Written by: Hind Awad and Noha Khorshid:
Women’s football in Egypt, which appeared in 1993 at the hands of Sahar El Hawary, is witnessing clear growth with the participation of Egyptian football poles Al-Ahly and Zamalek in the next season, but before the start of the “exceptional” season, there was a female coach who made history in the last edition, being the first foreigner to coach a team. Women in Egypt, Shailene Euston, Wadi Degla women’s coach.
Shelene achieved many championships as a player, most notably winning 5 titles with the Spurs team in the South African provincial championships, winning three Cosafa Cup titles with her country, placing fourth in the African Championship twice, and qualifying for the Women’s World Cup. Before taking over as coach of Wadi Degla, she led the national team. South Sudan for women during the period from 2021 until late 2023.
“Yalla Koura” conducted an interview with her in which he talked about the most prominent challenges facing the players, the future of women’s football in Egypt, the reason for Wadi Degla’s failure to win any championship last season, and preparations for the Egyptian Women’s Super Cup.
Below is the text of the dialogue.
In the beginning, since you took over as coach of Wadi Degla, how did you find the difference between female players in Egypt and Africa?
-I think I watched a lot of football matches, and when I came here I found that the difference is in the physical factor, but there are also a lot of talented female players, and I think a lot of that shows when you look at the Egyptian national team, so I don’t think there is a big difference, that Perhaps only in how to support female players, and female players consider the way in which teams are selected, which may be one of the reasons why we do not see the Egyptian national team performing well. The matter now needs to provide good training for female players. Make sure that talent has a clear path because I do not think that given As for the league itself, there is a big difference between players in Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, or any of the other African teams.
In your opinion, will the fourth edition of the Women’s African Champions League be stronger… and can an Egyptian team win it?
-I actually think this version is the strongest because Sun Downs won twice and a team from Morocco won once… I think if anyone supports the female players then the team can compete. If you can look at Sun Downs, there is a lot of support for the team. So for me they will always be one of the best teams.
– Any team can succeed if it has sufficient preparation and support, and this is the same thing that Tutankhamun’s team did. They had a good season last year, but now they have changed many elements of the team, so I do not know their competitiveness.
Why did last season end without championships… and what is your preparation for the next season?
Wadi Degla has a great legacy. People abroad know the women’s game in Egypt in Wadi Degla, and last season we lost many players to travel abroad, and the ages of the players were less than 20 years old and up to 18. We finished the season in second place with a team of young women, and this Season average ages 24-25.
-When we start preparing, it is about winning, and I have already started preparing for the league, and I will not be happy with second place. I do not want to end the season in the top four. I want to be in the lead, and what we were doing was for the sake of winning. I am not saying that we will win the league, but we will make sure of We did everything we could to win. No one remembers who came in second. Everyone remembers who came first. For us as a team, we have our goals. We have set our goals and we are not. This is a good season for us. I already see that we started well and with… Teams like Al-Ahly and Zamalek in the competition The reach of this is huge and makes it even clearer.
– Women’s football is going to grow tremendously, it has already grown with two big teams like that in the league, so I think for us it’s about finishing, there’s no option of getting second.
The Egyptian Super Cup is the only remaining tournament from last season, and against Tutankhamun is the team that won the league and the cup.. How is preparation being done?
– Wadi Degla means something to me and to the players and the management. If you come here you come to win, the ultimate goal is always to win, so when we go into the Super Cup, we will give everything we have, in a message to say that last season we were the same person as we are now, but It’s time to take back what belongs to us. It won’t be easy, it will be difficult, it will be tough. We will fight every week. It will be a cup final for us because we want to win. Some of these players have not tasted that. We have brought in some new players, so this will be the first time. For them but for me, being able to be here to guide these players.
The duration of your contract with Wadi Degla has not been revealed when expected. When will your journey with the club end?
-I signed a one-year contract, and I decided in the second season that I wanted to extend because I love the club, I love the values they represent, and I love the players. For me, it did not make sense to resign even though I received offers, but again it is very important for me to finish what I have done. I started it and when I came here I said we wanted to continue the winning streak, that we wanted to continue being a successful team and I don’t think that has changed, so whatever it takes, we want to be successful together, so I don’t think the length of the contract really matters whether it’s 3 years or 5 years or 10 years The important point is did you achieve what you set out to do.
– And if things don’t go well, I’ll feel like I need to move on but at the moment this is where I am, this is what I’m doing and I’m not the type of coach who leaves in the middle of the season, even if Manchester United or Chelsea come or if it’s the South African national team, I’m not that kind of person, I’ve committed to this team and to this team.
What are the challenges facing girls who play football in Egypt?
-I think the challenges facing female players today are different. I don’t know much about the challenges Egyptian female players face but I trained in countries like South Sudan and it was very difficult, so if you come to a country like Egypt, you feel like I’m in heaven now.
– In the Islamic world, there are many challenges that accompany doing what we do, but I think that Egypt has developed a lot, and girls are now getting opportunities that they have never had before.
During my training in Sudan, there was no infrastructure, but here it is a huge difference because I had to train with the South Sudan national team in one stadium.
In the end… How do you see the next season of the league with the participation of these clubs?
-This will be a difficult season. I think everyone knows and understands the challenges we will face. I think it is no longer just us getting on the field, but now it is about working and making sure we get everything so that we are successful and this applies to every player. Making sure you’re doing the right things that will put you on the path to success, eating right, sleeping right, making sure you’re training right, even what you watch on TV, what you listen to, what kind of books you read these are the things that set you up for success.
