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For an African family of
eight the integration period of a new life in England can seem
everlasting.
Dad Mohammad Ouattara,
from the Ivory Coast and his Guinean wife, have six girls including
two sets of twins and moved to Newcastle’s West End in 2008. The
French-speaking family moved from the Ivory Coast due to civil
unrest and to find a better quality of life for their children.
With the strain of the
language barrier, finding work, suitable housing and schools,
the experience would overawe many families. Yet an introduction
to the Olympic sport of judo saw the children flourish in their
new surroundings.
While all six children
have practiced the sport at some stage, three daughters in particular
have become fascinated by the sport.
Twin sisters Harjiratou
and Zalikhatou Ouattara, 13, along with younger sister Bachirou,
10, started judo at their respective schools, Excelsior Academy
and St Michael’s Primary School, in September 2009 and ever since
have been practicing judo.
Newburn Judo Club and Newcastle’s
judo coach Joe Laws initially entered the girls’ schools to deliver
a programme funded by Comic Relief which provided an opportunity
for the girls to try their hand at the Olympic sport.
As part of the Premier
League 4 Sport programme - which sees each Premiership side stage
satellite clubs which offer judo, badminton, table tennis and
volleyball - the three sisters went on to pursue judo at Newcastle’s
satellite club within Sacred Heart School.
After missing a handful
of sessions their future participation was sealed when Newburn
Judo Club’s Joe Laws, who was overseeing the satellite club, returned
to the twin sisters’ school to deliver another programme. The
much-admired coach saw them in the corridor and asked for them
to pass his number onto their dad and call him regarding their
judo and to hear what the sport can offer them.
Dad Mohammad was very keen
to see his daughters reap the benefits of judo as they made new
friends, developed their fitness and regularly participated in
a fun and challenging activity in a safe and friendly environment.
All three have since shown a natural
ability for the sport, having advanced from the white belt they
started with to the grading scheme’s next colour of red and have
medalled at regional events. Their progress has led them all to
attend the highly-regarded Newburn Judo Club on a weekly basis.
“We have always been involved
in sport but never judo, we thought getting involved would be
a good way for us to express ourselves as individuals,” said Harjiratou.
“Judo has also helped us
to meet new friends and overcome our shyness and helped us socially
as we have met lots of new friends but more importantly it has
helped us feel more confident in our day-to-day lives.
“We want to act as role
models for other girls and encourage them to join judo clubs as
the sport has taught us so much, we would also like to compete
nationally which will take a lot of hard work and dedication.”
Dad Mohammed Ouattara said:
“It’s fantastic that the girls are part of such a successful project,
I have been very impressed with the standard of judo I have seen
and have realised my girls have the potential to go a long way
in the sport with dedication and hard work.”
Newburn Judo Club’s Head
Coach Joe Laws believes he’s fortunate to teach such hard-working
children.
“These girls have come
into the sport with no experience and they’ve flourished on and
off the mat. They’ve been a pleasure to teach and their dad is
very keen on them practicing the sport as he’s aware of the social
and health benefits.
“Their English is improving
all the time and despite not always understanding what I say they
always grasp things from a demonstration and still manage to interact
well with the other children.”
Lisa Bell, Newcastle’s
Premier League 4 Sport Coordinator, said: “We hope the Ouattara
sisters will inspire lots of girls to try new sports.
“Through the Premier League
4 Sport programme Newcastle United are helping hundreds of children
to keep fit and active through engaging in sports such as judo.”
Daniel Griffin, Children
and Young People Development Manager at British Judo, said: “This
is a fantastic example of what we are working towards for the
Premier League 4 Sport programme. We have challenged all the football
clubs to support our overall strategy; this includes getting more
women and girls playing and volunteering in judo.”
“Newburn Judo Club has
completely embraced this programme and it could not have been
as successful without the hard work and dedication from Joe and
everybody at the club.”
“Their dad Mohammad also
loves that his children have a chance to travel and enter competitions
right across the Britain.”
Newburn Judo Club train
at the Newburn Activity Centre, Grange Road, NE15 8ND. Men and
women train on Monday at 20:30 – 21:45 while there’s a mixed session
for girls and boys on Thursday at 17:00 – 18:30.
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