Yussif Basigi: Hasaacas Ladies’ girls are a blessing for me.
Yussif Basigi has been Hasaacas Ladies coach sine the team was founded in 2003. The well renowned coach has a huge history coaching women’s football. Now he eyes another big feat after guiding the Ghanaian champions to the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League, Egypt 2021 final.
“I started coaching girls in the school level since 2002. In 2003 I won the regional games with the high school teams. I was always told that with my patience, I can coach women’s football well. It’s a passion that has driven me since then,” Basigi told CAFOnline.com.
Being and advocate for women’s football, Coach Basigi always seizes the opportunity to talk about how women’s football should be taken care of. “If all of us only focus on men’s football, who will help women’s football? It’s a disadvantage for a person to be against women’s football. I managed Hassacas’ men team and was well paid, but at a point I decided that if I leave these girls, no one will help them. I decided to devote my time and efforts to teach them everything, being a teacher myself. I know it’s not financially rewarding, but it’s rewarding for me to do something good for Mother Ghana”.
“These girls mean a lot to me; I only want to see them excelling in their lives. They also add to my career as I get professionally judged as the only coach who developed 30-40 players into the national teams. They had to consider me as a head coach for the national team, seniors and under 20. These girls are a blessing for me, I even get a big exposure because of them” he talked about what his team means to him.
About the idea of female footballer, and how they are misinterpreted in the community, Basigi said: “There a huge misconception about girls playing football. Families think that females are only destined to be ready for the kitchen and their future husbands. Another misconception is that female footballers must be muscular and do not give birth, and many more”.
Basigi thinks that this tournament is a huge step to break the misconception about women’s football. “Female football is now becoming a big trade. If you play it, you will not regret it. It’s not always about the money, football can help you get scholarships, job opportunities and so more. My players’ families now are very proud to see them play in WCL on TV. So, this tournament is like an eye opener to all families to support their girls”.