Girls team up to encourage others

MUSLIM girls are encouraging their peers to do sport by setting up Cardiff ’s first all-girls school basketball team.

Tanea Begum, Retag Hassan and Omamah Al-Qarakhli, who took up the sport a year ago after watching boys play it in the yard at Cathays High, say more girls should do sport.

The year 11 friends bought their own basketball and others soon joined them after seeing them shoot hoops at break time.

Now they have a team which the school’s boys’ basketball coach is training.

“Lots of Muslim girls just stay at home and don’t get involved, but we don’t want to be like that,” the friends said.

“Headscarves can be pinned back or tucked underneath tops. Following a bit of research and shopping, we have managed to find sports wear items that enable us to move freely around the basketball court without holding us back.”

The teenagers, who are in their GCSE year, are now looking for other girls-only teams to play – but say there are none in any of the city’s schools.

History teacher Angela White, who is responsible for community partnership in the school, said: “The girls are all high achieving students. They value the importance of sport as a means by which to improve their health and well-being. They have also enjoyed the camaraderie that being part of a team brings. The girls are also quick to point out the importance of promoting sport, not only among girls generally, but also within the Muslim and BME community.”

Tanea said many Muslim girls feel uncomfortable playing sport in public parks which is why they wanted to set up the team, which also has nonMuslim members,

“I think it is the way we are brought up,” she said.

“Boys go to the park and play football but I don’t do that because it is in public and because of the way we dress. It makes us feel uncomfortable. So, we started a girls-only basketball team in school.

“We have found sportswear that is suitable for us and we chose basketball because it’s fun.”

Retag said: “We got competitive because we saw boys younger than us who were good at basketball.”

The girls’ team now trains three times a week.

Cathays High community education manager Lauren Li, who organises extra curricular activities, said: “We are not aware of a girls only basketball team in any of the schools in Cardiff and they would like to play some games now.”

Coach Manny Idawu hopes their lead may persuade more girls into all sports.

“We tried to set up a girls’ team before but it didn’t work then these three came and set it up. They’re now team leaders. We are trying to reduce barriers to sport.”