A Maidenhead-based netball academy is breaking down barriers for South Asians in sport after launching a national team last week.
Formed in the spring of 2023, The Cosmopolitan Roses train in Braywick Leisure Centre and comprises South Asian players aged between 15 and 30.
Co-founders Sadia Hussain, 43, and Haroona Borio-Zaman, 32, wanted to tackle the underrepresentation of South Asian women in high-level netball.
Sadia said: “The higher up I’ve gone in performance netball, the fewer South Asians I’ve seen. In many sports, there is a lack of representation of South Asian girls.
“There are barriers. I always thought it came from within the community but it’s outside as well.
“There’s a lot of work for Netball England to do and a lot of education. There are perceptions made about these girls so they’re not included. There are perceptions that South Asians aren’t as sporty.
“There are also stereotypes within the community that traditionally girls don’t do many sports and parents push more for academics.
“It’s a very white, middle-class sport and there is a socioeconomic barrier as well. Netball is a bit like tennis – it’s not a cheap sport. That journey normally starts when you’re young and there are competitions and leagues to get through. It’s only possible with parents supporting you in the financing and resources.”
“So it’s a two-tier thing. There’s a lot more for Maidenhead and county netball to do to invite these girls and give them an opportunity too.”
Maidenhead-based Haroona created the name ‘Cosmopolitan Roses’, which draws from the official England netball team name and the word ‘cosmopolitan’ signifying diversity.
Sadia said: “For us, diversity matters and inclusion matters. In netball, it’s so important, at all levels – social, competitive, performance, elite – there is such a long way to go.”
“We’re fighting on so many fronts – we’re working here with national governing bodies and also looking at developing grassroots netball in Pakistan. There’s so many projects going on. It’s multifaceted.”
Members of Cosmopolitan Roses returned from Pakistan after winning the FAST 5 Pakistan National Championships on June 30.
They participated as a ‘British Pakistani’ team with players from across the country including Dundee and London, and went head to head in Islamabad against teams from different Pakistani regions and bigger organisations such as the Pakistan Navy and Army.
Haroona, vice president of the Pakistan Netball Federation, knew it would be ‘wonderful’ for the players ‘to have role models’ and to see other netball players at a high level that ‘look like them’ and ‘have a cultural identity like them’.
Sadia said: “We went there to win but we weren’t sure as we got closer to the final because the matches got tougher and quite aggressive as well.
“The reigning champions of four years got knocked out [early on] so all the teams wanted to win it. Everybody thought they had a chance so the feeling of winning was just incredible.
“We didn’t win based on fitness because we played against a very fit team.
“I think we won because we have a different strategy.”
She said seeing women play professional netball in Pakistan ‘lifted the players confidence’, adding: “To see so many Pakistanis playing netball… They now think, we can do it. This sport is played in countries that we recognise and we have roots in as well.”
The Cosmopolitan Roses were asked by the Pakistan Netball Federation to form the next Pakistan national netball team.
They will participate in the Asian Netball Championships in October against 16 other countries in Bangalore, India.
Sadia said: “This is a great privilege. It’s a very rare opportunity for them and one they’re very pleased to have.”
The Pakistan national team will comprise players from the UK and Pakistan but ‘for the first time in history’ will be mostly British Pakistanis.
“We’re selecting the players, we’re training the players and taking the players to the Asian championships. This is a chance for girls from Maidenhead and Buckinghamshire to represent a national country,” said Sadia.
“This really is professional netball.”
The Pakistan national team long squad was launched at a celebration ceremony at the Pakistan High Commission in London last Friday.
On September 7, for South Asian Heritage Month, Cosmopolitan Roses will host an open netball day with Netball England at Furze Platt Senior School.
“The plan is to get lots of Asian girls that haven’t played netball, to experience and taste it,” said Sadia.
Cosmopolitan Roses will invite local mosques and South Asian residents and hope the opportunity promotes leadership and coaching skills among their own players.
Sadia said: “We’re looking at officiating and coaching pathways. Under-representation isn’t just with players as it is in all sports – it’s also in an official capacity and in a coaching capacity.
“It’s hard to find qualified South Asian netball coaches and umpires. That’s another project of ours.
“We don’t think we’ll be able to change the scene for netball just by players being diverse. The whole system of coaching and umpires have to be diverse too.”
Follow @cosmopolitanroses on Instagram for their latest updates.
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