More than a club; more than a game: contribution to the evaluation of the Hijabs and Hat-tricks project, report, in partnership with Sports Against Racism Ireland

This research report, which forms part of the larger Hijabs and Hat-tricks evaluation, is based on the findings of two focus group discussions held with players from Diverse City, which provided a platform for the participants to share their perspectives on being part of Ireland’s first team formed specifically to facilitate the participation of Muslim women in sports. Session A included seven young women aged under-18. Session B included eight young women aged 18 and over. Although the majority of the young women were Muslim, given the inclusive ethos of the project, three were of a Christian background. A diverse range of ethnic and national heritages were also represented including Irish, African, Arabic, Eastern European and South Asian. Both of the group discussions were audio recorded and subsequently transcribed. These transcriptions were subjected to a thematic analysis. A thematic analysis, as the title implies, searches out the common themes that come through in the voices of those taking part in the research (Hennink et al 2011). These themes provide insights into how the players of Diverse City feel about playing football, what they gained from and what they felt was challenging about their participation. A discussion of each of these themes will be presented in turn. This report will conclude with a summary of reflections and recommendations that may be used to inform Diverse City and the Hijabs and Hat-tricks project into the future. Pseudonyms are used throughout this section in order to protect the identity of participants.