On Top Of The World!
They scaled a mountain to shine a light on inequality, both on and off the football field
It’s always good to set your sights high and that’s literally what thirty amazing women did earlier this year. Not content with just climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, they smashed the world record for playing the highest ever FIFA approved football match.
It wasn’t about getting into the Guinness Book of Records, though. Scaling the heights of this massive mountain symbolised just how many mountains these women, from six continents, have to climb every day in order to play football.
Laura Youngson, cofounder of Equal Playing Field explains, “No girl should miss out on the benefits of playing football because of her gender. Playing sport breaks down barriers and brings people together whatever their politics or religion. It fosters friendship and a sense of community and commitment.” And by playing football many otherwise disaffected young people can put their energies into the playing field rather than joining gangs or getting into crime.
It took the women nine days to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. No matter how well they’d worn their boots in prior to the trek, blisters were a common complaint. Breathing became harder the higher they climbed. To try to avoid feeling dizzy and sick with altitude sickness, they travelled slowly with frequent rest breaks. There was a lot of cajoling on the way as no one wanted to give up.
However, altitude sickness can be extremely serious so it was agreed that anybody who felt really unwell would descend with one of the group’s guides. Happily, this didn’t happen and with the support of each other, they made it to the summit.
One of the players, Maggie Murphy, who helped organise the match said, “It was a huge relief to get to the top. Everything we took up we had to bring down as it
is an area of outstanding natural beauty. We carried flour to mark the field, made our own flags and used trekking poles as goal posts – luckily these met the FIFA regulation requirements.”
They had to play a ninety-minute match at an altitude almost 2km higher than the highest stadium in the world. The two 11-a-side teams – Volcano FC and Glacier FC – played this record-breaking match on a volcanic pitch in a crater just below the summit.
Deena Rahman, international player for Bahrain, said, “It was like playing beach football, but with no oxygen – every time you kick the ball you end up kicking more sand than ball. It was utterly exhausting.”
It didn’t matter that the score was 0-0 – at the end of the game there were cheers of jubilation from the players and their guides, who sang celebratory songs in Swahili.
Every player was a winner, as they’d all made it to the end of the game, albeit some in need of oxygen, and they had shone a spotlight on issues of equality, both on and off the playing field.
Lori Lindsey, who played for the US at the 2011 World Cup and 2012 London Olympics says, “I’m fortunate enough to have had pioneers who came before me but it’s our responsibility to continue to make strides forward for the generations of women footballers to come.”
After this incredible match, the group have spent the rest of this year hosting a series of football training clinics for women and girls in fifteen countries around the world including a refugee camp in Jordan.
So, what’s next for this group of plucky players?
Yes, you’ve guessed it. The lowest altitude match – in Jordan, at a date to be set next year.