Abeer Al Khaja…an expert who changes misconceptions about women practicing sports

The expert in women’s community sports, Abeer Mohammed Al Khaja (39 years old), contributed to changing the concept of women practicing sports, through a group of sports and community events that she has led since 2016, through the sport of “Crossfit,” which she described as a community sport as much as it is competitive in physical fitness.

Abeer Al Khaja is proud to have been a member of the jury for the 12th session of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award (2022-2024), and is also proud to be a graduate of the first batch of the “Emirates Experts” program in 2019, through which she gained several positive concepts, especially related to the importance of practicing sports, especially for women.

Al Khaja sought to apply these ideas she learned among girls of different ages, stressing her pride in her role as a sports activist who contributes to community service in the women’s sports field.

Abeer Al Khaja told Emirates Today that she had never thought about achieving advanced positions in the tournaments and festivals in which she participated, because she realized that what was more important than that was her ability to practice sports, and to contribute to changing some of the concepts that limit women’s participation in sports.

She explained that during her pregnancy with her son, Saeed, who is currently a year and a half old, she practiced running regularly for good distances, stressing that this was done under the supervision of her specialist doctor and fitness trainer. She stressed that her success in this experience contributed to changing this concept, while advising her of the necessity of full compliance with the relevant medical instructions in such cases.

She continued: “I loved practicing running and CrossFit at an early age, so I did not stop advising girls to practice them, because of their great importance, whether on the health, psychological or societal level, and I continue to provide my experience in the various job positions in which I have worked.”

Abeer Al Khaja currently works as Director of the Communications Department in Sharjah for Capacity Development. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American University of Sharjah.

She added: “Among the tasks I worked on was my membership in the Women’s Football Committee, even though I did not play the game, in addition to my membership in the Board of Directors of the Triathlon Federation, the Board of Directors of the Dubai Police Officers Club, and the (I Am Strong) Women’s Running Club.”

She pointed out that these combined experiences paved the way for the establishment of a sports group she called (Women Play Sports), which currently includes about 250 women, with an ambition to raise the number to more than 1,000 participants in the future, aiming to enhance women’s motivation to practice sports in a model environment.