The Football Future Is Bright

Yasmeen Shabsough, Jordan

My name is Yasmeen Shabsough, I'm 25 years old. I'm a former Jordanian national team football player. I have been playing for almost 12 years and currently I'm pursuing my Master's degree at AISTS (International Academy of Sport Science and Technology) in Switzerland. I’m doing the Master of Advanced Studies in Sport Administration and Technology and am currently based in Switzerland. I have been working in sport for development for almost three years, helping my society and my community through sports.

What has been your football journey up until now? 

My football journey started at a very young age, from when I could walk. I grew up in a family where I was the only girl. I always wanted to fit in with my brother and male cousins when we played. It all started from there. I fell in love with the game, and then I started playing at my school with my male classmates. Then afterwards at the age of 14, I joined one of the local girls’ clubs here in Jordan called Amman Club. A year later when I was 15 years old, I was called up to join the U16s women's national team.

And from there, I escalated my way up throughout the years to the Senior national team. I played international tournaments, national tournaments, I won the Jordan professional league four times with my club, and I represented Jordan in different championships and tournaments all around the world. I'm still an active player, but not with the national team. I'm an active player with a Jordanian club that plays in the professional league. And after I moved to Switzerland, now I'm playing in a local team in Switzerland as well. 

Who is in the photos? Where were the photos taken?

The photos were taken in one of the undeveloped places in Jordan. You can see our GIZ sport for development youth leaders and the kids from one of the schools in this area. The youth leaders put together a festival for the kids and they were running the whole sport for development event.

What did you try to show with the photos? Was there any wider meaning with the photos?

I wanted to show how sport for development events are put together and how it was time for our youth leaders (who we spent two years training and giving them workshops and courses, so they become future leaders) to put together a clinic and run it by themselves without our support and without our help.

I wanted to show that if you invest time and effort in a person, then that person can become a leader in the future. The future is the youth. So put your time, put your effort and resources in the youth to make sure that they become future leaders. And we will have a better generation in the future.

What are the opportunities for female footballers in Jordan?

Actually, there is huge potential now. There are big opportunities for girls in the football world in Jordan. There is a lot of effort and there is a lot of investment in women's football.

This is creating big opportunities for girls. When I first started, we only had eight teams playing all across Jordan and nowadays we have 14 - and I'm pretty sure they are growing more and more. This is a huge improvement, and more opportunities are coming for the girls. The Jordan Football Association are putting in so much effort and planning in terms of developing women's football – and not just the players, but also coaches.

Now we have female coaches that they are qualified, and they coach the U17 and U20 national teams. We also have certified referees. There's a lot of improvement and opportunities for females in the football world in Jordan. It is changing and improving, and it will continue to improve.

What is the future for women's football in Jordan?

The future is bright for women's football in Jordan. A lot of resources from the Jordanian Football Federation is put into women's football. There is a huge potential, there's a huge future. Nowadays with the different age groups that we have, a lot of time, coaching and quality is put in women's football, especially with the strategy that the football Federation is following. The support of his Royal Highness, Prince Ali bin Hussein is creating big investment and potential in women's football in Jordan. The leagues are improving as more teams are joining. So a bright future is waiting for our women's national team and women's football.

What role does football play in Jordanian society?

Football is the most popular sport in Jordan, and it plays a big role in Jordanian lives because everybody starts playing football when they are young in the streets. And for the girls, it's a way of presenting themselves. It's a way where they can meet other girls, play together on one pitch, and reach whatever they are dreaming of. 

Football for Jordanian society is about hope and dedication, it's where you learn competencies, and where you learn values about life. It’s where you make friends, and you can make your country proud. It’s all about good values and pride towards Jordan.

What does football mean to you? 

Football actually means everything to be honest, because I started playing and then I decided to work in the world of football and I'm pursuing that. Football is literally everything, my whole life, because I play football, I studied football, I work in football and all my life is surrounded by football, wherever I go. 

