First Women's Football Team: Muriel Swijghuisen Reigersberg '95
I remember when I set up the first UWCSEA women's football team with my classmate Salina Frohlich. We both loved football but there wasn't a team for us girls at the time, so we approached the football coach Mr Niedermeyer. He already had his hands very full with the many boys teams who were doing very well at the time, but suggested we should ask some of the senior boys to coach us, and so we did. Andrew Mclelland '95 and another school mate (I think his name was Adih - I forget his surname) took it upon themselves to train us and UWCSEA's first women's football team was born.
That first year we didn't have many other female teams to compete against, apart from junior boys teams and there were no real big competitions for women at the time either. I was very pleased though, to hear when I passed through Singapore in 2010, that the women's team was still going and thriving and that it has outlasted me and survived its early, tentative beginnings.
Much has changed for women's football since then too: It's become a sport that women can and do play well, internationally and where there are genuine role models and football stars! That just wasn't heard of back in my early days! I'm glad UWCSEA allowed me to explore my own footballing enthusiasm and for supporting my initiative to set up a new team and be a change-maker for young women like me and Salina, who wanted to play football, but had nowhere to go.
Until this day, at the age of 44 I still kick about a ball with other ladies every now and again, and always get a tear in my eye when I see the next generation of women players train on the field. Thanks UWCSEA for being part of this and my own (very modest and local) footballing history.