When you think of football, whether professional or as a fun pastime, you might think of a team of eleven, including a goalkeeper, playing against an opposing team. Or, maybe you might think of the team’s coach, usually a man, training and directing his team to play their best. But, in Egypt, one woman has defied stereotypes to become the country's first female coach to train professional teams at home, and abroad!
Faiza Haider, who was formerly captain Egypt's national women's team, was signed up this year by the fourth division side Ideal Goldi, based in Giza. As being a football coach is usually seen as a man's job, Haider expectedly had to jump over hurdles in order to achieve her dreams. “There is usually some mockery at the beginning,” she said to Reuters at the time, “but then they realize that they will learn something, that they will develop their skills.”
What put Haider on the path of becoming a coach and now the country’s first female coach of a men’s football team was always her love for the sport. As a little girl, Haidar would go out and play football with the boys in her streets. Often seen by Egyptians as a hobby for boys, her mother would often try to discourage her from playing. "No, I will go," she would say to her mother. Her determination would lead her to playing her first match in the African Nations Qualifier in 1998 at the age of 14. By the time she was 19, she found herself playing professionally for her club.
Haidar has since made some impressive accomplishments as a coach. According to Yahoo! News, she became the first person in Egypt, man or woman, to be certified "Premier Skills Coach Educator," certified by the English Premier League, one of the world’s biggest and most competitive leagues. In addition to coaching the male team in Giza, Haider has also trained girls from ages 10 to 12 through her community centers, with one of her teams even winning their very first Special Olympics Female Unified Football cup in 2017.
