Shaikha Shamsa claims UAE women’s volleyball team not receiving support – Volleyball update
Shaikha Shamsa Bint Hasher Al Maktoum, a female member of the board of directors of the United Arab Emirates Volleyball Association, has recently publically stated that the women of the country do not enjoy support and encouragement if they want to play volleyball and take it up as a career.
Shaikha Shamsa made the following statements regarding the lack of cooperation that the female players are facing from their community and said, "For the past few years the UAE women's volleyball team has done well to register some achievements, but instead of finding things easier now, we still have to ensure that our players have this privilege of playing for their country as employers are unwilling to release them from work even for a few days.”
Shaikha Shamsa has been an ardent supporter of women’s volleyball in the country and has done much to promote the women’s team. Last year saw the UAE women’s team come back with a victory in the invitational Gulf Women's Volleyball Tournament in Kuwait. Earlier this year, the women’s team was successful in grabbing the gold medal in the GCC Women's Festival that took place in Abu Dhabi.
It was only after these two admirable victories did the people of UAE begin to acknowledge the women’s volleyball team and see some value in them playing. Now that the team has accomplished this much and has shown clear signs of improving, it is important that they be given more chances to test their mettle against other Arab teams.
According to Shaikha Shamsa, the situation is highly stressful for women volleyball players. The issue that they face is an opposition from their employers that grant them leaves for the training sessions as well as the competitions. In case the women volleyball players are granted leaves, they face salary deduction once they head back to their jobs.
Next in line for the women’s volleyball team is the Gulf Games that will take place in October at Bahrain. After that, the UAE women’s volleyball team will be headed towards Qatar to take part in the Pan-Arab Games.
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