"I newly heard of these past events, thanks to Assmaah Helal, one of the loyal followers of this blog. Although they are older than 6 months now, I believe they are worth sharing -and documenting especially for those interested in Muslim women's sports activities" Sertaç Sehlikoglu
Shinpads and Hijabs by Stuart Meney
On Wednesday 28 July more than 100 female students from the Islamic College of Brisbane at Karawatha participated in small sided football games as part of Football United's brand new program to hit Queensland. Football United's story is beginning to be told in South East Queensland, with a number of partners on board to assist in the delivery of the Shinpads & Hijabs program, including Football Queensland, Brisbane Roar Football Club and the Australian Sports Commission.
Shinpads & Hijabs is funded through Multicultural Affairs Queensland in the Department of Communities and National Action Plan funding from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
The program, which will focus on empowering Muslim women to coach and deliver their own football games already has six local female Muslim community representatives signed on as volunteer coaches and will be coordinated by football enthusiast and Young Queenslander of the Year 2010, Yassmin Abdel-Magied. In addition the program will build links between the Islamic College of Brisbane and other local education Centres, by providing footballing opportunities to girls from other institutions, hosted at the ICB.
Inspiration and mentoring will be provided by Brisbane Roar Westfield W-League players as part of the club’s ongoing commitment to cultural diversity through the Queensland Roars Against Racism partnership.
Islamic College of Brisbane Principal, Dr Mubarak Noor said the female student body was looking forward to the opportunity to learn more about football and to participate in a safe and culturally sensitive environment.
“Sports and recreational activities in Australia are not always inclusive to the needs of young women from diverse backgrounds, and many barriers exist that limit opportunities for young Muslim women in participate in organised sport activities”
Dr Noor said he was delighted that a number of female community leaders from within the local Muslim community had volunteered to participate in the program as coaches.
“Having women from within our own community develop the skills necessary to coach our young women is a great step towards increasing the number of girls who play organised sport. Equally the commitment of the project partners such as Football Queensland and Brisbane Roar FC working to address participation barriers will result in positive outcomes all round,” he said.
Wednesday’s game included an official launch with Brisbane Roar FC players, Government representatives and other dignitaries with the full program set to kick off next Wednesday, 4 August 2010.
Football United Projects - Shinpads and Hijabs!
This program is a collaboration between Football United , Q-Connect, the Islamic College of Brisbane and Vikings Futsal with support from a number of organisations. Yassmin Abdel-Magied, the President of Youth Without Borders is the head coach of the program, and hopes that this will lead to more collaboration within community and sporting groups.
"I think it's fantastic that these groups are coming together to collaborate on such a simple but brilliant idea! As a football fanatic myself, I look forward to being a part of the program, and hopefully this will lead to more Football United collaborations in Queensland. Youth Without Borders looks forward to working with Football United and Q-Connect on projects in the future".
Thanks to all the tireless work from the Vikings Futsal Coaches and for Football United for such a fantastic initiative!
On Wednesday more than 100 female students from the Islamic College of Brisbane at Karawatha will participate in small sided football games as part of a brand new program to hit Queensland - Football United.
Football United, a grass roots community program based out of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, already has great tenure in New South Wales having been delivered for over four years and engaging more than 2,500 young people from refugee backgrounds in organized football competitions in and around Western Sydney.The program is endorsed internationally by FIFA and nationally by the Football Federation of Australia and Football New South Wales.
A similar story is beginning to be told in South East Queensland, with a number of partners on board to assist in the delivery of the Shinpads & Hijabs program, including Football Queensland, Brisbane Roar Football Club and the Australian Sports Commission.
Shinpads & Hijabs is funded through Multicultural Affairs Queensland in the Department of Communities and National Action Plan funding from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, and run by through its local partner Q-Connect.
The program, which will focus on empowering Muslim women to coach and deliver their own football games already has six local female Muslim community representatives signed on as volunteer coaches and will be coordinated by football enthusiast and Young Queenslander of the Year 2010, Yassmin Abdel-Magied.In addition the program will build links between the Islamic College of Brisbane and other local education Centres, by providing footballing opportunities to girls from other institutions, hosted at the ICB.
Inspiration and mentoring will be provided by Queensland W– League club Brisbane Roar Westfield W-League players as part of the club’s ongoing commitment to cultural diversity through the Queensland Roars Against Racism partnership.
Islamic College of Brisbane Principal, Dr Mubarak Noor said the female student body was looking forward to the opportunity to learn more about football and to participate in a safe and culturally sensitive environment.
“Sports and recreational activities in Australia are not always inclusive to the needs of young women from diverse backgrounds, and many barriers exist that limit opportunities for young Muslim women in participate in organised sport activities”
Dr Noor said he was delighted that a number of female community leaders from within the local Muslim community had volunteered to participate in the program as coaches.
“Having women from within our own community develop the skills necessary to coach our young women is a great step towards increasing the number of girls who play organised sport.Equally the commitment of the project partners such as Football Queensland and Brisbane Roar FC working to address participation barriers will result in positive outcomes all round,” he said.
Wednesday’s games will include an official launch with Brisbane Roar FC players, Government representatives and other dignitaries with the full program set to kick off next Wednesday, 4 August 2010.
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