If I'm not playing, I'm watching. If I'm not watching, I'm reading news about football. If I'm not reading news about football, I'm speaking to my football teammates. So my whole life is surrounded with football and it's the place where I am most passionate and where I forget all about life and stress and anxiety. And I enjoy myself!

What sacrifices have you made? What have been the best and worst times?

I was always prioritizing football over anything and everything. I always had football practices at the same time as when my family or friends would gather or there was a wedding. But I would always choose football over attending those gatherings.

One big sacrifice that I made during my football journey is that when I was in 12th grade, here in Jordan we have big tests that you have to go through to be able to go to university afterwards - and choose the major and the university that you want. It’s a huge pressure on the students.

And before those exams, each school does trial exams to prepare the students for how the real exams will look. At the same time when my school was doing the pre-test exams, I had the AFC qualifiers with my national team in Vietnam. So my choice was either to not join my national team and stay, study and do these pre-exams to prepare myself for the real exams, or I would go and join my national team and then put extra effort studying after I come back for the real exams. And that's what I did. I sacrificed taking those pre-test exams - I decided to join the national team for the AFC qualifiers in Vietnam and study over there.

I made sure that when I came back, I gave the amount of time to study and prepare myself for the real exams. That was actually a big step for me. That was a big sacrifice that I made in my football journey. 

The first time I was approached and called up to the Jordanian national team was maybe one of the best times in my life. When I started working in sport for development, there were always training camps and travel with the national team. When we won tournaments or whenever we represented the Jordanian national team in different countries, it was always a great time. But the worst time was when I decided that I had to let go of playing with the national team and focus more on my career.

What does your family think of your life in football?

My family are the most supportive people around me. They have been there supporting me since day one. It's because of them that I started playing football and that I continued playing football and it is them who also pushed me to pursue this Master's program.

They fully have my back, whatever I decide to do and especially with football. My first time starting to play football, it was with my family. It was with my brother, cousins, my father, my uncle, my mother. So my family are my biggest supporters. They believe in me and they believe in whatever I'm doing. They push me and support me in whatever I'm doing.

This is a blessing. I'm lucky to have them in my life. I dedicate all my achievements in my life to them and to their support. I carry them with me wherever I go. I carry their support. I carry their love with me wherever I go, because without them I would never be in this place right now.

What is your favourite photo?

The photos are all very precious to me. Every single one of them represent one of the youth leaders and represent the kids that participated in this event. The whole event was a great memory. Because when you put so much time and effort into youth and then you see them implement and you see them grow, this is amazing.

Are there any good stories connected with the people you photographed?

I was the coordinator of the GIZ youth leadership project and with my colleagues we created this youth leadership project from scratch. It was all based on trial and error. We learned how to do a youth leadership project the hard way. We trained the youth leaders for two years. We gave them a lot of workshops, exchanged knowledge, put them into different situations. We put so much effort and time and resources into those youth, so they can become future leaders.

That event was the first time for those youth to put together an event from A to Z. They brought 150 kids from the school and ran the event by themselves. We didn't do anything for them. It was their time. We came as guests and this is not normally what we do. It's always us who prepare the events and the youth come and help us. But this time it was the youth who did every single thing. These people are like my young brothers and sisters, because I saw them grow as leaders. And I see the future in their eyes.

What are your ambitions?

After I finish studying and after I graduate, I want to work in the world of sports. I want to work in international federations. I want to implement what I have learned throughout my Master's program. I want to put all the knowledge and passion that I have for sports and especially football into seeing how we can develop the game, how we can make women's football (and football in general) bigger, brighter, increase opportunities and make it inclusive for everybody to play. I have been working in sport for development, using football as a tool to educate, to help develop society and include everybody, using it as a tool for diversity. 

I want to continue working in this sector, which is sports and specifically football for good, and make our future generations and future competitions more accessible and more inclusive. I want to work in the world of sports and football in the future and use it to help communities and use it to open more opportunities for girls and women and people with disability to play the game and have access to this beautiful game.