Muscat, (ONA) - The sports sector is one of the sectors in which Omani women have proven their presence, through which they have been able to highlight their role by actively contributing to the implementation of many activities, events and sports participations at all local, regional and international levels within the framework of Omani values, winning many sports positions and championships, which made her confirm her ability to participate and give in all fields.
The concerned authorities in the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, the Oman Olympic Committee, Sultan Qaboos University, colleges, sports association, committees and clubs are working to pay attention to women's sports in the Sultanate and to spread sports culture in society and to urge the encouragement of women's sport and highlight their participation in tournaments and competitions. It also works to pay attention to preparing female sport leaders, to pay attention to the health and fitness of women of all ages, and to highlight the role of women in sports in all sporting forums, in line with our customs, our true religion, and the customs and traditions of our society.
These bodies are also working on conceptualizing programs and projects for women's sports activities, and working to revitalize and activate women's activities in private bodies working in the field of sports, and to educate and encourage women sports and activate and integrate it into public life and strengthen and consolidate its link with society through various media, cooperation and coordination with women's sport committees of the Olympic Council of Asia and the International Olympic Committee and other continental and international women's sports organizations and bodies. It also coordinates and cooperates with sports associations and committees in the Sultanate in implementing programs for preparing women's teams for external participation, organizing and holding women's sports festivals in the governorates and developing methods, means and mechanisms that attract women to practice sports, in addition to laying down the basic principles for the advancement of school sports for school students, and dedicating sports values and principles in qualifying and preparing glorious sporting generations in various sports.
The role of women on the sporting side was not limited to practice only, but went beyond it to assuming a number of administrative and technical positions, including chairing sports committees and committees working under the Omani Olympic umbrella and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and membership of several sports associations. In addition, she has become a sports referee and also supervised the sports education departments at universities, colleges, and institutes specialized in this matter. In addition, she has become a physical education teacher who educates generations on the belief that the right to practice sports is guaranteed to all, and the emergence of women's sport coincided with the birth of female sports journalists, which became an integral part in efforts to spread the message of sport among women.
In 2016, the International Olympic Committee honored Sayyida Sana bint Hamad Al Busaidi, Chair of the Omani Committee for Women’s Sports at the Oman Olympic Committee, by awarding her Women and Sports Achievement Diploma, in appreciation of her initiatives and contributions in promoting the development and participation of women and girls in sports. Last year, Saada Al Ismaili won the 2019 IOC Women and Sport for Asia Award and she was honored at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for designing and implementing effective plans and programs aimed at promoting girls' and women's sport throughout the region.
Saada Al Ismaili, Director of the Women's Sports Department at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth told the Oman News Agency, said “the annual celebration of Omani Women's Day means a lot to us, and allocating this day by a noble order was a precious gift from the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said, may God rest his soul, and since Omani women have taken their rights in all areas, they have been empowered in all governmental and private institutions, and have gained a significant place, proving themselves in all fields, including the sports sector, with the interest, empowerment and role they have been provided in building society and contributing in various aspects of life.”
She added in an interview to the Oman News Agency, "Omani women in the sports field have reached the global level and have become a competitor at the Gulf, Arab, regional and international levels. They have also become members of many permanent committees in the Sultanate and abroad, and have won awards, including awards from the International Committee, and have made many contributions in the sports field.” They also referred to the presence of female cadres in the field of sports training, refereeing and management, and their entry into the next stage to run in the boards of directors of sports associations to prove that they are able to take responsibility with the confidence, ability and competence they have enjoyed, and to give in all fields. She also praised the efforts of Omani female athletes who had made a mark in the sports field during the past five decades.
She explained, “Women's sport has existed since the dawn of the blessed renaissance and the beginning of the years 1970 and 1971, and there were women's teams during that period that included women who were studying or coming from abroad, and they formed women's teams that were present in the clubs of Muscat, Oman and Fanja, and after that they stopped a little. Then the first women's sports, social, artistic and cultural section was announced in the then Public Authority for Youth Sports and Cultural Activities in 1993. After that, activities and cooperation with the Ministry of Education continued for a recreational and healthy sporting awakening. In 2005, with the presence of the Ministry of Sports Affairs, Women's Sports Department was found, and it is still in place. In 2006, the first Omani Committee for Women’s Sport was declared under the umbrella of the Ministry of Sports Affairs at that time, and in 2007 it became under the umbrella of the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) until now which is one of the OOC assisting committees.”
“Omani women have many activities in the Gulf, regionally and internationally, as they became members in the Gulf Organizing Committee for Women’s Sports, the Asian Olympic Council in the Women and Sports Committee and the Arab Volleyball Federation in addition to a number of other federations and also participated in the first official tournament in the Doha Masters,” said Al Ismaili. “In 2005, the first official bronze medal was awarded in the category of the 4 in 100 relay competition and it was bronze. After that, women's teams were established in basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics, taekwondo, bowling, archery, equestrian, table tennis, ground tennis, and many games in which Omani women participate internally and externally where they made many achievements and had a very large presence at all levels.”
In her statement, she indicated that in 2008, the first combined Gulf championship was launched in the State of Kuwait, with the participation of 5 women's teams, and then it became held every two years, and it is one of the proven participants in the agenda of women's sport in the Sultanate. The last tournament in its competitions took place last year in the State of Kuwait, in which the participants from the Sultanate won about 30 various medals, and in 2013 the Sultanate hosted the junior volleyball tournament and won the championship cup at the Gulf level.
Al Ismaili touched on the Olympic Games in which Omani women were present represented by Buthaina Al Yaqoubi in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and this was the first participation of Omani women in the most important international sporting forums. In the Olympic Games in London 2012, Shannouna Al Habsi competed in the 100-meter race. In 2016, distinguished runner Muzoon Al-Alawi and Shooter Wahha Al Baluchi participated in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Muzoon Al Alawi, who participated in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham in 2018, is no awaiting to participate in Tokyo 2021.
At the end of her statement, Al Ismaili confirmed, “Omani women enjoy great support in the sports sector and there are qualification courses at the level of female cadres at the level of the Sultanate, and there is an international referee that has judged the world championships, namely Fatima Al-Harithi in basketball and international referees in all group games. There are internal and external courses and there are partners who we greatly appreciate.”
(ONA)