Wednesday December 5, 2018                         By: Egyptian Streets

Egyptian handball coach and player Heba Ali is the first Egyptian to train a foreign team by becoming the coach of the Australian women’s national handball team.

In Egypt, the Egyptian Federation of the game usually hires a foreign coaching expert, given that they have the appropriate experience, to manage the technical affairs of the national team and develop their skills.

This happened when Egypt hired the Serbian handball manager Zoran Đorđić to coach the Egyptian handball team during the 2001 World Cup in France where Egypt landed the fourth place.

However, Ali’s story shifted the gear. She started her handball career as a player in Egypt’s Zamalek Club, Egypt and later moved to al-Ahly until 2007. During that time, she was known to be one of the best right wings in Egypt.

She started her coaching career at Al-Gezeira Club in the United Arab Emirates leading the team to “win all national tournaments in the UAE as well as the Arab Championship in 2013,” Ali shared with Fil Goal.

Afterwards, she was appointed coach to Al-Zafra leading them to becoming one of the most established teams in the emirates. Her outstanding success in the coaching field granted a position on the women’s committee in the UAE Handball Federation.

Over 12,000 kilometers away from her home country, Ali was persistent to change the norm, break the barriers and excelling as a coach. She was recruited to prepare Australia’s women’s national handball team for the upcoming Asian Nations Cup qualifiers for the World Handball Championship 2019 in Japan.

The Asian Nations Cup will take place from November 30 to December 9 in Japan, and the first three teams qualify for the World Championship.

Article written by NOUR ELTIGANI for Egyptian Streets 

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