{"id":5589,"date":"2021-05-24T11:10:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T11:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/undergroundnews.co.uk\/?p=5589"},"modified":"2021-05-24T11:10:05","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T11:10:05","slug":"british-pakistani-boxing-coach-named-hometown-hero-for-commonwealth-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/undergroundnews.co.uk\/?p=5589&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"British-Pakistani boxing coach named ‘Hometown Hero’ for Commonwealth Games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mishaal Arshad C.M.Underground News.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIRMINGHAM: British-Pakistani woman Haseeba Abdullah is England\u2019s first hijab-wearing boxing coach and has now been\u00a0named<\/a>\u00a0as a \u201cHometown Hero\u201d for the Commonwealth Games taking place next year in Birmingham.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haseeba, who has been described as an incredible ambassador for women\u2019s sport, coaches at Windmill Boxing Gym in Smethwick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to\u00a0Geo News<\/em>, Haseeba said that she developed a passion for boxing at a very young age which was for her, at the time, just an after school activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of families don\u2019t really approve of women in sports but things are changing. There is now a broadening of minds in our community and people are realising that this is beneficial for women and not a negative thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for Haseeba, whose parents are originally from Gujarat, Pakistan, it was different. She had the full support of her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy family is my biggest supporter. My parents are very, very supportive of me. My brothers, who I actually coach alongside, are an amazing team,\u201d said Haseeba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a time when she really wanted to compete and progress in the sport but she was forced not to do so \u2014 the reason being her wearing the hijab. At that time, for women to wear a hijab wasn\u2019t allowed by the boxing associations. Coming from a traditional Muslim, Pakistani family, she couldn\u2019t wear the boxing kit either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dThat was the biggest barrier to getting involved in boxing for young women of Pakistani and other South Asian communities prior to the changes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rules about the boxing dress code were changed by International Boxing Association (AIBA), in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow we can wear full sleeves and cover our legs and even wear the hijab, if necessary. That\u2019s an amazing change for women,\u201d said Haseeba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But by that time. she had decided to move on. As she was earlier unable to compete in the sport she loved so much, she decided to coach other women and keep on pushing the authorities for changes in uniform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games page that recognises her contribution along with those of other community leaders, she\u00a0has\u00a0played a huge role in\u00a0making the sport more inclusive. She helped\u00a0change\u00a0official dress code rules to allow women to wear a headscarf and\u00a0full-length\u00a0clothing\u00a0when training or competing so all the other girls can enjoy the sport more than she did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI sat down, put all my work together, did my research and sent a study to prove that wearing a hijab or being covered in any way didn\u2019t effect your athletic ability and so we need to widen the ruling on clothing to engage more women,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switching to coaching was a natural transition to stay in the game as I couldn\u2019t compete at that time because the rules hadn\u2019t changed yet, Haseeba added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is overwhelmed at being named a \u201cHometown Hero\u201d and feels excited seeing her pictures everywhere and with \u201call the uncles and aunties calling her\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe community voted for me so that shows it\u2019s not just my passion now. I\u2019m appreciated by the whole community which is really, really nice to have,\u201d Haseeba said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that with the Commonwealth Games, more girls from Birmingham will be encouraged to get involved as it\u2019s happening in their hometown and will be amazing opportunity for them to watch and to volunteer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After becoming one of the faces representing her community at the Commonwealth Games, Haseeba is focused on getting the best out of them. She has inspired many girls and now more people are seeing that women have a place in boxing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther boxing clubs and fellow boxing coaches are also trying to create women-only spaces for their local areas. So boxing is definitely on the rise,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MORE FROM PAKISTAN:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>After Tauktae, another cyclone formed in Bay of Bengal<\/a><\/a>Meet Maryam Mujtaba, first woman from Azad Kashmir to become a commercial pilot<\/a><\/a>Pakistan has played important role in supporting Afghan peace process: Pentagon official<\/a><\/a>Sindh govt restricts all \u2018unnecessary movement\u2019 after 8pm<\/a><\/a>Pakistan reopens schools in districts with less than 5% COVID-19 ratio from today<\/a><\/a>PPP to attend Shehbaz Sharif\u2019s dinner party for opposition parties<\/a><\/a>Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar takes oath as Punjab MPA today<\/a><\/a>Number of Hajj pilgrims not yet decided by Saudi authorities, says religious affairs minister<\/a><\/a>Bahrain suspends entry for travellers from Pakistan, India and three other countries<\/a><\/a>Pakistan reports 3,060 new COVID-19 cases in last 24 hours<\/a><\/a>Shafqat Mehmood chairs meeting to finalise exam schedule, reopening of schools today<\/a><\/a>CanSino vaccine to be available to Pakistanis by end of May<\/a>https:\/\/9655d3bee744ffd3ad5d5bb073f5ae01.safeframe.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-38\/html\/container.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

VIEW ALL<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n