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SOCCER star Deena Rahman is aiming high and hopes to reach a peak when it comes to campaigning endeavours and supporting women in sport.
She will be taking part in a challenge next month to set a new Guinness World Record as part of an international initiative.
The Bahrain national team midfield maestro and founder of the Tekkers football academy will trek up Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, before taking part in a full 11-a-side, 90-minute football match.
She said: “The challenge means a great deal to me personally and professionally. I enjoy pushing my limits and achieving new goals both for myself and Tekkers.
“I hope that I have been an inspiration for young people to play sport, especially girls, and this event is an opportunity to be part of an organisation that is doing the same but on a much bigger scale.”
The sky-high football class will set a new benchmark for the highest altitude to host a competitive game. Following an eight-day hike up the 5,895m mountain, the participants will also run a week of global football training clinics for girls and women simultaneously in several countries around the world.
The project, dubbed Equal Playing Field, is aimed at paving the way for equality in sport, pushing for equal representation and respect on the pitch and in life.
Rahman, 34, became involved in the challenge while away with the national team in Tajikistan recently. She was contacted by the organisers who had heard about the high-profile work she has been doing in Bahrain with girls and ladies football and asked her to sign up. Deena was instrumental in helping to organise the first competitive league competition for women in 2010 during her time with Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain which even attracted teams from Saudi Arabia.
Her preparations are already well under way for the trek, which will take place in June. In total, there will be 30 female footballers, most of who have played professionally, or to a high standard, and been been involved in UEFA, European Championship or World Cup competitions, in addition to a medical team and film crew as the challenge will be documented by BEIN Sports, the regional TV channel.
Players involved include former Canadian national Sasha Andrews, former German World Cup star Petra Landers, Afghan national Hajar Abufazl, former FIFA World Cup referee Jacqui Hurford and others from Argentina, France, Egypt, Jordan, Mexico, the UK, US and the United Arab Emirates.
Erin Blankenship, Equal Playing Field co-founder, said: “Playing a football match at this altitude has never been done before. We want to break a record to inspire other women and girls to keep challenging the inequalities in sport.
“The problem is as simple and powerful as our love of the game. The lack of equality for and representation of women in sport is appalling across the board. Equal Playing Field is taking aim at the systematic inequalities girls and women face that limit their opportunities, acceptance and value as athletes and individuals, starting with those on a football pitch.
“Sport brings friendships and community, commitment and leadership, and strength and health. No girl should miss out on those benefits because of her gender.”
It’s been a month to remember for Rahman, who recently scored one of the most outstanding goals of her career at international level. She unleashed a rocket into the top corner from outside the box after cleverly nutmegging a defender against Iraq in Bahrain’s recent 4-0 victory during the Asian Women’s Cup qualifiers in Tajikistan. She has 40 caps for the national team, and has scored 24 goals.
However, she is now fully focusing on the new challenge and raising funds for the trip. She explained: “The training starts now. I enjoy hiking and walking, but this is more than a week at altitude which is something I have never done.”
The Venus ladies football team are supporting her on the ground by joining her on tough endurance training walks in the desert. She is also undergoing intensive training at the Lift Strength and Conditioning Centre and Bahrain Boxing Club in Budaiya alongside sports massaging sessions at Zen Massage in Saar after receiving sponsorship.
“I want to be as prepared as possible so that I can enjoy the event, not endure it!” she explained.
Readers wishing to support Rahman’s endeavours should visit www.gofundme.com/deenarecordbreaker
