Lamyaa Al-Fares
Last year, Saudi Arabia appointed Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan as President of the Saudi Federation for Community Sports, the first time a woman has been given this role in the Kingdom’s history. Since then, the country has been working diligently on increasing the participation of women in athletics. Today, more and more Saudi Arabian women are taking up sports like climbing, football, running, cycling, and even car racing, and this week, one Saudi woman has gone beyond participating in sports to pursuing her dream of becoming a football coach.
According to Al Arabiya English, 29-year-old Lamyaa Al-Fares is looking to transition from being an avid football fan and team member to becoming professional coach for women teams. Al-Fares who has loved playing football ever since she was a child has now joined a football-coaching program for Saudi women in the United States.
“I’m currently enrolled in the program in the United States, and upon completing it, I will prepare for the starting football season, given that I’m one of the founders of ‘Challenge Team’ where I will be a player and an assistant coach,” she explained to the news site.
As a young child, Al-Fares practiced playing football with her brother in the yard of their home until the age of 17. After graduating from college in 2007, she then played football with her girlfriends.
“I am a fan of football, and had been always eager to play it and I’ve never given up on that, I find myself a lot in this sport […] I dream about becoming a successful coach in my country and contribute to developing the sport, as well as create a certified football academy for women […] A friend of mine then suggested we create a football women team and that is when “Challenge” became among the first Saudi female football teams,” she explained.
Al-Fares who currently plays as attacking midfielder also possesses the versality needed to be the team “joker,” which means she can play in several positions, including a goalkeeper. She also has past experience training children under the age of 6, and girls between the ages of 8 and 18, many who train to then graduate and participate in women football teams in Riyadh.
