Deeply passionate about football, Malak Al Zadjali used to play grass football when she lived abroad. Upon her return to Oman, she found that there was no place where women played actively and consistently. Mazoon Al Zadjali, Malak’s sister, a youth advocate, saw it as her responsibility to ensure that a team was created where her sister could play with other girls who were passionate or wished to explore their capabilities in grass football. At the time, Oman had several women’s teams, but they all played futsal.
Mazoon got working; she used her resources to find girls in Muscat who are willing to train and practice. Thus, Oryx Girls Football Community was born. The team started to form slowly and today they have been playing for a year and a half, since July 2018.
The Oryx Girls Football Community welcomes girls of all ages, with a team ranging from ages 11 to 30+. For those who are below the age of 12, it is preferred that they register with an older sister or cousin for the first couple of months. A large focus of Oryx FC is excellence in training from coach Faris Al Ismaili provided to all who join. The mission of the founders and team behind Oryx FC is simple – developing a community that strives for excellence, providing young women the opportunity to express oneself through football, fostering an environment that is safe and inspiring for all and encouraging the promotion of women’s football at all levels.
But there are always challenges which come with launching unique initiatives like this one. Though Oryx Girls Football Community garnered interest and attracted over 30 young girls to the first meeting, and has subsequently seen young women regularly attend practices and training sessions twice a week, indicating that the community is ready for female footballers, they have had challenges with financing. A lot of the girls are school, or college students and it is hard for them to pay the monthly fee. And sponsorships are hard to gather. Nevertheless, Oryx FC has come this far with the support of the pitch owner and coach Faris Al Ismaili, Zak Academy and the young girls who truly believe in their vision and mission; encouragement they are extremely grateful for.
In 2019, Oryx Girls Football Community was given a chance to participate in Global Goals World Cup in Thailand – an accomplishment they hold very dear, despite the fact that they weren’t able to play for the cause they chose as they weren’t able to garner sponsorships. Another one of their greatest achievements is forming a unified team of young women, who are loving, non-judgmental and supportive to each other regardless of age, expertise or social and cultural background.
The impact Oryx Girls Football Community has had on its players is immense. Through their training and regular practises the players have been instilled with confidence, imbibed leadership skills and sportsmanship. “Oryx gave me confidence to become a professional football player,” says Afraa Al Mahrouqi, a team member at Oryx FC. In addition, the players benefitted greatly from the workouts, becoming fitter and stronger in the process. “I am very fit unlike before. I want to represent my country by being the best player I can be,” comments Samar Al Rumhi, another player at Oryx FC.
The future is full of promise for Oryx Girls Football Community. In addition to building a community of women and girls, not just in football but in all sports and physical activities, they wish to have girls who can commit with the support of their family and friends because their people believe them to be great and deserving. They wish to dissipate the stigma around women in sports, and hope the future generations won’t need to fight with the society to do what they love. They hope to continue being a community that empowers one another and can gain physically, mentally and spiritually as well as financially from being part of Oryx FC. And they hope to see a future that considers female sports as important and impressive as male sports, with Oryx FC at the forefront as a pioneer.
To young girls and women out there that wish to build a future in football or sports, the team behind Oryx FC has only this advice: You will find people like you, your job is to look. And you are capable, and your body can do great things, surprise yourself and amaze the world!