Tuesday March 19th, 2024
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Empower Academy is Every Girl’s Entryway into Football

Make way for Egypt’s very first female-focused academy.

Staff Writer

Empower Academy is Every Girl’s Entryway into Football

Switching the dynamic since January 2019, Empower Football Academy is the first female-focused football academy in Egypt arming girls with the skill and practice behind becoming a fantastic athlete. 

“It’s been years in the making, it’s my life’s dream since I was 12. I wanted to start a female football academy because I’ve had to play in men’s academies my whole life,” said founder and footballer Farida Salem. After pursuing a career in sports since her childhood, Salem came back to Egypt after traveling abroad to support young girls in the way she felt she had needed at the time. 

“I played in the national league in Egypt but I still wasn’t satisfied, so I travelled to Canada to pursue football. I don’t want other girls to have to leave their families and life behind to do the same,” Salem told us.

The academy is located in 6th of October and New Cairo and offers beginner, intermediate, and advanced leagues depending on each player’s abilities. Empower’s teams were able to travel to South Africa last year to play in a friendly match, and since then have launched online fitness programmes, done several team-building and extracurricular events at schools and companies, and have even launched a ‘Back to Basics’ programme for players 25 years and older. To learn more about the academy, click here.