Throughout its history, Birmingham has been blessed with an abundance of homegrown heroes, and this remains true in the present day. Today, I have the pleasure of speaking to an exceptional woman from this city who has made impressive strides in promoting greater opportunities for women in sports.
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00:00 My name's Haseeba Abdullah, I'm a Level 2 England Boxing coach and I work here at Windmill ABC.
00:06 Haseeba played a crucial role in bringing about a change in the official dress code regulations in boxing,
00:13 thereby providing women from diverse backgrounds with a chance to train and compete.
00:18 Pretty much it started from myself, being a woman who wears a headscarf.
00:22 I wasn't able to compete when I was younger and I wish there was somebody that was out there that was fighting for my cause
00:28 and unfortunately there wasn't, but be the change you want to see I guess.
00:31 So I did and when I became a coach I thought, hold on, we've got a whole community that excluded from this sport.
00:37 And it's not specifically just women who wear the headscarf, but women who just choose to cover their arms and legs
00:41 maybe for cultural reasons rather than religious.
00:43 I put forward a study to AIBA, the head governing body of England Boxing at the time,
00:47 and got the rules overturned and the level of participation from women overall has just increased massively.
00:55 The success of this campaign resulted in many individuals who had previously felt excluded,
01:00 gained the confidence to participate.
01:02 There's definitely more young women from ethnic minority groups that have joined boxing.
01:06 We can see increased level in not just those who are attending clubs,
01:10 but those who are competing at a competitive level now.
01:12 So the opportunity has obviously grown.
01:16 It's giving more young people a chance to get involved in the sport they never thought they could.
01:20 And the chance to just get noticed and have a real chance in being part of something.
01:25 And I think that's really, really important.
01:27 Hasiba's dedication to her community has continued as she supports countless individuals in pursuing their sporting aspirations.
01:35 Some of the community work I do here is I work with all ages, so very young.
01:40 We do juniors, school girls, school boys, seniors.
01:43 So we work with a range of people for recreational boxing and some competitive levels.
01:48 So I work with a range of people. I've also worked with local schools, young people with disabilities.
01:54 So the community work isn't just restricted to us in this location,
01:58 but we kind of spread out our wings around Birmingham and even nationally to go and change perceptions of what boxing is.
02:04 Recently, I've been invited to a mosque, so an institute where they'd like me to teach the young women boxing.
02:10 These things were unheard of at the time.
02:12 And the fact that this has resulted to these kind of changes and an option for these religious institutes
02:17 to invite us in is pretty great, even if I say so myself.
02:21 A daughter of Birmingham, Hasiba's accomplishments and altruism were recognised and celebrated during the Commonwealth Games.
02:29 Birmingham has played a huge part in my journey. It's a very diverse place.
02:34 It's a brilliant city to be, a very creative city to be in.
02:37 And I think I've been embraced and I've been encouraged to continue my work.
02:40 And that's obviously really beneficial to me and encouraging to me.
02:44 So I love Birmingham. I wouldn't ever move from Birmingham.
02:48 And being picked as a Commonwealth hometown hero just is proof in the pudding, isn't it, that you're appreciated.
02:54 And it feels amazing to be appreciated and heard and listened to and valued in your community.
03:00 So absolutely, Birmingham is me. I am Birmingham.