A cycling club for women was established in Saudi Arabia recently which has seen a steady increase in growth. Al-Besklita was founded by Nadima Abu al-Enein eighteen months ago and the group meet at the corniche in Jeddah for bike rides.
Participation in sport by Saudi women has been extremely difficult in the past. According to a report in Arabian Business in 2012: “Sports in the patriarchal society of Saudi Arabia has long been reserved as an activity for men. Even stadiums for watching sports prohibit females to be present. Women are able to play in the privacy of their homes or in private schools but as soon as they step beyond that to play professionally or in organized teams in public competitions they are publicly slammed for going against their natural role.”
However, there have been some significant advances made over the past number of years. The Saudi 2012 Summer Olympics team included female athletes for the first time ever, and they also sent women athletes again in 2016.
In 2013, Saudi Arabia’s first dedicated sports centre for girls was opened in Khobar, offering training programs that include physical fitness, karate and yoga.
Al-Besklita organise their events through social media and their numbers have grown to 30 members, and they have also started teaching women how to cycle.
They haven’t competed internationally as of yet, but according to Nadima, they hope to do so soon.
Al darajah ques min riadadh wa min saha. Martin fi Dublin.