In Egypt, "when we talk about hockey, we think of Sharqiya", a hundred kilometers from Cairo in the heart of the Nile Delta, the 24-year-old forward proudly told AFP.

The Charqiya Hockey Club was established in the 1960s, initially reserved for men. But for Ibrahim al-Bagouri, a member of the club's board of directors, the game is much older and dates back to the Pharaonic era: this sport was according to him "played in Tell Basta and Tell al-Amarna and known to the ancient Egyptians as al-hawksha".

More than 7,000 years later, in 1995, the Charqiya Club created its women's hockey team. In 28 years of existence, it has won the national championship 25 times and even won in 2019 the title of champion of the African Club Cup.

"But no girl has turned professional so far," said Donia Shaarawy, wearing a sports outfit and a black scarf, as she left her training.

She admires the excellence of Belgian and Italian clubs and hopes to become "the first Egyptian" to join a European club.

Hockey or family?

With its continental title in 2019, the Charqiya Club women's team is now attracting attention.

His coach, Moustafa Khalil, told AFP he had received offers from French and Italian clubs for four of his players.

© Khaled DESOUKI / AFP

But one of them refused to stop her studies and the other three, he said, rejected these offers because, married with children, they said they could not settle abroad.

Egypt's conservative and patriarchal society stands between athletes and their dreams of Europe, says the coach, who concedes that it is still taboo to "let women travel alone".

Soumaya Abdel Aziz, director of the women's division of the Charqiya club, wants to believe that mentalities have changed in a country where women still say they are heavily discriminated against.

"Nowadays, it is no longer a problem for a woman to travel alone or sleep outside the family home," she said.

Donia Shaarawy, too, says she is ready: "If I am asked to choose between marriage and hockey, it will be hockey."

Nahla Ahmed, 28, captain of the team, "mother of a little girl and married to a hockey player", believes that marriage and motherhood do not prevent a sports career.

"I want to be the best in Africa," says the woman who has already been crowned best player in the first league and who has been handling lacrosse since childhood.

"This sport is expensive"

During training on synthetic turf, the players' screams mingle with the clashing of wooden sticks that they use to pass the ball towards the opposing goals.

In front of the cage, Nada Mostafa, a student, counters the attacks so effectively that she has joined the national team.

"I chose to be a goalkeeper because you feel like you're the king of the world, they even say that the goalkeeper is half of the team," she told AFP, wearing a protective helmet under her arm.

© Khaled DESOUKI / AFP

The goalkeeper's equipment - a breastplate, leggings padded with foam and a helmet reinforced with a metal grid - costs 65,000 Egyptian pounds, or just under 2,000 euros, plus 110 euros for lacrosse, says their coach, Moustafa Khalil.

"This sport is expensive and the lack of media coverage delays the arrival of sponsors," laments the one who has only obtained funds once.

It was in 2019, an Egyptian company had financed its team during the African Cup of Champions Clubs, which was held that year in Egypt. Despite their coronation, the sponsor withdrew immediately after.

"We spend between 150,000 and 180,000 euros a year," Hamdi Marzouk, the boss of the Charqiya Club, told AFP.

Normal in Sharqiya. Because here, says Ibrahim al-Bagouri, "everyone has a hockey stick, it's like football for Brazilians."

© 2023 AFP