Black History Month: Zainab's journey to the PWR
October was a landmark month for both Zainab Alema and the rugby world when she started for Leicester Tigers in their PWR game against Gloucester-Hartpury.
On Sunday 6 October, Zainab became both the first Hijabi woman to play in the competition, and the first to score when she crossed the line for Leicester’s second try.
Zainab has long wanted to play in the Premiership and finally achieved this ambition with Leicester after joining the squad on a short-term contract from Richmond.
Having started playing rugby aged 14, she has worked tirelessly on her journey to the top tier of women’s rugby and, at one point, combined her role as a neo-natal nurse with regular training and games.
Even now, the mother of three is commuting from London to Leicester to make sure she can train and play with the squad.
At the start of her rugby journey, Zainab’s father wasn’t convinced it was the sport for her as he didn’t see any representation, but there were two players that stood out for her.
She explained: “Initially, I loved Manu Tuilagi. When I first started playing, I didn't really know the women's national team existed and at the time I was playing in the backs. Manu was just ripping up for England and I thought ‘this guy is amazing.’
“Then I found out about the Red Roses and Maggie Alphonsi. I thought she was incredible.
“It was the first time I saw a black woman playing at international level and just watching her on TV, she was absolutely smashing it for the Red Roses.
“I sort of saw myself in her in the fact that she was black and playing like an absolute machine.”
Maggie has also been a mentor for Zainab over the years and gives advice on rugby and whatever options may be available. The World Cup-winning flanker has even invited her to her book launch and games at Allianz Stadium.
As a role model, Maggie’s influence has gone beyond mentoring. At one point, Zainab didn’t feel that she belonged in the sport.
“I nearly left the sport because I felt like I didn’t really belong, mainly because a lot of the time I was the only black girl,” she said.
“I just didn't really feel like I fitted in, but seeing Maggie playing for England, she was the representation that I needed to see at the time.”
Another thing that encouraged Zainab to stick with rugby was the fact that the Laws themselves allow for her to wear her hijab.
“I would say Maggie, and knowing that I could wear a headscarf, were the two things that kept me in the sport,” she said. “That's rugby welcoming me and on top of that I've got a fantastic role model.”
Since Maggie was at her peak, the Red Roses team has seen more black women in its ranks, including Sadia Kabeya, Tatyana Heard and Shaunagh Brown, while the likes of Simi Pam continue to excel in the PWR.
For Zainab, this is a positive shift that can make a difference in interest levels among the black community, but also in how people can feel that they belong in the rugby space.
She said: “There are more and more young girls from the black community interested in rugby because you have that representation at the higher level.
“Even when I joined Richmond, our head coach at the time, Mark Cadogan, was a black man and there were a few other black players.
“So as soon as I joined them, I instantly felt I belonged because there were other people from the black community playing, which just felt really nice, and it makes a big difference.”
Zainab herself is an example of representation in the game helping to encourage more people to feel welcome in rugby.
As a player with a large social media following – she has over 17,000 Instagram followers – Zainab is able to put her experiences out on social media.
When she went to Allianz Stadium recently for a Women’s Six Nations game, she thought she would be the only woman wearing a hijab, but then saw others in the crowd.
Hijabi women in her network have expressed an interest in rugby, despite not being rugby players.
“They had an interest in rugby, and they always say they want to come and watch me, so I feel like the visibility I'm getting is going to hopefully diversify the fans as well and that's going to be good for the game in general,” she explained.
“It seems like rugby is almost tapping into these communities and I think worldwide it’s going to have an impact as well.
“We pride ourselves on being an inclusive game and sport and community, and I feel things like this, the representation and visibility will obviously play a role in diversifying the fan base as well, which is fantastic.”
Main photo: Sean Alabaster
Try scoring photo: Alana Bainbridge
