Newcastle University has worked with partners in Saudi Arabia for years, though its work in women’s sport began in earnest following the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund’s £300m purchase of Newcastle United, a deal which caused a general downturn in public perception of Middle Eastern money affecting British businesses.
It was after this leadership change that Katy Storie, Newcastle University’s Director of Sport and veteran England rugby player, saw an opportunity to bring about positive change amidst swirling accusations of sportswashing and corruption.
At its inception, Newcastle University’s partnership with PNU was purely academic, designed to “foster collaboration in key areas of mutual interest” covering a variety of humanities and STEM studies, though Storie saw plenty of scope to expand into sport and fitness, using athletics as a means of promoting both health and social mobility for Saudi Arabian women.
The early stages of the project, named Future Female Leaders in Sport, focused on identifying and remedying the natural gaps in the nascent infrastructure surrounding women’s sport.
“I assumed it would be leadership,” Storie said when asked which areas would require the most attention. “That’s coaches, officials, committee members, role models, women in sport not necessarily playing but leading. Everything that we take for granted here.”
The lack of female role models in Saudi society, athletes or otherwise, was earmarked as a particularly glaring issue.
“In one of the first sessions we ran, I asked [the attendees] to name as many female athletes or sports people as you can,” Storie remembered. “Well, they knew none. Not one. Not even Serena Williams.”
Once the trickier stumbling blocks had been identified, the project quickly gained momentum. Storie secured the blessings of Newcastle University Chancellors and the British Embassy, who supported her in expanding her project beyond Riyadh to other major cities across Saudi Arabia. The Newcastle United Foundation (an independent charity supported but not directly governed by Newcastle United FC) and the Newcastle Eagles, a professional basketball team, have shown support for the project, sending representatives to help lead Storie’s workshops.
The project has also featured advisory support from Sir Steve Smith, HMG’s International Education Champion, and Lisa O’Keefe, Secretary General of the International Working Group on Women & Sport, an influential organization promoting the development of women in sport in its 17 member nations. O’Keefe assisted Storie in securing the Saudi government’s formal support for IWG’s Strategic Plan, which helps its members to achieve IWG’s “vision of sport and physical activity contributing to a world where all women and girls thrive.”
“I wanted a launch event to bring together the good and the great in Saudi to publicly back women’s sport,” Storie said. “Saudi’s commitment to [supporting the IWG] was amazing. I was hoping to get that by the end of our project and ended up getting it right at the start, so I’m really confident we’re making change.”
Storie made sure to emphasize that her project is not a sportswashing enterprise, rather she is focusing entirely on women’s empowerment and using her own experiences as a female athlete to create opportunities for prospective female Saudi athletes.
“This is participation and skills development, solely. We don’t do performance,” she clarified. “I have areas that I’m prepared to work in and [Newcastle University] has been brilliant in giving me their full support to say no to anything I was uncomfortable with, particularly areas where we wouldn’t be making a difference. It’s all about empowerment of women, that’s where our agenda fits in with that of the Commonwealth Office, promoting health for women globally.”
Future Female Leaders in Sport has held workshops in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Medina, covering leadership skills and performance education. Men are not allowed to attend the sessions, as Storie aims to create a safe space for all participants, free from judgement and societal pressure. She considers the workshop in Medina the best-attended session yet, to be something of a breakthrough moment for the project.
“Medina is very traditional. The embassy actually told us we wouldn’t be able to work there as the women are too conservative, it’s a sacred city,” she explained. “It turned out women from Medina were driving four-plus hours to Jeddah to see us, so we decided to do a one-off trip. We had 101 women, it blew me away. They were keen, they turned up early, they absolutely loved it.”
Two exhibition futsal matches played between NUWFC and PNU have taken place to celebrate the project’s growth. PNU’s visit to Tyneside in December 2022 marked the first time the school had sent a team to compete in Europe, while the return leg in Riyadh, attended by 350 enthusiastic students, left an impression on the Newcastle delegation, despite the narrow 3-2 defeat.
“It was great to see,” NUWFC’s Publicity Officer Lia Paa-Kerner told The Courier. “They had so many more supporters than we get. It was really a big occasion.”
“They brought a megaphone, made banners, and made a point of playing Taylor Swift for us at full time,” added Freya Johnson, NUWFC club treasurer, evidently impressed by their host’s hospitality and passion for the game.
Over the course of a week-long trip, the NUWFC and PNU players spent a great deal of time together, with the visitors trading their experiences as female athletes in England for firsthand experiences of Saudi culture, visiting cultural sites in Riyadh, and sharing traditional meals with their hosts. They also attended a Saudi Women’s Premier League match. Formed in 2020, the SWPL is made up of eight teams and is structured to nurture home-grown talent rather than investing in foreign stars.
While Storie’s workshops focus on women’s empowerment, NUWFC aimed to impart wisdom around managing a student-run sports club, as Saudi Arabian teams are yet to adopt the board setup so often employed by British university teams.
“The PNU team gets funding direct from the university, and the head coach decides where it goes,” Johnson explained. “With so much being student-led here, we don’t have to be told what to do, we just take our own initiative. They don’t have that as much.”
The players do, however, hold plenty of optimism for the future of women’s sport in Saudi Arabia, citing their hosts’ personalities, the seemingly endless funding behind them, and a constantly changing Saudi culture as promising factors.
“They’re so down to earth,” said Ellie Vayro, NUWFC’s Welfare Officer and central midfielder. “They’re confident, friendly, and will do anything to play football despite the taboos. It's inspirational.”
While Saudi Arabia’s conservative culture has delayed the dawn of women’s sport, the players were left with the impression that times were changing, noting that women were permitted far more autonomy than most Western cultures might imagine, with PNU students free to interpret Islamic precepts, such as covering one’s skin or appearing in photos, however they felt most comfortable.
“We talk about women’s empowerment, that’s a woman making a decision about her own body,” Storie said. “We in the West make incredible assumptions about what happens in Saudi Arabia and actually we’re often wrong. All we can do is just support them to build up skills and confidence, and I think the country is changing massively, particularly around expectations of women.”
With a year remaining in the project’s current timeline, both NUWFC players and Storie are looking forward to continuing their partnerships with Saudi Arabia.
“We all hope it becomes an annual thing,” Paa-Kerner laughed.
“The PNU players want to come back to Newcastle as well,” Johnson adds. “But maybe in the summer next time. It was snowing during their last visit, they were all freezing.”
The ever-industrious Storie, however, is aiming to expand the project even further.
“I have very high hopes for Saudi Arabia,” she reiterates. “The number of women in leadership roles is increasing significantly… we’re connecting some of the new sports federations like rugby and dodgeball to our workshops, and the less traditional sports are also showing significant growth. Saudi Arabia has the opportunity to be on equal footing, that’s what I like to see.”