Three cheers for the national mainland women’s football team, Kilimanjaro Queens, for winning the East and Central African women’s title in Uganda and the Cecafa Tournament Trophy on 20th September, and for their star players Mwanahamisi Omari and Stumai Abdallah who scored three goals each.
This is welcome news after the defeats in Rio. However, why was there so little media publicity about this victory, in comparison to the usual fanfare over men’s football wins? I join other observers in bemoaning the male bias in Tanzanian sports.
Do media, government and the business sector value women sports the same as men’s?
According to media coverage, the Kilimanjaro Queens travelled by bus from Dar es Salaam to Jinja, a distance of 1,400 kilometres – why no air transport?! They bussed back to Bukoba, rather than straight to Dar es Salaam, in order to show their solidarity with the earthquake victims of Kagera. The Kagera Regional Commissioner, Major General (Rtd) Salum Kijuu, received them and was presented with the Cecafa Tournament trophy on behalf of the Kagera people. There were welcome words of praise from the Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Nape Nnauye, and from President John Magufuli who lauded the Queens for writing a new chapter in Tanzania’s football history.
However, where was the grand reception at the airport? A motorcade to show national support and recognition of their victory and contribution to national and regional sports? Indeed, what kind of financial and material support does the team normally receive? According to the chairperson of Tanzania Women Football Association (TWFA), Amina Karuma, they faced challenges in assembling the team and preparing for this tournament (Daily News September 22, 2016). The TWFA has largely been struggling on its own to support women’s soccer. The Tanzania Football Federation will organise its first ever women’s league starting October 4 in Dar es Salaam. Why has it taken TFF so long? And why so little corporate support for women’s football?
The same situation is found in women’s basketball. To quote verbatim one of the women basketball stars, “Government support is so slim mostly male basketball team is… covered. For example this year we Don Bosco Lioness were the champions for National Basketball League but BBC covered the men’s team only… Women basketball always seems like a secondary team in basketball not like the main team. Even our Trophies, women champions usually get the small size trophy compared to males.”
What can be done to support women’s sports?
Supporting girls and women athletes and overcoming the male bias in sports is the responsibility of many different actors in society – parents, teachers, schools, communities, sports institutions, government at central and local level and the private sector. Girls and women also have a responsibility and a challenge to support each other, and to aspire for ever more achievements at all levels, in both competitive and non-competitive sports.
Moral support and encouragement for girls and women to play sports within the family, school and community means ensuring they have free time and are not expected to devote all of their after school/work time to housework. A radical change is required in school curriculum to give more prominence to athletics for both girls and boys at all levels, from preschool, primary to secondary and tertiary education. There is a need for more attention to non-competitive sports, which become the training ground for those who excel and enter competitive sports.
This means ensuring that schools and colleges have adequate sports grounds and playing fields, sports equipment and coaches, with equal resources for female and male sports. Neighbourhoods and communities in rural and urban areas can set aside common spaces for sports for children and youth but also adults at no cost – we all need safe spaces to walk, jog, play basketball, football, volleyball, to play games, dance and have fun. People in slum and squatter areas need these spaces even more than the elite middle class, who can afford to belong to private gyms and sports clubs.
Our women’s teams and individual athletes also need and deserve their fair share of media attention and corporate support. This is not only a matter of political correctness; our government has adopted gender equality, equity and women empowerment as national objectives. Women athletic victories contribute to national and regional identity, same as men’s; they provide encouragement to other sports women and men, and positive role models to aspiring young girl and boy athletes.
The corporate giants who have been so generous to Taifa Stars, Premier League, Yanga and Simba, including Vodacom, Tigo, Airtel, Tanzania Breweries, NMB, CRDB, and others, should be encouraged to share their wealth with women’s sports. And what about the Women’s Bank? Now is the time for all of us to do our share and encourage girls and women athletics.