Player Profile | Katie Donegan, England

Meet Katie Donegan, defender with Basingstoke Town LFC in southern England. Katie describes how important football has been to her through life and how it keeps pulling her back! She also tells us how she wants others to have the same opportunities as she has had.

Katie is helping fundraise to ensure fellow athlete Josefina Martorell from Argentina can join us on the mountain. If you would like to help Katie and Josefina, please donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Josefina-Mount-Kili

I grew up on the outskirts of London with two older brothers.  Whatever my brothers did I wanted to do too and I started playing football because my eldest brother did. My Dad was especially supportive and helped me find a local girls team to play in when I was about 8. My Dad has always been my biggest fan and he still comes to watch me play a couple of decades later! He has been to about 90% of my games throughout my career and I feel so lucky that I have had him supporting me all the way.

I played any and all sports going when I was growing up. I played cricket briefly but that clashed with football and I had to make a choice and football won! Football is by far my favourite sport though and the only one I play now.

Football has helped me through some tough times, I find it a great way to de-stress and switch off from the rest of the world.  Nothing else matters when you’re out there on the pitch with your teammates.  I am exceptionally fortunate with all the opportunities and support I’ve had.

My 2005/06 season when I was playing for Barnet was my highlight – we won the treble – the league, the league cup and the Middlesex Cup.  We also made it to the last 16 of the FA cup where we met Liverpool and narrowly lost 3-2 having gone ahead twice in the game! My proudest moment in football was being awarded player of the season in such a successful season and in such a strong team. It felt great to be recognised and to know I made a big difference to the team.

I stopped playing when I started working full time as life simply got in the way. But something pulled me back 8 years later. I came back, thinking “I’m getting older, I’ll give it one more year and see what happens”. I was 31 at the time. We have a 50 year-old in our team. That put things into perspective - and now I realise I still have lots to give! I play for my local club Basingstoke Town and we’re doing really well – promoted last year, though a harder season this year.

I hope that women in other countries get the kind of opportunities that I have here in the UK. I realise I am fortunate with all the opportunities I’ve had to play sport as a woman and there are women in other countries that don’t get that kind of support and are actively discouraged from playing. I have never experienced that personally and I want all women to have that same experience.

I’ve never been told I can’t play and it shocks me that women are actively discouraged from playing sport in other countries.  I want girls and women all over the world to have the same opportunities that I’ve had here in the UK. I feel really lucky that I have never had to overcome any kind of adversity as a result of being female. I can’t wait to climb the mountain in June and hopefully inspire other girls and women to get involved with sport in general - and football in particular.

To support Katie and Josefina climb Mt Kilimanjaro and support their efforts to be inspirations to others, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Josefina-Mount-Kili

To find out more about the challenge, please go to www.equalplayingfield.com

Player Profile | Paige Uttley, USA

Meet Paige Uttley, a Centre Back from California in the US. Here Paige describes why she plays football and what climbing Mt Kilimanjaro with the Equal Playing Field squad means to her.

To support Paige please visit https://www.youcaring.com/paigeuttleyandtheequalplayingfieldteam-799662  

I’ve been playing football since I was six. My older sister had started playing a year earlier and I decided it looked like fun. It was a co-ed team and I loved the fact that I could not only keep up with, but beat the boys. I’ve always preferred team sports - I used to joke at university that my team was my sorority. Most of my oldest friends are people I played sports with.

I tried every sport I could - football, basketball, track and field, volleyball, tennis, snowboarding. I even tried ballet and gymnastics, although it was quickly clear that I was too clumsy for these! But sports were a great way to work off my energy and make friends. My family were really supportive - I think we were at football tournaments every weekend of my childhood. My dad was my number one fan.

By the time I was 14, my team was playing all over the Western United States. I was also in the Northern California Olympic Development Program. My proudest moment in soccer was winning the
California State Cup. I played at university and after graduating I joined a local women’s club in London. Now I’m back in the US, I play purely for fun. I play on pick up teams, indoor teams, women’s teams and co-ed teams. I am not as good as I was! But I still love the comradery, the friendships, the exercise, and both the mental and physical release that football provides.

