Sport has played an enormously important role in Sara Naveed’s life. At 22 years old, the former Young Peoples Sport Panel (YPSP) member has graduated from Abertay University and is looking for her next step in sports development.
Through programmes like the Young Peoples Sport Panel, Fit For Girls, LeaderBoard and presenting at conferences, Sara has shown a passion to drive real and meaningful change across the sporting sector in Scotland.
Representation on the panel
Established and led by sportscotland, in partnership with Young Scot, the Young Peoples Sport Panel (YPSP) provides a national platform to represent the voices of young people across Scotland.
The programme's principle is that young people's views are heard and valued, and they have the opportunity to influence decision making, drive change and shape the future of sport in Scotland.
Sara was part of cohort five, she said:
“For me, being on the YPSP was a lot about representation and connecting into a network which has helped me in many stages of my life up until now. I was able to meet with influential organisations like SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health), Scottish Women in Sport, Sporting Equals and get involved with Fit for Girls to learn more about sport and develop my skills.”
“I was studying at the time and initially applied for the YPSP for fun. I wasn't studying sports but when I got to the interviews and met the other candidates, I thought… why have I never thought of sport as an option? I then transferred my course to sports development and coaching at Abertay University and was on the panel for two years at the same time.”
Being on the panel and getting involved in sport was a turning point for Sara and reignited her passion for sport.
She said: “I’ve played different sports since I was young but being on the panel rooted it into me and taught me so much. It changed me as a person, and I’ve been so passionate vocally about all the projects and opportunities.”
A role model for others
After Sara’s time on the YPSP she admits she wasn’t quite ready to give it up, so applied for Fit for Girls and has now been a tutor for three years.
Fit for Girls is a national programme developed in partnership between sportscotland and the Youth Sport Trust. The key principles of the programme are valuing girls’ voices, promoting peer role models, co-creating projects, and celebrating ‘Unstoppable Girls’ through sport and physical activity. Since 2008, Fit for Girls has continued to develop and meet the needs of girls, along with the sport and physical activity workforce in Scotland.
Sara is passionate about girls participation in sports and an advocate that there is a sport for everyone, she said:“Everyone has their own journey and unique story in sport which is their advantage as it is personal to them. I want to be that Muslim representation in the room so that Muslim girls are also heard and seen”.
“At Fit for Girls workshops we talk about barriers and ask the girls to come up with ideas and solutions which gives them confidence and a safe space to talk freely, because if we're not there to do it, who else will have that conversation and motivate them to make change.”
Sara shared her recent experience of running a Fit for Girls workshop in Glasgow where there were two young girls wearing hijabs in the class.
“Their eyes lit up when they saw me and I smiled back to acknowledge them. The girls were Muslims, and we chatted about Ramadan, because they said they find it hard during this time. We shared the conversation with the group and it was so nice because I wish I had that representation when I was younger because acknowledgement and understanding is all you want.”
She added: “It's great being able to speak openly about my faith and the challenges and barriers around sports. It’s refreshing that we're all learning from each other which ultimately impacts the workshops that we deliver to the young girls.”
Leadership in action
Last year, for the first time in Scotland, sportscotland and Sporting Equals delivered the LeaderBoard programme with the aim to advance race equality across sport and diversify the boardrooms of Scottish sport.
Sara took part in this first cohort of LeaderBoard which was 15 strong, representing a spectrum of Scotland’s sporting community. Their ethnic heritage includes Indian, Pakistani, Black African, Mixed and Asian. Coming from Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Kinross, the gender split was 47% women, 53% men with an age range of 21 to 76 and an average age of 46.
Sara’s involvement in the programme has been transformative, aiding her studies and enriching her understanding of governance, leadership, and the operational challenges of running a sports organisation at the highest level.
Speaking of her experience of the programme and the sessions delivered, Sara said:
“It’s a really great collaboration and it was so nice to see that representation because if you're in a room full of people who don’t look like you, it can become a situation where you don’t feel comfortable.”
“A lot has changed since LeaderBoard because of questions around diversity in boardrooms and when you see the statistics and why it's important to be on the board it drove me to, firstly, attend LeaderBoard, and secondly, look out for board roles where I feel I can make a positive impact.”
Through an opportunity that came about at LeaderBoard, Sara spoke at the ‘Safe & Strong 2024 Scottish Women in Sport Conference’ alongside Rajani Tyagi, Scottish Ethnic Minority Sports Association (SEMSA) and Shazia Mailk, CEO, Glasgow ANSAR Scotland on the importance of diverse representation on sports boards for the health, wellbeing and safety of ethnically diverse participants.
The presentation emphasised how diverse boards can enhance sports output and better connect organisations with the communities they are working and partnering with. Sara also explored how you can ensure and meet cultural requirements for women and girls participating in sport, including kit and clothing, agreeable venues and the understanding of religious festivals.
Sara said: “I spoke about my experience in sport and why it's important that people hear my story, how I felt and what I struggled with to try and help make all sports more accessible, open and inclusive to everyone from all faiths and backgrounds.”
Change maker
Sara’s involvement in LeaderBoard also led to a connection with Cosmopolitan Roses, a London-based netball team that has spearheaded recruitment for the Pakistan national netball team, allowing Sara to compete at national level in the sport.
Sara played netball competitively when she was younger but stopped because she was struggling to play wearing a hijab.
She was involved in a social media campaign around World Hijab Day where she uploaded a bio for basketball then a netball academy in London saw it and got in touch.
In June 2024, Sara joined a group of young British Pakistani women on a trip of a lifetime to take part in a prestigious netball tournament in Pakistan and they won gold!
Sara said: “I'm now in the player development team and I'm a training partner for the academy. I’m also on the performance pathway because I've never played performance sport and other players are more advanced. I'm starting that journey now and building, so it's really interesting.”
Reflecting on her experience on being involved in sport on and off the court, Sara said:
“I know that I'm one of the very few Muslim hijabs that play sport in Scotland, so I think that's why it's so important for me to have been involved in the panel, Fit for Girls and speaking at conferences to share my journey. I want to be that representation because I know there's not a lot of it.”
“A lot of great things have happened from the programmes I’ve been involved in so my advice to others would be to take every opportunity that you get. There were definitely times where I was scared to attend or speak at events but it's a fact that if I wasn't the person to do it, somebody else was or no one at all, so I’d rather be that voice.”
Find out more
- The Young People's Sport Panel
- Fit for Girls
- Sara Naveed - sportscotland the national agency for sport in Scotland
- Scottish Women in Sport Conference 2024 - Sport First
- Sara Naveed - sportscotland and the Sporting Equals LeaderBoard Programme
- Race Equality in Sport Conference - Sport First
- Changing the Face of Scottish Sport - Sport First