The Polo mallet was finally passed to the women in Egypt when Farah Awadalla, 23, formed a 10-member team called “Nefertiti”. These women played their first Polo match on 29th March according to the rules of the Egypt Equestrian Federation. The young team, named after the daring queen, won the match against the women from the Police Union Club in Cairo. Farah Awadalla, talking about the creation of the team, said, “I formed the team because there wasn’t a single women’s polo team in Egypt and I felt that women deserve representation in more sports, now that we are advancing in so many fields. It has been 100 years since women held the first demonstration for their country’s independence and it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.”
Farah, the daughter of Ibrahim Awadalla, one of the most renowned Polo players of Egypt, founded the team and was one of the key players of the 10-member team who defeated the women from the Police Union Club 2 goals to 1. Growing up riding horses, she had been involved in the game throughout and started training for Polo 2 years ago. Expressing her excitement from the match, she said, “We use Argentinian polo ponies, which are considered to be the best ponies in the World. Our outfit is the same and Egypt Equestrian Federation follows their rules and matches are held the same way as abroad and we want to rise along with the sport in our country.” Talking about her role models and Polo great Adolfo Cambiaso’s daughter, Mia Cambiaso, Farah said, “My dad is definitely my role model. Mia Cambiaso’s dad is also a polo player and she grew up in the polo world just like me and I inspire from her a lot.”
A lot of efforts were put in by Awadalla to form the first women Polo team of the country. She contacted female players from a number of Cairo’s equestrian clubs and encourage and motivated them to join her. A desire to uplift the sport along with the women in the country was always the agenda behind the creation of the Polo team. In her effort to popularize the sport among the women of her country, she said, “I hope that young women who see us on TV and read about us in local news will feel encouraged and will be fascinated about the sport and join us and our team and help the game get strong.”
Karim Loza, a member of the board of the Equestrian Polo Federation, which was founded in 1980, congratulated both the teams for their efforts when he said, “This first game will hopefully increase the number of teams and women’s matches.”
