BEYOND THE
BOUNDARIES OF MEN'S CRICKET
Essiba Small
Sunday Guardian
February 20, 2000
Page 23
Winner
of the Woman 2000 competition, Fazida
Mohammed, tells how strength and determination made her stick to her
crease, even when the wickets around her seemed to be falling.
As
a girl, Fazida Mohammed dared to go where no other girl had
gone before - the male-dominated cricket field. It was the first of several barriers she broke on the road to
becoming the only female member of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of
Control (TTCBC) and relentless social worker.
She has been voted as the first Woman 2000, sponsored by Always
and Pantene, Standard Distributors, Trinidad Publishing Co Ltd and Trinidad
Broadcasting Co Ltd. She was nominated
by her sister, Sasha, and two other members of the community.
The
competition invited nominations of women who are "strong, confident
decision-makers and leaders within family, community, and at work" while
possessing qualities of "a loyal friend, caring mother and loving
companion and forward thinking."
Mohammed,
the eldest of 10, said she was always a tomboy. It was natural for her to join the boys playing cricket for
recreation in the quiet Tabaquite Road, Rio Claro.
It also
helped that the principal of the Rio Claro Vedic School, which Mohammed
attended, encouraged her to play the sport.
"I
want to say, too, that Darren Ganga also went to that school," she said
proudly. The boys there, Mohammed said,
welcomed her to their game with open arms.
"They
treated me as one of the guys. I used
to bat and wicket keep in the matches."
As Mohammed
grew older, however, she was confronted with the rude awakening of perceptions
that the cricket field was no place for a woman. She took that in stride and went on to become an administrative
secretary of the South East Zone of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of
Control (TTCBC) and because of her cricket background, found herself taking on
more responsibility including the securing of sponsorship, and implementing
youth programmes.
Mohammed
remained a lover of the sport.
"I
used to go to the Oval and watch it," she said.
As she
grew older she wasn't allowed to continue the sport as a wicket keeper and bats
(wo)man and so she set her sights on becoming an umpire instead.
An injured
ankle, however, didn't allow Mohammed to go beyond the preliminary exams of the
course.
"I
have umpired a few matches and have received praises for it. But yes, the men were a bit hesitant at
first when they saw the umpire was a woman," said Mohammed.
Being
an umpire takes a lot of concentration and awareness, she said.
Now
inactive in the sport she has loved since she was five years old, Mohammed
spends her days at the Inland Revenue office in Rio Claro where she works as a
revenue officer. She is married and has
an 18-year-old daughter, Melina, who, ironically, doesn't like cricket.
Mohammed
said she was surprised at being nominated for the Woman 2000 competition,
but feels proud of her achievement.
"I'm
glad that people recognise me but the most important thing for me is to be
satisfied with what I do and to make other people happy."
She
believes that a woman should take every chance at getting into fields that are
presumably dominated by men. "If
only to show that, yes, we are capable and can do it," she insists.