Qatar Foundation and Generation Amazing are expanding their inclusive football program to ensure it can open up sporting opportunities for more young people with disabilities across Qatar.

The QF Ability Friendly program offers the chance for affordable community sports classes to become more easily available to children and adults with special needs, including those with physical, mental and visual impairments, deafness, and Autism, as well as other learning challenges.

The Ability Friendly program was launched in 2020 and gives children aged five and above the chance to play and learn new skills through football. Weekly sessions are held at Multaqa in Education City and are supervised by highly-trained coaches like Abdullah. The coaches have received special training in order to meet the needs of all participants. From this month, the program will be offered in more locations, including Qatar Academy branches in Al Khor and Al Wakrah.

"It has been a great learning experience," said the goalkeeper of the Qatar women's national team, Shaima Abdullah. "The workshops Generation Amazing provided for us as coaches changed my way of thinking tremendously. They allowed me to help make football accessible to people of different ages and needs."

Through her work with Generation Amazing, Abdullah is one of many inspiring female coaches who have focused their work on building access to football and sport in their communities, while breaking stereotypes in the process.

The 29-year-old started her journey in sport from an early age and has continuously focused on improving her skills and raising awareness for the role of women in sport.

Abdullah explained that whatever challenges she faced, they did not cause her to stop on her journey: "I strongly stand against limiting football to men, and in general, women should not be restricted from following their football path. Generation Amazing gave me the opportunity to develop further and to expand my expertise in coaching."

The Generation Amazing program focuses on gender equality through youth advocates and other innovative programs in Qatar and across the world. Abdullah was on hand recently, as Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy Ambassador Tim Cahill visited the Generation Amazing-QF Ability Friendly program to inspire children to follow their dreams.

For the trailblazing Abdullah, she believes hosting the World Cup in Qatar and implementing activities such as the Ability Friendly program are helping to increase the popularity of women's football.

"I hope the upcoming World Cup in Qatar will help to place a focus on gender equality in sports, and help us to organize friendly matches to shed a light on women's football, and I hope that I will be part of it," the talented goalkeeper concluded.

(QNA)