Ahmed Bajoaim – Women in Development and Peace
Yemeni women’s sports have witnessed a significant leap in recent years. The number of sports practiced by Yemeni women has increased to 17 individual and team sports, according to the President of the Yemeni General Union for Women’s Sports, Nadhmia Abdul-Salam Uthman. In a report published on the official website of the Yemeni Ministry of Youth and Sports, Uthman confirmed that Yemeni women have achieved numerous championships at the local and international levels.
Despite the social and cultural challenges facing women in Yemen, women’s sports have witnessed remarkable development in recent years. Individual games such as chess, table tennis, and gymnastics are among the most prominent sports that have begun to attract Yemeni girls recently. Girls have also formed sports teams, participated in local and international tournaments, and achieved remarkable results.
This increasing interest in individual sports demonstrates the desire of Yemeni girls to transcend traditional boundaries and assert their athletic abilities. Yemeni women’s participation in sports is not limited to individual games. Many girls practice other sports, such as basketball, taekwondo, and athletics. There is a noticeable increase in girls’ interest in these sports, which is evidence of the positive transformations in Yemeni society towards supporting women’s participation in fields considered exclusive to men in the past.
Prominent Sports
“Currently, in Hadhramaut, the focus is on two main sports in women’s sports: table tennis and chess, in addition to some other intellectual games. This is due to social customs and traditions that do not allow women to practice some sports that require great physical efforts, such as football and volleyball,” said the Director General of the Office of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in the Hadhramaut Coast, Hasan Masjidi.
He explained that there is a partnership between the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Hadhramaut University to hold sports activities for female students at the university, as well as private universities and various institutes. This is, of course, the general direction of the Sports Office towards empowering women in sports.
He added: “We have many female leaders in the Scouts who represent Yemen in scouting courses in Sudan and the Arab Republic of Egypt. This gives a good impression of the participation of female athletes in Arab and international forums, and they have achieved honorable results that strengthen Yemen’s position in women’s sports.”
He stressed the importance of women’s sports in the plans of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, through their continuous guidance to the Women’s Sports Federation to intensify its activities within the available capabilities. He added that they do not mind opening partnerships with the public or private sectors to increase women’s sports activity and meet the aspirations of female athletes. There is also financial support received by the Women’s Sports Federation from the Youth Fund, but it is limited support that does not meet the needs or budgets of women’s sports activities.
Masjidi stated that the Office of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in the Hadhramaut Coast, in cooperation with Hadramout University, organizes an annual sports festival for female university students. This festival is a distinctive opportunity for female students to participate in various sports and cultural activities and to demonstrate their abilities and creativity, especially since the festival included many sports such as table tennis and chess, in addition to intelligence games and other cultural activities.
He pointed out that more than 40 female students participated in the last festival, which was held at the end of the year 2023. He stressed that the Office of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in cooperation with Hadhramaut University, will continue to hold this festival in the coming years, believing in the importance of sports in the lives of female students and their role in developing their skills and abilities.
For her part, the President of the Women’s Sports Federation in Hadhramaut Coast, Faiza Al-Yazidi, explained that the most prominent sports and events in which women are currently active are chess and table tennis. Students from institutes and universities participate in these two games, in addition to the deaf, mute, and physically challenged.
She pointed out that women’s participation in sports was broader in the past, as it included many different games and achieved advanced positions in both Sana’a and Aden, through cooperation with the Ministry of Education in organizing sports activities for school students from different age groups. Due to the customs and traditions prevalent in society, the Women’s Federation was limited to two sports: chess and table tennis, in consideration of the conditions of girls and society.
Al-Yazidi explained that the lack of support allocated to sports federations by the ministry is limited to implementing one or two sports activities per year. Despite this, there is a continuous endeavor to open new paths with the public and private sectors to increase financial support and maintain the continuity of women’s sports
She mentioned that the federation implemented many sports activities in cooperation with school students during the period from 2005 to 2019. The federation also organized annual tournaments and festivals during the period from 2020 to 2024, in cooperation with universities, institutes, and associations concerned with the deaf, mute, and physically challenged. She stressed that the federation will continue its efforts to enhance women’s sports during the coming period, working to increase the number of sports available to women.
