Houriya Al Taheri
33-year-old Emirati sports star Houriya Al Taheri is the UAE Asian Football Confederation’s first licensed female football coach, and the Technical Director of the UAE Women’s Football Committee. With so much under her belt already and showing no signs of slowing, she is now one of the faces of Nike’s Dream Crazier campaign that hopes to shine a light on inspirational global stars of the sporting world.
“I’m not just a coach or an athlete, I’m a human – so helping people grow, or giving someone an opportunity is really important to me,” Al Taheri told Harper’s Arabia. “I feel happy and content when I go home at the end of the day, knowing that I was able to do that. Even when we lose a game, I always just think to myself: these young girls have an opportunity, that was not always available – and that is what is most important.”
Houriya Al Taheri coaching
Also part of Nike’s incredibly empowering video campaign are marathoner, Manal Rostom, and Emirati hijabi figure skater, Zahra Lari who conveyed their journeys as part of the major ad. In Houriya Al Taheri’s video, she shares how from the moment she first kicked a football whilst playing with her brother, it became her dream and ambition to become a footballer.
As she grew and achieved her goals, she became devoted to empowering other female footballers within the Arab world. Now, with bigger ambitions, Al Taheri has her sights set on becoming the first Arab woman to own her very own football club!
