Football was well represented at the 2023 Asian Women of Achievement Awards, with four colleagues from the game featuring in the shortlist of the sport category.
We were thrilled to see FA Council member Yashmin Harun BEM win the category, while FA Director Rupinder Bains was highly commended.
Also on the shortlist was Alhena Moosa, a grassroots football coach and manager for FC Leytonstone alongside Jayna Pate, who is the Premier League’s Kicks programme manager.
Yashmin has always used her association with sport to advocate equal opportunities for historically underrepresented groups and communities in sport and harnessed that passion when she became the founder of the Muslimah Sports Association in 2014.
The Association offers women a safe and positive environment to participate in several different sports without compromising their religious or cultural beliefs and as a founder, Yashmin works with key stakeholders to challenge National Governing Bodies to ensure opportunities for BAME participation at an elite standard.
And we’ve seen the benefit of this at first hand, as Yashmin has progressed as a director at the London FA and become their FA Council representative and a member of the National Game Board.
“We’re all so proud to see Yashmin get this well-deserved award,” said FA Chair, Debbie Hewitt MBE.
“I’ve worked closely with her on FA-related projects and it’s clear that she has an inner resilience that has allowed her to champion change in a sector that was not naturally welcoming or encouraging to women and even less so to Black, Asian and mixed heritage women.
“She makes a substantial and meaningful difference to the FA, to football and to society in general.
“Her award is recognition to the many volunteers she has inspired through her work, many of whom have overcome substantial cultural hurdles to participate in sport. She’s given them confidence and a belief in themselves.
“We send our congratulations to all of Yashmin, Rupinder, Alhena and Jayna for getting to the shortlist of such a prestigious award. They are role models for women in all sectors and particularly to us in football.”
