JORDANIAN FEMALE FOOTBALL PLAYER YASMEEN SHABSOUGH WINS THE PRESTIGIOUS AISTS MAS 2021 ATHLETE SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
AISTS is proud to announce the recipient of the MAS 2021 Athlete Scholarship Award – Ms Yasmeen Shabsough, holds a Bachelors in Marketing from the University of Petra together with 11 years of playing football on the Jordanian National Team. She also has 4 Guinness World Records in football and participated twice in the Asia Football Cup. Yasmeen is a driving force behind youth and sport.
Each year the scholarship – which has a value of CHF 14’950 (50% of the tuition fee) – is available to a current or former athlete who has competed at international levels.
What makes Yasmeen so deserving of this scholarship?
In a world where most would generalise, one would instantly assume Yasmeen is a rebel, but to the contrary, she is one who embraces her religious and cultural beliefs together with women’s rights to playing sport making her a great mentor for young girls to embrace sport in their daily lives.
Nalain Naidoo, AISTS Head of Business Development had the privilege of spending some quality time with Yasmeen on her arrival in Switzerland and asked her a few questions about her growing up in Jordan and her upcoming move to Lausanne.
Please share your journey to become an athlete?
“It all started the minute I could walk. I was the only girl in the family, and being encompassed by my male cousins playing football on the streets there was no doubt in my mind – Football is my sport!
At school, I regularly played with the boys in my class and captained my school’s team for 6 years competing in the Jordan School’s League. In 2008 I decided to take football to another level and joined a professional female football team where I played for 13 years and won the Jordan Professional Women’s League 4 times. In 2009 I was called to represent Jordan Women’s National’s Team for the West Asia qualifiers, and from there on I continued competing professionally at international and national championships.”
Can you share some of the passion that drives your perseverance?
“Growing up playing a male dominated sport in the Middle East region was not an easy journey. Identifying the lack of female sport role models and female representation drove me to work closely with young girls and help them break barriers to achieve their dreams and play the sport they desired.”
Why did you choose the AISTS Master program?
“What could be more rewarding than combining two powerful tools (Education and sport) into one Master program to help develop yourself and build a strong career in what you are most passionate about, alongside international students coming with various experiences to the Olympic capital, Lausanne.”
Where do you see yourself in 5years?
“As a football player, I’ve always dreamt to work for big sports organizations, also simply the development of sport through the Olympic movement, FIFA, or any sports federation will be a dream come true and I believe AISTS is the door opener here and the rest lies in my hands. Thank you AISTS for helping make my dreams a reality.”
To learn more about our Scholarship winner, listen to Yasmeen Shabsough Ted Talk here.
Find out if you qualify for the next Athlete Scholarship or Female leaders Scholarship.
