Van den Bogert first came into contact with football-playing Muslim girls in the Schilderswijk in The Hague in 2014. She still has contact with them today. Well, not all of them, but she keeps tabs on them and is interested in how they're handling the lockdown and the other pandemic measures. “The girls football project I was following at the time, which was part of a larger initiative, has become a neighbourhood project. Young people are participating in school and study workshops and are meeting up to hang out, do homework, and play sports. They still play football as well, but it's become more of a tool to bring people together. The underlying principle was and still is: ask young people what they need. If you do, you’ll find that some girls love sports and are looking for a running buddy, while others crave personal contact and want to meet new people online. By coming up with their own solutions, they're less likely to give up. This sense of ownership is what I’m studying now.”
Show them what we’ve got
Ask young people what they want instead of assuming you already know. That’s one of the most important lessons from Van den Bogert’s research. A large percentage of predominantly Moroccan-Dutch girls between the ages of 13 and 20 from the Schilderswijk neighbourhood expressed an interest in playing street football. Eventually, and with the help of a coordinator, they managed to organise a football competition consisting of ten teams. “More than a hundred girls compete on Sundays and train on Wednesdays in their street.” Van den Bogert spoke with gym teachers, trainers, and people affiliated with Cruyff Courts and other outdoor sports associations, many of whom believed Muslim girls should train indoors. “They thought these girls shouldn’t play in such a visible outdoor setting because of their religious background. But the girls said they wanted to show people what they were capable of.”
Gender segregation?
Once the competitions were underway, boys expressed an interest in joining. But the various sports organisations were under the impression that Muslims aren’t allowed to practice integrated sports. The girls, however, had no problem with it. “Gender segregation in sports is an interesting topic,” says Van den Bogert. “A grant provider once told me: ‘The fact that this is a girls competition complicates things, because we don't want to encourage gender segregation.’ This doesn't seem to be a problem for club-related football, where separate girl-boy teams are considered totally normal. And no one bats an eye at all-boy football teams, which used to be the norm and aren't considered to be an example of gender segregation.”
Not so different after all
The distinguishing factor, whether we admit it or not, is religion. “Most of these girls were born in the Netherlands, as were most of their parents. That makes them Dutch citizens, but because they're Muslim as well, they’re branded as ‘different’. The truth is, they’re really not so different from other Dutch kids. Religion isn't always the most important thing in their lives. Many of them think school is stupid and football is everything, to put it bluntly. With the pandemic and the lockdown, they're starting to miss school and their friends, just like other kids.” Her conclusion? “The focus on religion isn't really appropriate for this group. It's far from being the sole defining factor in their lives. Yet by focusing on it, you miss the similarities with other Dutch young people. I’m sure this is done with the best intentions, but it’s has the opposite effect.”
Photo: PxHere