A sports training facility has opened a tennis class for women and girls in Erbil city, a rare sport for women in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq to participate in. 

More than 30 people of different ages registered to play tennis on the first day of training after the class opened. Out of eight students over the age of 18, seven were women. The training is conducted three times a week for three hours per day. 

“I am pleased to see that Erbil is paying attention to tennis, especially women, as seven out eight people [in the class] are women. The main goal of this school is to create a new generation for playing tennis, which is an international sport. It is the first time we have registered so many people of different ages on the same day,” Nasir Abdulrazaq, an Iraqi tennis coach and a coach at the tennis school, told Rudaw. 

Abdulrazaq added that the school consists of four professional coaches – two men and two women – who have played for the Iraqi national tennis team. 

Tiba Mohammed, a 33-year-old university lecturer, said that the opening of a tennis class is a “dream come true” for her and her sister.

“I wanted to learn this game for a long time and there was no place for us to learn, but now this court is being taken care of in Erbil so me and my sister have come to make our dream came true,” she said. 

“In the past, it was strange for women to exercise in our society, but today, I see a women playing a role in every sport,” she added.