When I play football I don’t have to worry about work or bills or expectations, I just have to play. It brings me together with those I love and gives us something to share - my husband and I play football together, my friends and I play football together.

Can you believe people would say ‘sorry you only have girls’ to my dad! Luckily he would immediately respond ‘I’m not!’. But it’s still outrageous that people would even think that, let alone say it. I work in the sciences, which are still very male dominated. In my first job after university I had a colleague who one day refused to call me by my name but instead only referred to me as ‘baby’! Women do need men to stand up and speak up for them. But we also need to stand together. That’s why I’m climbing Kili.

To support Paige please visit https://www.youcaring.com/paigeuttleyandtheequalplayingfieldteam-799662

To find out more about the challenge, please go to www.equalplayingfield.com

Player Profile | Sasha Andrews, Canada

Meet Sasha Andrews from Canada. Seasoned Canadian women’s national team representative with three world cups under her belt, here she tells us how football has been the golden thread of her life, and why “giving back” makes up so much of life right now.

To support Sasha and the other Equal Playing Field players, please visit visit http://equalplayingfield.com/donate/

I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada and had a dream to be like my dad - and that meant soccer. I played with my two brothers in the backyard barefoot - we must have ruined my mother's garden and my father's fence over and over again as soccer never stopped. I soon joined the boys’ team coached by my dad and that is where a little seed was planted in me that I had to water.

I play football because football chose me. My dream to be a pro came sooner than I thought, when I was selected to represent Canada at 15 years old and it continued - with the seniors, through college, and then in professional leagues around the globe.

Football is my tool, it is my passion, it runs through my life. I have played 30 years, been to 3 world cups, 1 Olympics, I’ve played in Norway, Australia, Sweden and Iceland and here in North America. I got a full Division 1 scholarship and soccer paved that way for me to be educated with 2 degrees. My grandmother still follows soccer to this day - she thinks she might still see me on TV!

To play for Canada was a childhood dream and when I got to be on national duty for the first time and feel our Canada soccer logo on my chest I was so honored to be representing my country and my family on a world stage. From that day on in 1999 until 2011 I felt the fire and pride I had for my country. My first World Cup was 2002 - I scored the winning penalty in penalty shoot-out against Brazil putting us into our very first ever World Cup final. It was in my home town so I became the hero in front of 50-60,000 fans. It still gives me chills. My brother who passed as well as my other brother Dorian were there – wearing a shirt with my pic on it saying “Proud brothers of Sasha Andrews”. A memory for life!

Today I still play with men but encounter the same story - the guys never pass to me until I prove myself. The discrimination is frustrating because it is consistent. I joined a men's league here in California. I was just as good as the guys, but it was so trying to hear the constant put downs, the constant sexist talk. One day, a ref refused to officiate the game if I was on the pitch. Even though my team stuck up for me I wasn’t allowed to play. The league later threatened my team with being kicked out if they carried on fielding me.

In the end, they won. I was banned.

Later, I joined a woman’s team just to play and enjoy being the little girl that originally that fell in love with game. Soon I started hearing that I was “too good” and should “go back to my own kind”. I was later kicked out –I got an emailing telling me the league wouldn’t allow pros to play.

In the end, they won. I was banned.

So – how will we realize equality if there is so much judgement and fear and distrust on both sides?

Equality to me is living beyond the edge of discrimination, judgment and fear to be whoever you are all the time. When you ask a child whose mind is at its purist, there are no ethnic, social, economic, religious, or cultural boundaries. Sport creates bridges and breaks down barriers. Sport teaches you teamwork, empathy and respect, it creates a strong sense of morality and appreciation for differences and community. If we can use sport to get to this place, we will shine - we will give hope where there is despair and love where there is hate. I believe in giving back and now my life is about that. I am a PE teacher where I spread my love for the game and its deeply rooted life lessons to my kids.

