was the technical coach of her team. She was the only Muslim girl in the entire age group composed of three teams. The beautiful part was these amazing little girls saw absolutely nothing strange about being coached by a woman in a headscarf. They were learning basics, positioning, passing and ball control. For some of them, it was the first time they had ever interacted with a woman in a hijab. Fabulous introduction, I believe. The parents (Muslim and non) have always been incredibly supportive

The only time I faced open hostility, was when a man who was supposed to be the Team Coach (I was the technical coach) decided he wanted power of some kind. He was an arrogant, ignorant and uneducated man. He certainlyAfter we fought in private, I quietly decided to run my practices and teach the girls the proper skills. OK, not too quiet- I was furious. He could make the lineups and hold the clipboard if it made him feel better about himself. The girls continued to look to me for direction and feedback. Not him. He got over himself pretty fast.

 

 

 


 

@_shireenahmed_

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