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Picture this: an advertising billboard with a screen is playing a video of a footballer kicking the ball onto the road; only that the ball finds its way to another player on another billboard on the opposite side of the road. |
This and many such ideas were part of the presentations made by teams from three United States universities — Vanderbilt University, Syracuse University and University of Oregon — on a visit to Doha earlier this month.
The three teams, comprising of advertising majors, were chosen from among 33 other university teams to present in front of a Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee panel on ‘Women in Football in Qatar’. The event was part of a programme called EdVentures.
To encourage Qatari girls to play football is one of the endeavours that the Committee has undertaken in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. And who better to learn from than the country which is currently No 1 in the FIFA Women’s rankings.
As part of the programme, the three teams were given a taste of Qatari culture so that they could incorporate it into their presentations. They were given a tour of Museum of Islamic Art, taken sailing on a Dhow boat, taken on a desert safari and shown the Aspire Academy.
The panel chose Syracuse University as the winner and the presentation, along with ideas from the two other teams, will be implemented in the near future.
Qatar women national football team coach Monika Staab, who was part of the panel, said: “The presentation from Syracuse was very much in details - the booklet they prepared was outstanding.”
She added: “They were very accurate and pointed out the difficulties of women football in the Qatar society. They clearly outlined the difficulties facing the parents of the girls, who would like to play… it is important to gain the parents’ approval for the girls to play football.”
Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee executive director for Marketing and Communications, Nasser al-Khater, was equally impressed by the presentations. Al-Khater, who was also on the judging panel, said, “We felt that all three teams presented us with outstanding ideas and proposals. The Syracuse team’s level of research and audience insight was the key factor in leading them to win. They understood who the key audiences were, the type of media they consumed and how best to reach them, this was reflected in their strategy and tactics, it was very impressive.”
Asked what changes would she like to see in the immediate future, Staab said, “Working together as a team on the public awareness of women’s football in Qatar. Working on the wrong perception that football can only be played by the boys and not by the girls.
“(We need to) show the society the beauty of the game. (We need to) implement some of the ideas of the universities together with the Qatar Women’s Sports Committee and Qatar Football Association, and stakeholders who really are serious to support women football in Qatar.”