Despite all the incredible experiences I have had over 30 years of playing soccer, climbing this mountain and breaking a world record is paramount to anything I have accomplished in my career. Being part of this project for me is the living light of my universe right now, as a soccer player but also as a world citizen.

The ball is shaped like the world and the game makes the world go round. Football is equality because anyone can play - all you need is one ball.

To support Sasha and the other Equal Playing Field players, please visit http://equalplayingfield.com/donate/ To find out more about the challenge, please go to www.equalplayingfield.com

Player Profile | Zahra Mahmoodi, Afghanistan

Meet Zahra Mahmoodi from Afghanistan. Here she gives a very honest account of her life growing up and how she never ended her dream to play football and what she has done to ensure it doesn’t remain a dream for other girls.

To support Zahra and the other Equal Playing Field players, please visit visit http://equalplayingfield.com/donate/

I was born 26 years ago in Iran as an Afghan refugee in a neighborhood where many Afghan refugee families were living who were forced to leave Afghanistan due to war and armed conflicts. I started working from the age of 7 because even though my father was working in 2 or 3 jobs at the same time he was receiving very low wages for hard labour in poor working environments. First I and my siblings were packaging electric tapes at home after school and I remember my hands were always full of glue - which, aside from my physical appearance that marked me out as different to the other kids, gave another reason to be discriminated against by some of my Iranian classmates and teachers. But I was happy and thankful that I was able to go to school while many other refugee kids could not.

I fell in love with soccer when I was 9 years old and became a huge fan of Manchester United. On my way to school I would see boys playing soccer everywhere, but I could not think of anywhere I could play. When our school built a handball field I told some of my classmate “let’s play soccer in it, I know the rules” and we started playing every morning before school. But soon after, the school administration warned us that they will kick us out if we play soccer again because apparently it was not appropriate for the girls to play. Soccer was just for boys.

One of our teachers advised us to sign for a private club in a gym where we might be able to play. But Afghan refugees were not welcomed in the club and even if the door hadn’t been closed in my face I would not have been able to afford it.

It broke my heart and I tried to say goodbye to the dream of playing but could not. The economic situation of our family did not become any better and suddenly my father decided that we should sew soccer balls at home to sell in the market. During the day we sewed soccer balls and at night my sister and I would stay in our little workshop to pump and clean the balls.

That was the first time I could play with a ball away from the critical eyes of society. In 2004, when I was 14, my school decided to refuse us entry – even thought we had the right documentation. Despite the fact that there were so many health, security and education challenges to overcome right after the fall of Taliban, we decided we should retun to Afghanistan.

Back in Kabul, I made friends very quickly and started teaching them how to play soccer. We had no soccer field, so we made goals with rocks and played on the school’s dusty yard. Many of my friends have never run or laughed out loud before as it was considered inappropriate for the girls. The girls loved this game and wanted to play it more often.

After about a year we learned that the Afghanistan Football Federation was considering having a girls’ soccer tournament – meaning there were a few other girls interested in playing. After playing in that tournament, I was chosen for the Afghanistan’s first Girls’ National Team.

It was not easy to play soccer in a male dominated society where girls have been denied their very basic rights for decades and where issues such as child marriage and domestic violence are an everyday challenge.

Our team players faced many social and economic challenges beside the security issues. Most of us had to walk hours to reach the practice field which was within the International Security Assistance Force’s headquarter in Kabul. Sometimes our coach or I had to talk to girls’ families to convince them to let them come and play by promising they would be safe and that we respected religious and traditional values.

Sometimes I would go to different schools to convince their principles to let the girls play soccer in their schools and they would object most of the times. My own family was not happy about me playing soccer, mostly for economic and security reasons, especially because being part of a minority group, a Hazara, made me even more vulnerable in society. But I always felt so much responsibility towards other kids that never had a chance to experience this wonderful game.

