Watch: We meet Birmingham’s homegrown hero Haseebah, champion for women in sports

Throughout its history, Birmingham has been blessed with an abundance of homegrown heroes, and this remains true in the present day. We had the pleasure of speaking to an exceptional woman from this city who has made impressive strides in promoting greater opportunities for women in sports.

Haseebah Abdullah played a crucial role in bringing about a change in the official dress code regulations in boxing, thereby providing women from diverse backgrounds with a chance to train and compete.

She said: “It pretty much started from myself - being a woman who wears a headscarf. I wasn’t able to compete when I was younger and I wished there was somebody out there that was fighting for my cause and unfortunately there wasn’t - but be the change you want to see I guess, so I did. 

“And when I became a coach I thought hold on we’ve got a whole community that’s excluded from this sport and it’s not specifically just women who wear the headscarf but women who just choose to cover their arms and legs, maybe for cultural reasons, rather than religious. I put forward a study to IEBA,  the head governing body of England boxing at the time and got the rules overturned and the level of participation from women overall has just increased massively.”

The success of this campaign resulted in many individuals who had previously felt excluded gain the confidence to participate.

She added: “There’s definitely more young women from ethnic minority groups that have joined boxing.  We can see increased levels in not just those who are attending clubs but those who are competing at a competitive level now.  So the opportunity has obviously grown, it’s giving more young people a chance to get involved in the sport they never thought they could  and the chance to just get noticed and have a real chance in being part of something and I think that’s really, really important.”

Haseebah’s dedication to her community has continued as she supports countless individuals in pursuing their sporting aspirations.

Haseebah said: “Some of the community work I do here is I work with all ages, so very young, we do juniors, school girls, school boys, seniors so we work with a range of people,  some for recreational boxing and some competitive level so I work with a range of people,  I’ve also worked with local schools,  young people with disabilities.

“So the community work isn’t just restricted to us in this location but we kind of spread out our wings around Birmingham and even nationally to go and change perceptions of what boxing is. Recently I’ve been invited to a mosque, so an institute where they’d like me to teach the young women boxing. These things were unheard of at the time and the fact that this has resulted in these kind of changes and an option for these religious institutes to invite us in is pretty great, even if I say so myself!“

A daughter of Birmingham, Haseebah’s accomplishments and altruism were recognised and celebrated during the Commonwealth Games.

She said: “Birmingham has played a huge part in my journey. It’s a very diverse place, it’s a brilliant city to be, a very creative city to be in and I think I’ve been embraced and I’ve been encouraged to continue my work and that’s obviously really beneficial to me and encouraging to me.

“So I love Birmingham, I wouldn’t ever move from Birmingham and being picked as a Commonwealth Hometown Hero is proof in the pudding that you’re appreciated. And it feels amazing to be appreciated and heard and listened to and valued in your community so, absolutely - Birmingham is me. I am Birmingham.”