OMAN: Oman's first all-women's soccer team prepares for first international tournament

Record ID: 1526833

  • Title: OMAN: Oman's first all-women's soccer team prepares for first international tournament
  • Date: 7th April 2008
  • Summary: (MER-1) BOUSHER, OMAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM TRAINING
  • Embargoed: 22nd April 2008 14:44
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Oman
  • Country: Oman
  • Topics: Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA8RS1QY0BBQ8HEQHEQ6HKZENZ0
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Oman's first all-women's soccer team prepares for their first tournament to take place in Amman, Jordan this week.
    Oman's only women's soccer team is getting ready for its first international tournament due to start on April 11 in Amman , Jordan.
    The girls have been training at the Bousher Club, hoping to make a name for themselves at the tournament.
    The players say they have been blessed with the support of the International Football Federation (FIFA) through a project called al-Hadaf ("The Objective" and also the "The Goal"), which provides a total of 25,000 U.S. dollars (USD) to the female team for training personnel, sports material, sports gear, and other basic needs.
    ''It's a good opportunity for all the female players in the Sultanate (of Oman) because we deserve to be like the men and we deserve to have our own team,'' said Heba Saeed al-Naabi, one of the players on the team.
    The women are undergoing intense training, which the team members say they need because they expect the competition at the tournament to be fierce.
    ''The important thing is that we practice and do all we can and the rest is up to God. Other participants in this tournament are tough opponents, you have Mexico, you have Russia. But we will do our duty and we have learned during practice, and God willing, we will keep learning and our preparations for future tournaments will be better after interacting," said Fatima Faisal al-Ra'isi, one of the 14 footballers on the team.
    The Bousher Club has set up other sports teams for women, including basketball, swimming, athletics, and volleyball teams.
    "I see this as a positive step for Omani women's sport. We have a female Tae Kwon Do team, a female rifle team, so why not have a female soccer team? So, thank God, in my view, as long as they try hard and as long as they have the support of their families, and as we see, their outfits are reasonable, their performance is good, so why not?" said Laila Khalfan al-Rajibi, an Omani journalist who has been covering the training.
    The team has been praised for its hard work and dedication, particularly since this is traditionally a male dominated sport in the Middle East.
    ''Concerning the formation of a women's soccer team, it is no different than the men's teams. We hear and read on a daily basis that the women are different from the men, but from experience, or from the reality of experience, we started at Bousher Club in 2005 and found that the women are not different from the men at all, but they are even more enthusiastic and determined than the men to develop their skills," said Nasser Darwish al-Hasani, an official at Bousher Club.
    While the Amman tournament is the first international competition the team will participate in, it is not the first event for these young women abroad. Last February the team was in the United Arab Emirates for friendly games.
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