Sport
We have been running physical activity and sport programmes in Hargeisa since 2015. We started as a small grassroots initiative running community football and fitness sessions and have now expanded this to athletics, academy football and wider women's sport events.
Sarreya is the home of Gobanimo Football Club
In 2016, women who wanted a safe space for physical activity in Hargeisa established a women and girls football initiative, now known as Gobanimo Women's Football Club. It has proven to be popular; growing from 6 to 50 girls and women between the ages of 13 and 45 years playing weekly.
Community Football
We have been running community pay-what-you-can sessions since 2016. On average 40 women and girls come (approximately ages 13 – 45) from across the city to play with us. All women and girls are welcome to come and play, watch or support every Saturday in Masalaha area, Hargeisa. We play at Lionsgate Gym pitch, who we would like to thank for hosting and supporting us since 2016.
Reach out here for more information.
Media coverage: Radio France Internationale
Performance football team training sessions
We run advanced team training sessions on a weekly basis. We have an A Team and B Team, who also help coach and organise the community sessions.
Football League
In 2019, we organised a women's football league in Hargeisa. Four teams came together to play competitive matches over the course of six weeks. We developed a code of conduct, rules and regulations and ran the organising committee, comprised of nominated individuals from each team to ensure the running of the league was fair. We organised to play at different pitches across the city, to see what would be possible. 150 women and girls (players, coaches and female spectators) attended the opening match in April 2019.
Football tournaments
We organise football tournaments for women and girls. We usually bring together teams and play a one day tournament, either round robin or knock-out depending on team numbers. Winners will get a trophy and some kit if anything is available.
If you would like to sponsor a tournament, please do get in touch.
Somaliland Marathon and 10k race
Sarreya co-founders were part of the Somaliland Marathon and 10K organising committee, gathering a record 55 female runners. We took charge of the women's side – ensuring adequate processes were in place for the race to be as safe and accessible as possible by liaising with the Ministry of Youth and Sport, providing training and support and registration for women and girls racers.
The race was covered by international media:
Below is a selection of the local media that covered the event:
Women's Sport Days
In 2018, we organised our first Women's Sports Day to celebrate Eid. We put together a fun day of sport with mini tennis, football, mixed martial arts, and stretching as well as face painting for kids, traditional dance performance and space for female-owned businesses to sell and promote their goods. With the help of a nutritionist, we also adapted some guidance and used the opportunity to make wider health and nutrition related information available.
