A Ramadan football programme took place at Teesside University for the third year, in collaboration with Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation.
A series of community training sessions have been held on the campus’ astroturf pitch featuring coaching staff from the MFC Foundation. It has been occurring during each Thursday of the Ramadan period at 9pm until 11pm.
Ramadan is a religious practice held during the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar and sees observers fasting from dawn until sunset.
Former participant Ismail Hassan, a 22-year-old chiropractor student at Teesside University, said that fasting is a way to empathise with people who don’t have the basic necessities of water or food as well as showing self-discipline as sometimes we “become a slave to our desires”.
Will Jones, 39, head of sport at the university, said: “It’s a celebration at the end of the day, breaking the fast, and then coming and having some activity to take part in.”
He said that the programme has been successful in bringing together people after sunset.
He added: “The first year, we had an average of about 60 attendees at each session. Last year, it was up to 130. This year it’s proven really popular again.
“By having it after they’ve broken fast, it gives them an opportunity to take some food, some water on board, and then be able to play once they’ve done that – rather than feeling that they’d have to come through the day, when they might be struggling a little bit more with tiredness or lack of nutrition.
“So, I guess it allows or hopefully eases a few people’s fears by having it later on.”
The sessions have been free to play with no booking required.
Despite the fact that the programme is aimed for those completing Ramadan, it has also been open to other members of the community, no matter their religion or belief.
Hassan said: “I think it’s amazing and I think it brings the community together. You get people coming from all sorts of countries, and all sorts of backgrounds, and it’s that kind of socialisation, that community, that brotherhood, it’s really nice to see.”
With Muslim prayer rooms on campus, wudhu facilities for cleansing, and a multi-faith prayer area in the library, the university has made additional accommodations to make those completing Ramadan comfortable.
