On Board A Flight Back Home

When is football coming home?

The England football fans have always been proud of their Three Lions. The fascination about football has both unified and divided fans in the club football but when the 1966 ‘anthem’ was sung, the England football fans will focus on just ONE thing, and that’s getting behind the roaring Three Lions. Whenever I watched them play, I wondered if we, Malaysians will go all out to support our team? I bet we got our answer through the recent years’ of AFF Suzuki Cup. How many of us though, will show up when our women’s teams are playing on our home soil? Would you turn on your TV if there is a live telecast of women’s game? 

Planting the seeds to grow women’s football 

I would go so far to say that direct participation and spectatorship require cultivating a seed called the culture of sport. If the seed is intentionally planted as a strong value in our lives, each of us will be active in both playing and watching sport. At some point, all genders will be involved and even if men in football still outnumber women, if the number of Malaysians putting on football boots is large, we will be guaranteed women and abundance of talents in football. Since we already had active grassroots participation in the men section, it is time for men to influence and help promote football to their families and friends. Is it possible to see more women participating in football, in a mixed-gender setting, even in the rural areas? This is probably a radical question for some, but we will not see change if we do not ask bold questions. In fact, we have witnessed our women in Sabah and Sarawak playing their hearts out on the field for a long time.

We are one week away from the first Women’s Football Carnival that will eventually take flight at Kopa Arena, Penang. Four teams are going to embrace the friendship of football throughout the three days. Let’s have the drum rolling to welcome Ale Ale, Sri Kandi, Red Eagle, and Penang India FA. Besides the participating teams and organising team of Women in Football Malaysia, the carnival can only be materialised with the support from the allies. The host Kopa Arena, the partnership from OYO Rooms, the statistics from Atlead Pass, the jerseys from Zush Sportswear, and Movement First’s physiotherapy are contributing to the first of many possibilities for women’s grassroots football. This is even more encouraging with it being held outside of Klang Valley. Hopefully, more grassroot organisers can take heart from here, create more platforms for respective women’s community and celebrate the beauty of the game. So far, we have seen the leaderships of a few state football associations as well as the emergence of grassroots leagues and social games. We do not have to look too far because the inaugural FA Selangor Women’s Super League will kick off on the 29th of November. Yes, in less than 48 hours and we can catch the actions live on their Facebook page every Monday.

Beyond football 

As we expect the arrival of women in football actions next month, let us not forget the impact of sport in the community. Based on the data from Australian Football League Victoria, a governing body for Australian football, for every one player, football clubs reach 10 people in their community. These do not stop at players, coaches, administrators or volunteers. This indicates that a sport is larger than the game and its impact goes beyond the final scores and the winners’ trophies. If your city has a women’s football team, the girls are more exposed to the beautiful game at the early age, which make girls believe that one day, they can build a career in football. Such inspirational boost will not stop at the children. It will be trickled down to the family and the community they live in. Most likely, the neighourbood, the community, and the town will be passionate about the game, either congregate to play or watch a game together when their teams are playing. As such, the unifying power of football in making the world more cohesive is underrated. Do not underestimate it by looking at its scale because we are not able to measure its intangible outcome. 

 So, for a Tiga Penjuru friendly on a random Wednesday night, for the teams and people who play a part in next week’s carnival, how much social capital are we talking about here? Let us get ready to sweat, network, and have fun on this flight. 

Welcome Home.

Written by Yong-Yee Chong @yongyeechong

for Women in Football Malaysia @wifmalaysia