Why Egypt’s football clubs are losing female players

20-year-old Egyptian student and football player Rooka Saeed Mousa writes about why Egypt’s football clubs are losing female players. (Courtesy of Lina Geoushy)

“We don’t get big checks or millions of dollars or clubs buying and selling players,” writes 20-year-old Egyptian student and football player Rooka Saeed Mousa.

This article is part of Malala Fund’s collaboration with Studio 1854 and British Journal of Photography.

As a young girl, I never watched or followed professional football in Egypt. I learned about the game organically, by watching my two brothers — one older and one younger — play football in the streets of Cairo. Eventually, I started playing with them.

Over time, people began to notice that I played football well — just as well as my brothers. I knew I was talented and that I wanted to practice more, so I started playing with a team at our church in Moqattam, a neighborhood in southeastern Cairo. There football was a form of leisure, an activity the church used to motivate young people to participate in religious activities. I was just having fun — I still wasn’t thinking of it as a profession.

“Over time, people began to notice that I played football well — just as well as my brothers,” writes Rooka. (Courtesy of Lina Geoushy)

But one day my coach in Moqattam, Coach Romany, pulled me aside. He told me I was talented, and that I needed to nurture my talent for football and train toward a professional career. So I started playing with an organization called Premiere Skills, which focuses on empowering girls and women through football. At their facilities I played mixed football with boys and girls, and our coaches taught us how to interact with boys with confidence. They told us that there is no difference between a boy and a girl — in football and in life, skills are the decisive factor.

“There is no difference between a boy and a girl — in football and in life, skills are the decisive factor,” says Rooka. (Courtesy of Lina Geoushy)

During one of our games, a coach named Passant Mehawed saw me playing. She approached me afterward and explained that she used to play for the Egyptian National Football Team, and that she thought I was talented enough to play professionally. I wasn’t sure this path would be possible — when I was younger, my older brother used to always tell me that girls don’t play football. I knew I would face many difficulties. Before meeting Passant, I wasn’t aware that there were women’s football teams or even a league. But for me, it was a dream to become a very good football player. I wanted to train and someday join a club abroad. So I decided to go for it. 

“Before meeting Passant, I wasn’t aware that there were women’s football teams or even a league. But for me, it was a dream to become a very good football player.” (Courtesy of Lina Geoushy)

Passant helped me join a real football club, and from there I joined One Football Academy, a training program for Egyptian girls who dream of becoming professional football players. During my year with One Football Academy, I worked really hard. Training all the time was physically and emotionally exhausting. But my game improved, and from the Academy I was selected to sign as a main player on the best football club in Egypt for women, Wadi Degla. As a professional player, I started getting paid a salary — and though it was only enough money to offer a little support, the symbol was important to me. 

"As a professional player, I started getting paid a salary — and though it was only enough money to offer a little support, the symbol was important to me," writes Rooka. (Courtesy of Lina Geoushy)

But though I had achieved a dream, I faced a lot of challenges. My brothers and sisters were not supportive of me playing football professionally and only wanted me to approach it as a hobby. During this period of my life they were often too busy to accompany me to and from practices, so I had to commute to the field alone after school. I was too young to use public transportation, so sometimes I would take a taxi or an Uber, which cost a lot of money. To afford my minimum of three training sessions per week, I used my personal allowance that I was supposed to reserve for buying food at school or going out with my friends. I deprived myself of things girls my age would normally do to go to practice because I loved football so much.

“I deprived myself of things girls my age would normally do to go to practice because I loved football so much.” (Courtesy of Lina Geoushy)

But after a while, the financial stress began to compromise my health. I stopped buying snacks or food during school, and even when I was at home I would be too tired from practice to eat. My skin was suffering from training in the sun and I had wounds and scars everywhere on my body. I wore pants when I was at home so that my mother wouldn’t find out about these injuries and tell me not to go to football practice again. I went through a lot and still face challenges today, but now I know how to deal with them better because I am much older. 

It’s not only boys who train hard in football. For female football players like me, building a professional career requires a lot of hard work. Here in Egypt, girls and women who want to pursue professional football receive very little institutional support. Only a few clubs have women’s teams, and the funding and resources they are given are merely symbolic — not at all comparable to what boys’ and men’s teams receive. We don’t get big checks or millions of dollars or clubs buying and selling players. That’s why every Egyptian female football player’s dream is to play abroad — and why so many of them end up leaving.

“I am hoping all my hard work and all the effort I put into football comes to fruition and that I can prove to my family or anyone who tried to discourage me that it was worth it,” says Rooka. (Courtesy of Lina Geoushy)

As for me, I am hoping all my hard work and all the effort I put into football comes to fruition and that I can prove to my family or anyone who tried to discourage me that it was worth it. My dream is to play in a football club that pays me enough money to buy a car and be independent. But until women’s football develops in Egypt — until the federation gives support to our teams and fulfills our wishes for more money and respect — I’ll need to leave my country to achieve it.