The Veteran Athlete Shagufa: A Journey of Achievements
Athlete Shagufa Absi is a Yemeni sports icon who has inspired generations since the seventies of the last century. She paved her way in the world of women’s sports by practicing many sports in which she achieved various accomplishments. Not content with achieving personal achievements, she worked diligently to support women’s sports in Yemen through her tireless efforts to support women’s sports in the country.
Absi participated in the 100-meter race at the school level in Aden Governorate in 1970 and won first place. She excelled in volleyball during her participation at the secondary level. At the university, she continued to excel in table tennis, participating in tournaments at the college level.
Athlete Shagufa Absi embodied a shining example of the creative Yemeni woman and went beyond the limits of personal achievements to become an ambassador for Yemeni women’s sports in various international forums. Her achievements were not limited to sports fields but extended to include the field of refereeing, training, and supporting women’s activities, as she is a member of the Yemeni General Athletics Federation and is responsible for women’s activities in the federation.
Absi has also received many specialized training courses, including a refereeing course in athletics, a handball training course, and a women’s sports strategy course that was held in 2016 in the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Regarding her role in supporting women’s activities, Shagufa stated that she supervised the training of many female athletes in athletics, who participated in international forums. She also trained female students in volleyball and handball, which contributed to the participation of many of them with the national teams in sports forums. Absi was nominated for membership in the West Asian Federation in 2012. She was also nominated for assistant membership in the Tilal Aden Club as a sports activist in 2022.
The Challenges
Despite the progress made by women’s sports in Yemen during successive periods, they still face many challenges that hinder their progress and limit their potential.
Hasan Masjidi confirms the existence of challenges hindering women’s sports activities in Yemen, which constitute part of the general challenges facing sports in the country in general. These include the lack of integrated sports facilities affiliated with the Yemeni Federation that preserve women’s privacy in many Yemeni regions, which hinders their effective practice of sports. They must make do with facilities belonging to other sectors, such as universities, institutes, or schools, which provide some of the necessary services for women in sports.
He added, “Among the challenges is the lack of financial resources allocated to women’s sports activities, which are very limited, which hinders the organization of women’s sports events and tournaments periodically. Also, some social customs and traditions still reject the presence of girls in some sports, especially movement-based games like football.”
For her part, Faiza Al-Yazidi indicated that the most prominent challenges facing women’s sports activities in Yemen are customs and traditions. Some families restrict their daughters from practicing some sports, and some members of society are still unaware of the importance of women’s sports and their health, psychological, and mental benefits for girls.
She added, “There is a weakness in the training and qualification process. Women’s sports suffer from a lack of training and qualification opportunities at the official level, which hinders their development and achievement of excellence. Also, women’s sports do not receive sufficient support from the official authorities, which affects their ability to organize women’s sports events and tournaments periodically.”
She stressed that despite these challenges, there are strenuous efforts and plans that the Women’s Sports Federation seeks to implement during the coming stage, including establishing a women’s base by organizing training courses in refereeing and several activities.
The player and coach Absi also believes that women’s sports in Yemen face many challenges, some of which are caused by social and cultural factors, and others are due to a lack of official support.
She explained that the lack of family encouragement is one of the most important challenges. Some families do not encourage their daughters to play sports, which hinders their participation in various sports activities. Also, some school administrations do not pay enough attention to women’s sports, and female athletes still face negative reactions from some members of society, which has reduced their freedom to practice sports.
Recommendations and Suggestions
Hasan Masjidi proposed several suggestions for improving women’s participation in various sports: Establishing women’s sports clubs and federations by seeking alternative funding sources. This includes partnerships and sponsorships with commercial entities or sports supporters. Investing their resources through organizing profitable sporting events. Increasing financial allocations for the Ministry of Youth offices to align with the current situation and enable them to fulfill their obligations towards sports activities.
Faiza Al-Yazidi calls for increasing financial allocations for women’s federations. This will enable them to conduct training and refereeing courses, organize better championships and festivals annually, and establish a fully equipped gym with at least basic facilities and equipment. This will preserve women’s privacy and enable them to receive proper training and qualifications. Raising community awareness about the importance of women’s sports and its benefits to society through awareness and educational campaigns.
Despite the challenges, Yemeni women have made significant achievements in sports, both individually and collectively, locally and internationally. They have managed to overcome the barrier of society’s misconception of women in sports. Official bodies, despite their modest capabilities, have contributed in one way or another to improving and increasing women’s sports activities and ensuring their continuity.