I had a dream to become a soccer player.  I accomplished my dream even though it seemed impossible at first.  Now, I have a dream of an equal world where it does not matter if you are a girl or a boy and you can dream of being whatever you want!

I just wanted more and more kids find their way to the wonderful world of soccer when you can share your joy with your teammates and forget all your problems in home and school. I became the Captain of our national team and played in many national and international games. I was also the first female in Afghanistan to become a FIFA licensed coach and founded under 14 girls’ national team. In my efforts to bring more attention to the female sport players I met with John Kerry secretary of states and later I won the Muhammad Ali humanitarian award.

I am climbing this mountain for the girls who climb a mountain of challenges in their everyday life just for very basic rights, such as playing games and participating in sports and social activities. I hope that through doing so, we can bring more attention to the girls and women who need global support and attention. I want to tell them that they are not alone and I appreciate their fight for their rights. Each time they climb a mountain, they are in fact sweeping away a stone from the path that other girls will follow.

To support Zahra and the other Equal Playing Field players, please visit visit http://equalplayingfield.com/donate/

To find out more about the challenge, please go to www.equalplayingfield.com

Player Profile | Haneen Al-Khateeb, Jordan

Meet Haneen Al-Khateeb from Jordan. She’s represented her country at the U17 level at the World Championships and tells us here what it is like to be a young female athlete trying to compete at the highest level and why she is joining the Equal Playing Field squad.

Haneen is kindly being supported by Sportrak but is still looking for additional supporters. Want to help her and her teammates get up Mt Kilimanjaro and inspire the next generation? Visit https://startsomegood.com/equalplayingfield

 All my experiences have taught me that football is not just a game. Football is life, hope, and love.

I grew up in a small town playing football with the neighborhood boys in the streets from the age of 9. I joined a local club and later, was selected for the U-17 national team. In 2010 I played in the world championships in Sri Lanka. I then co-organized the 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan and am involved in football clinics for refugees. I believe there will be many more football opportunities in my life and I’m very excited for what will be ahead.

Football hasn’t always been so popular in Jordan. It’s grown a lot though it’s not yet equal to men’s football. Fortunately, Prince Ali has been a huge supporter of gender equality in football, not just in Jordan but all around the world. He was successful in helping to lift FIFA’s ban on the hijab in women’s football and that has been so helpful to me and other hijabi athletes.

I have been told to stop playing in the streets. I have been told to stop playing the game I love. I have been told that football wasn’t for women. I have been told that women are not strong enough to compete. I have been judged by what I wore.

Football was the first opportunity for me to fight for what I wanted and encouraged me to chase my dreams. Football has given me strength, passion and opportunities in life. 

Now I am a 22 year old hijabi woman athlete. I run, I play football, I cycle. I still constantly worry about what people will say or what people will think. I only ask to be respected in whatever sport I decide to take up, regardless of my gender.

My family are my number one supporters. They’ve always known that I was not going to submit to society’s rules if they were unfair. No matter what, I know they’ll always be there to encourage me to follow my dreams and I would not be where I am today without them. 

As a hijabi athlete, I know the obstacles and struggles that women face. As a journalism and media student, I see the power of media and how it can change people’s lives. We need to show the world the abilities and achievements of every successful woman. Thousands of talented and passionate women athletes have many stories to tell and are waiting to tell them.

Climbing this mountain shows I am able - and crazy enough - to go after what I want with passion, determination and love. It means I have accepted the challenge to prove to every single woman that anything is possible regardless of gender or what society says is acceptable. I’m doing it for myself. I’m doing it for my love of the game. I’m doing it for each person who always believed in me.  I’m doing it to inspire and be inspired.

If you would like to support Haneen and her team mates break a world record and inspire a new generation please donate here https://startsomegood.com/equalplayingfield

To find out more about the challenge, please go to www.equalplayingfield.com