In 1920, women’s football was bigger than the men’s game, raising funds for post-war charities and garnering thousands of viewers. In an eye-opening documentary by the British broadcast journalist Claire Balding, she revealed football’s best kept secret; that the Football Association (FA) outlawed female teams on 5 December 1921, stating that “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females” and decreed that “it ought not to be encouraged”. However, a few years later, the Women's Football Association (WFA) was formed and finally, decades later in 1971 the ban was finally lifted. It wasn’t until a couple of more years that women’s football started to regain its popularity.
Al Borgayah is a small village in Upper Egypt, located in Minya Governorate. Like what you would expect a village to be, Al Borgayah is very small and like a typical Upper Egyptian suburb, constrained with rigid rules and cultural norms that mandate its every move. But, when it comes to breaking social taboo, its people demonstrate that all it takes is grit and perseverance.
One of the village’s residents is Yehia Farouk, an ex-football player at one of Cairo’s major football clubs, was forced by his parents to quit his favourite sport after failing his high-school exams.
“I grew up in a very traditional household with very strict parents. When my father heard that I failed my high-school tests, he banned me from seeing my team-mates and eventually from playing in Cairo all-together,” he says.
Feeling helpless, Farouk left his dreams of playing football in the capital behind to focus on his studies and return home. While the athlete did not drop his dream entirely, the then 19-year-old managed to study and make time for football at the village’s youth centre. Tackling exams, college, and becoming a premier league player wasn’t an easy task but Farouk managed to get it done.
Years later, after graduating business school and working abroad, he decided it was time to reignite his love for the game and pay it forward to the village youth centre.
“I didn’t want anyone to experience the feeling of rejection and despair that I had felt as a teen. It was time to do something for my hometown and my country and that’s why I decided to run for president at the Borgayah Youth Centre,” states Farouk. In 2002, he was appointed the Chairman of the centre, allowing him to really shake things up.
“Borgayah did not have a proper football field; we used to play on a dirt pitch which made us and the parents very angry. I planted a grass field myself and with the help of some locals we would water and mow it until it became suitable for playing.”
Bit by bit, Farouk continued to make little great changes around the centre. From fencing the field to building vendor shops (that would later on fund the entire centre), all the puzzle pieces started falling into place. His forward thinking and love for the centre created a trustworthy relationship with the villagers.
“It was very hard to get anything done with the annual financial aid provided by the government. A lot of things needed changing and the only way I could do that was by raising money,” Farouk explains. “I asked parents, built the shops and auctioned them, and even chipped in from my own pocket, to be able to support the centre in every way possible.”
PROGRESS
After 14 years of hard work, Borgayah Youth Centre now has one of the best football pitches in Upper Egypt. Alongside football, Farouk worked hard to build an indoor training hall to support gymnastics, kung fu, events and other physical activities.
As part of the changes that were taking place in the rural village, Farouk and the team’s technical coach, Ayman Taha, wanted to shake things up.
“Two years ago, Coach Ayman and I got the idea for the women’s team. We wanted to break traditional norms and create a medium for our women to express themselves athletically,” says Farouk.
Having experienced a lot of resistance from parents at first, Farouk and Taha were then thrilled to welcome participants from all over the village.
“We had working mothers, school students, college girls, and stay-at-home daughters, come to us from all over the village. At first, their parents would join them during practice but as time went by, the trust grew and level of participation increased.”
What started off as a team of 10 teenage girls training for flexibility, muscle strength, and drills, quickly turned into 25 girls who are now registered with the Egyptian Football Association and have participated in the Women’s Egyptian Premier League, to win the first match against the Hurghada women’s team with a score of 3-1.
“Our first match ever was received with overwhelming excitement,” says Farouk. “We were playing against the Hurghada team on our pitch and we had over 800 viewers in the audience, including the village head. Tens of women cheered the girls on from their balconies. I will never forget that day.”
Now, Farouk is hoping to see more girls, and believes that something as small as a football team can make a different to women in rural Egypt.
“I’m very proud of the girls because now they have something to give them hope and teach them responsibility and commitment. They can now become the strong, independent women that they are.”