Somali Magazine September 14, 2023-Somali women’s basketball is once again shining, due to the Gift Stars women’s team for finishing third in the Arab Club women’s tournament, which concluded in Morocco on Tuesday, September 12th, 2023.
Chairman Gifts Stars
Said Ibrahim Hussein, chairman of the Gifts Stars, stated that his team’s participation in the Arab women’s basketball tournament was a big development for the country and marked the end of Somalia’s absence from international women’s basketball meetings for many years.
“Ballroom was once popular in Somalia, but our sisters were denied access to the sport.” Now I am extremely pleased that Somali ladies have once again performed admirably in the Arab Club women’s tournament, and we have placed in third place,” said Gift Stars chairman Said Ibrahim Hussein, who hopes that Somalia will win a trophy in the future.
“Regardless of how long we have been away from the world of women’s basketball, our women have shown the world that our basketball power remains.” We will keep playing, and perhaps the Somali women’s national basketball team will be able to do a miracle in the world calendar soon,” Gift Stars chairman Said Ibrahim Hussein adds.
“Right now, we only have our senior women’s team active, but we plan to have youth teams ranging from U-12 to U-21, because we want young girls to have an equal opportunity to enjoy basketball,” chairman Said Ibrahim Hussein explained.
Other Somali Women’s Sports
Somali women used to only play basketball, handball, volleyball, taekwondo, and athletics before they were banned by Al Shabaab militants, but now that the government forces have defeated the terrorists, who have become very weak, it appears that people are defying their orders.
Women’s handball, volleyball, taekwondo, and athletics have yet to return to the platform, but according to certain reports, these federations want to resume women’s events.
Although women’s football has never been played in Somalia, the football organisation has just established a women’s football development section. As part of the acceleration drive for women’s football in Somalia, they began several initiatives such as awareness workshops and indoor training sessions.
Somali women’s football teams are expected to compete on the international stage in the coming years.