Saudi Gazette

THE number of female sports journalists today may only be a handful but the field has advanced a long way since Razan Baker started covering sports in Saudi Arabia early on in 2005.

Baker felt alone in a new and uncharted territory as several obstacles stood in her way in the beginning. “It was challenging to participate in a field dominated by men,” she says, recalling a number of championship matches she had to sneak in to watch behind the scenes. At other times she would watch the games on television and contact the players afterward for interviews.

Five years working as a reporter and travelling with the national team to cover international matches gradually made her more comfortable in the field. “The players are respectful and responsive as they’re used to interacting with female journalists abroad,” she explains.

The public opinion toward women and sports shows otherwise at times. “There is low awareness, in general, when it comes to recognizing the importance of sports and acknowledging athletes and professionals working in the field,” she says.

“In addition, females in Saudi Arabia are not receiving equal chances in participating in sports.”

The lack of opportunities for physical education in Saudi Arabia and her passion for sports led Baker to pursue a PhD in sports studies at Brunel University, London, to examine the relationship between Saudi youth and physical activity participation.

Her research findings reveal a lack of social structure that promotes a healthy, active lifestyle for citizens in Saudi Arabia as well as a gender bias.

Social media has played a significant role in influencing youth to participate in physical activity that aimed to counter the theory that self-motivation was the main driver of people’s participation, Baker reveals in her study.

Hashtags on Twitter, one of the most used social media platforms in Saudi Arabia, showed a change of tone in public discourse between 2010 and 2015 towards women in sports. “The majority of citizens voiced intolerance and harsh criticism,” says Baker. “Many had the belief that sports were only for men.”

The negative rhetoric peaked in 2011 but toned down in the following years.

One strong factor influencing this positive change is social media, in which Saudis heavily consume. Young people are highly influenced by friends and social media networks, explains Baker.

“Their exposure to content and new trends broke some of the social barriers and decreased the gender gap. More and more girls are challenging themselves to try different sports that were usually exclusive for boys.”

Women have started to seek training abroad or even locally and set up home gyms and professional group activities. “They are personal efforts but it’s pulling more women to adopt active lifestyles,” notes Baker.

“Social media has a positive effect on youth,” she adds. “It’s opening their eyes to more information and building bridges between them and professionals and decision-makers. This two-way communication didn’t exist before.”

The Saudi Vision 2030 is another factor that has pressured social barriers to fall.

There remains a segment of society in which families don’t allow their daughters to join health clubs or participate in sports activities due to reasons such as extremism, chauvinism, and low awareness about health.

Obesity rates in the Gulf countries are among the highest in the world: 9.3 percent of school children and more than 33 percent of women in Saudi Arabia are obese, a local daily reported.

A top-down approach from the government is needed to initiate stronger change, believes Baker. “The Vision 2030 highlights sports as an important pillar and focuses on both men and women to be active citizens. It’s important that decision-makers have decided to support this more,” she says, adding that all government bodies in health, sports and education need to work together to build a systematic plan to raise awareness and guide the youth.

While parents play a crucial role at home in young people’s active lifestyle decisions, online networks remain significantly influential. “Private institutions are becoming very active online and public institutions are following the trend although at a slower pace,” says Baker.

The study shows that officials and facilitators are still failing to effectively reach youth and encourage them to participate in physical activity.

“Various policies need to be reviewed if the public institutions want to reach more youth and benefit the community, especially females who make up more than half of the population,” says Baker. “The way to develop these policies is to communicate with them through online networks and provide them with more facilities, venues and services that are suitable for both genders.”