Breaking Barriers: Erum Baloch's Mission to Empower Girls Through Hockey
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Author: Fizza Sohail, UN Women Pakistan
In a region where societal norms often restrict women's roles and access to public spaces, Erum Baloch champions gender equality in sports. Erum grew up in Jacobabad, an impoverished and conservative district in southern Pakistan. At the age of four, she lost her father, and in 2015, her brother was killed in a violent incident. Erum took upon the role of the family breadwinner. Despite the additional weight of the trauma and financial responsibilities, she clung to a passion that had always fueled her spirit—hockey.
In 2017, at just 23 years old, Erum founded the Stars Women Sports Academy (SWSA), Jacobabad's first women's sports club. “It became my dream to establish a hockey academy so that girls who wanted to play would not find themselves in situations like those that I faced,” Erum shared. With unwavering support from her mother who saw the academy as a path to healing, Erum set out to create a safe space for young female athletes.
Her journey to establishing the academy was fraught with challenges. Jacobabad, a city of 200,000, is steeped in insular values that stigmatize female participation in sports. Erum and her friends encountered societal resistance, threats, and logistical hurdles. “People were not mentally prepared for girls to play, so they started creating hurdles. Many also threatened us. But we didn’t stop,” Erum recounted.
Initially, the girls struggled to find a place to practice, eventually securing access to a sports ground at a local girls' college. Financial constraints were another significant obstacle, with the founders using their own savings to keep the academy afloat. However, their perseverance began to yield results. Small donations and in-kind contributions started to trickle in, and the academy’s impact grew.
A significant milestone in their journey came during the COVID-19 lockdown. A UN Women-supported video on Erum’s journey gained popularity on social media and caught the eye of the provincial government. The government approached Erum, and moved by her story, helped her establish a dedicated hockey ground for girls in 2023—the first of its kind in the district. Today, the SWSA boasts players who compete at provincial and national levels. Diverse young women from all over Pakistan come together to play sports at Star Women’s Sports Academy in Jacobabad. Besides sports, trainings on respect for diversity, leadership and teamwork have also been part of SWSA’s sporting leagues. Inspired by Erum’s journey, young women from other districts are also opening their own coaching centers, to create safe spaces for women to engage in constructive sporting activities.
Erum Baloch’s story is one of resilience and the transformative power of sports. Despite the challenges to acceptance that still arise, Erum and the young athletes of her academy are creating positive counter-narratives in a region where gender inequality often silences potential. All that Erum now wants is support. Safe spaces where women and girls in Pakistan can play sports without societal and discriminatory hurdles, and platforms where they can get the recognition they deserve for their achievements.
UN Women Pakistan has been working with Star Women’s Sport Academy since 2021 to promote women’s leadership, amplify women’s voices through sports and advance social cohesion and community resilience.