All around the world when you mention football (soccer), the first thing that comes to mind is a team of successful men and some very experienced and famous football players. But why don’t we ever remember Ada Hegerberg from Norway, winner of the Ballon d’Or, or the name of the best female football player in the world, Marta Vieira da Silva, from Brazil? Not only men, but even we (women), don’t know their names, while some of us consider football to be a man’s sport.
On June 26 our journalistic team met a female football team called “Hestia FC”. We met on a football pitch, a place we always associate with men’s football teams practicing. This meeting was really amazing for me, because I have never had such an experience before. Ms Katerina Salta, the manager and in fact the founder of the team, welcomed us. Her plan was to create a football team of refugee women and it was an amazing idea.
What fascinated me when meeting this team, was the presence of some women from Afghanistan. The first thing that came to mind after meeting them on the football pitch was the news that had come to light regarding the President of the Afghan Football Federation, revealing the insecurity within women’s football in Afghanistan. This was the news: In the office of the President of the Afghan Football Federation women have been sexually abused. After this story emerged, the President of the Afghan Football Federation was banned for life by FIFA. Now, in this foreign country, I see a lot of Afghan girls training in security and freedom.
Ms Katerina Salta described her 4 years’ of experience working with refugees in the past. During this time she worked with both children’s and men’s football teams. She worked for various organisations that help refugees living in camps, and also acted as a volunteer. She realised how football can help refugees and change their lives in a positive way, giving them unique opportunities at a time when women do not have such opportunities – meaning all women of course, not just refugees. So she decided to create a team for women, trying to promote equal access to sport for them. She talks about football as a tool for empowerment and in her opinion a football pitch is a secure place for everyone.
Another significant feature of this team is the presence of a young man at their training sessions. He is Dawood Ibrahimi, who works with the team as a translator and assistant coach. He told us that he is really happy that he has met girls that didn’t have the opportunity to participate in sport in their own country, and finally they have. Helping them has made him feel even happier.
We also met the coach of “Hestia FC”, Ms Mary Gavala, a cheerful-looking woman and a serious coach. We asked her why she has chosen a refugee team. She said: “I like to meet people from different cultures and coaching this team is a challenge for me”. In her opinion, football can unite the world. She thinks that “when we play football we use our body language to communicate with one other”.
Shakiba Saeedy, one of the players, believes that participating in sports has brought about a lot of changes in her life. She feels a lot of positive energy when she is with the other members of the team. Soqra from Iran learned about the team from one of her Greek friends. She believes that to change the world we need some strong and persistent individuals like Ms Katerina Salta. She explains that the members of “Hestia FC” are like family.
We asked Ms Salta about the team’s future plans and she said: “So far we have had a lot of success. We participated in “Global Goals”, a Women’s Football Tournament, in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, some of our players could not travel with us, because they did not have the necessary documents. But a group of volunteers and I were there, to represent the girls who were not allowed to travel, and to act as their voice. In the end we won the Cup! In September we are travelling for the finals to New York. The other teams supported us and said that if our players cannot travel they will come to Athens to play against us here.”
Hearing hers, the players’ and the coaches’s words, I realised how a ball can really change the world. In a positive way, of course!
If you need more information or if you want to join the team, you can follow Hestia FC on Facebook.
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