Yasmin Hussain and Harleen Kaur confirmed as Batonbearers for Birmingham 2022 Queen's Baton Relay

Shefali Saxena Wednesday 27th April 2022 12:39 EDT
 

Harleen Kaur from Bradford and Yasmin Hussain from London have both been chosen to be Batonbearers for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. They were both recently was invited to an exclusive early look at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, the venue for the Opening Ceremony of the Games, which is where the Relay will end on 28 July 2022.

 

Harleen is a martial artist and kickboxing champion who was the first British Asian Female to represent England at Kickboxing World Championships. Every year, she visits India to volunteer to work with children.

 

Speaking to the newsweekly, Harleen said: “It is such an honour to have been selected as a Batonbearer and to represent Yorkshire in the Queen’s Baton Relay.  It feels so special to be recognised in this way for supporting the women in my area and the work I’ve done in India supporting the local communities there.”

From Bradford, Harleen Kaur is a martial artist and kickboxing champion. She is a fantastic representative in sport for her country and women in the South Asian community. 

As a young girl, Harleen’s passion for sport shone brightly and she went on to successfully compete in kickboxing and also coach at a high level, helping those who have faced barriers in accessing sport.  

As a competitor, Harleen won British kickboxing gold in 2015, followed by silver in the World Martial Kombat Championships. She was the first British Asian female to represent England in kickboxing in the world championships. 

Harleen is also a keen volunteer, dedicating every summer to visits to Punjab in North India, supporting a sports charity, teaching life skills, English and self-defence. Driven by her passion to give back to communities, she also works as an ambassador for Sporting Equals and the Asian Sports Foundation who promote diversity within sport.  

Harleen is a Batonbearer in recognition of her work within sports that brings South Asian women and women from other backgrounds to the forefront of sporting activity and athletics.  

Yasmin is a football coach, completing the female-only FA level one coaching course. She has become the lead development coach at her club and now an FA community mentor for female coaches.

 

As a football coach, Yasmin's advice is, “If women like me want to pursue a sport as a career, I would encourage it as long as they are passionate enough about it. There will be times when you feel there isn’t enough support around you and can be difficult but if you always remember why you decided to pursue it as a career and always keep your intention right then just keep going. 

For me it was to give girls opportunities I didn’t have, and I reminded myself in difficult times in my journey that to make a change I need to keep going and one of the reasons for my successful journey is my passion for wanting to make a change and to help break barriers for female in football, especially in the south Asian community. If the passion is there then defiantly, I will encourage them to go for it.”

Yasmin feels that there has been a massive change in the South Asian mentality. “The people who used to talk negatively about me playing football are now praising the work I do and asking me to coach children in their families,” she said.

 

“Also, the work I do is evident that there has been a change in the community. I have over 60 girls on a Monday night at training at Frenford &MSA WFC a club based in Redbridge. we have 3 teams playing competitive football in the Super 5 Women league. I have recruited 30 coaches from the south Asian community to help with the growth of females joining the club, 16 are actively coaching. If the mindset didn’t change then we wouldn’t see the growth of females from South Asian communities getting involved in football. There is still so much to do, we need more visible role models across the UK for the younger generation, but I can see it going in a positive direction,” Yasmin added. 

Yasmin said that it was an absolute honour and privilege to be selected to represent London as a Batonbearer. 8000 Batonbeares applied and 2022 were selected and then 9 were chosen from 2022 for the unveiling. “Being one of the 9, is an amazing feeling and I am grateful that my journey and the work I do has been recognised as inspirational. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I just feel blessed that I have been chosen to be part of the amazing experience,” she told us.

 

“Being able to carry the Queens Batton to represent my community is an amazing feeling. Looking forward to carrying the Queen’s Baton with pride,” Yasmin added.


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