northern

While current Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill was not yet born when Best won the Ballon d’Or off the back of a European Cup with Manchester United, he can appreciate what a global superstar means to a small footballing nation.

“George Best, an iconic figure in in world football and obviously we’re very privileged that he came from Northern Ireland. In many ways, he puts our country on the map.” he said.

“I think in Georgia, you have that situation now with Kvaratskhelia who I think is a world-class player.

“For me he was probably the best player in the Champions League last season over the whole competition. We obviously have to give him special attention.

“It’s the same when you play against any world-class player in any country that you have to be aware that he can win the game in a moment, that he can create so much and he can lift his team as well.”

Despite being in the running for such prestigious individual accolades, Kvaratskhelia’s national coach Willy Sagnol praised the player’s focus on the collective.

The former France international was a Les Bleus team-mate of Zinedine Zidane, winner of the Ballon d’Or in 1998.

“You were talking about Ballon d’Or, times maybe change but I think sometimes the past was better where players were playing and waiting to the end to see who would be Ballon d’Or and then be happy to be or disappointed not to be,” said the 49-year-old.

“Too many times in the last weeks, I see players saying ‘I’m the best, I’m the best, I’m the best.’

“Khvicha never said that and that’s why I’m very proud to be his head coach because he’s not just about a fantastic football player, but he’s also a fantastic personality who thinks always about the team and not about himself and I’m sure [on Friday] he will show it again.”

LONDON: The leaders of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland signed a pact Monday that threatens to lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom.

The first ministers of the three semiautonomous regions of the U.K. told Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his government to prepare for constitutional change and that their future lies with the European Union.

“For people watching across these islands — for people watching around the world — there could be no clearer sign that Westminster’s time is coming to an end,” they said in a memorandum of understanding, referring to Parliament.

The announcement came about 48 hours after U.S. President Donald Trump waded into the waters of the politically contentious issue when he said he would “ love to see ” a reunified Ireland during a trip to visit his golf course hosting the Irish Open.

It’s the first time the leaders of all three countries are either from pro-independence parties, or pro-unification in the case of Northern Ireland, which was partitioned and remained part of the U.K. when Ireland won independence from Britain over a century ago.

Tensions remain despite devolution of power

Burnham’s spokesperson brushed aside the threat and said the prime minister strongly believes in the union and was more focused on lowering the cost of living than dealing with constitutional debates.

“The United Kingdom is at its best when people come together around our shared values and problem-solving, rather than division,” Tom Wells said.

Nicola McEwen, director of the University of Glasgow Center for Public Policy, said the summit was symbolically important but has no legal significance.

“I don’t see the threat to the union being bigger today than it was yesterday,” McEwen said.

In the late 1990s, the U.K. passed legislative acts that decentralized government through the process of devolution, giving each country except England some level of policy independence and self-governance through their own parliaments. But tensions have remained with the U.K.-wide government in London, which retained control over national issues and those concerning England.

Scotland’s John Swinney and Northern Ireland’s Michelle O’Neill called for independence referendums in their countries, while Rhun ap Iorwerth did not provide a timetable for one in Wales.

The three leaders appeared in their political capacity, rather than their official one, possibly because O’Neill is in a power-sharing government with the Democratic Unionist Party.

Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, of the DUP, accused O’Neill, of the Sinn Fein party, of “weaponizing” the role of first minister by signing the agreement.

“I am first minister in the north of Ireland,” O’Neill replied. “This is about historic change happening all around us.”

Scottish nationalists believe support for independence is rising

Scotland tried unsuccessfully to break away in 2014, with voters rejecting a referendum 55% to 45%. But McEwen said support for Scottish independence has grown since Brexit, in which the U.K. formally left the European Union in January 2020, following a referendum in June 2016.

Swinney, leader of the Scottish National Party, said he believed voters would now vote for independence if the U.K. government approved a referendum.

Burnham told Parliament last week he would allow such a vote to be held if there was a “clear consensus” in Scotland, but later sent Swinney a letter saying a vote was “off limits.”

The 1998 Good Friday peace accord that ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland known as “The Troubles,” requires a vote on unification if polls there indicate it would likely pass, a threshold the U.K. government says has not been met. Ireland would also have to approve the change in a referendum.

Burnham has made devolution a major theme since taking office less than two months ago, but his focus has been on regional governments across England, a reflection of his years as mayor of Greater Manchester.

Swinney tried to turn Burnham’s ideology to his advantage, saying his frequent talk of devolution “leads you to the logic of recognizing the right of the people of Scotland, in my case, to decide their own future.”

Beyond any threat of departing the union, McEwen said the greatest impact of the three joining forces could be that they agreed to cooperate with each other routinely and that could help to exert more influence on the U.K. government.

“It does keep on the agenda that question about, well, if the United Kingdom is a union based on consent, what is the pathway where it looks like that consent may no longer be there?” McEwen said. “Any U.K. government has been very reluctant to engage in that discussion.”

‘I don’t eat mozzarella outside Puglia,” says our friend Savio. “It’s not the same.” Savio is a very opinionated foodie, so I take his words with a pinch of good Puglian sea salt (see below). He was adamant about the superiority of the stretched-curd cheese from his home turf.

Puglia is also the birthplace of ingredient du jour burrata, which originated in Andria, a few miles from Savio’s home town of Barletta. Andria forms one part of the triangular Barletta-Andria-Trani (BAT) province, often passed over for better-known parts of Puglia, despite the cheese connection and Barletta having miles of palm-backed, sandy beaches.

About a century ago, in the hills outside Andria, farmer Lorenzo Bianchino was snowed in and couldn’t get his milk to market. To save what he could, he revived an old technique for preserving butter (burro, hence burrata), stuffing cream mixed with mozzarella scraps (stracciatella) in a casing of the stretched-curd cheese.

There are now several burrata makers in Andria, the most famous being Caseificio Olanda, which offers demos, tastings and a museum. Late one morning, we watch Riccardo “Dino” Olanda, son of the founders, work his magic. He adds almost-boiling water to the curds, then mixes with hands red from doing this every day. As he stretches and massages the curds, a smooth velvety mass forms. “See how it’s shiny?” he says. “Means it’s ready.” Working quickly, he squeezes out round lumps between thumb and forefinger into the familiar mozzarella balls. This action is mozzare, hence the name.

He also makes little knots and plaits before moving on to burrata. Taking a warm mozzarella ball, he works it into a hollow bag with his fingers then fills it with cream and stracciatella before tying the top with string.

Afterwards, a dairy-heavy meal totally worth the cholesterol and calories: mozzarella and burrata to start, then bread with chunks of caciocavallo (a stretched-curd cheese), and a dessert of heart-shaped fresh ricotta with strawberry jam or cocoa.

And, I have to say, Savio is right. The mozzarella and burrata have a juicy, elastic texture and a gorgeous cheesy, umami flavour; the salt and flavour leached out by the whey the cheeses later sit in. How will I ever settle for Tesco Finest after this?

Over the next few days, eating our way around the province’s restaurants and food producers, I wonder whether it’s because the ingredients are so good that this area has so many food obsessives, or the other way round.

Barletta sees few foreign tourists, but it is full of Italian life. There are lots of independent shops, a Norman castle and cathedral to visit, and every evening people pour into the bars, clubs and gelaterie of the sette strade, seven parallel streets in the old town.

Down the coast, Trani, with its sea-facing romanesque cathedral and pretty harbour, attracts some tourists, but they are not in evidence at 7am when the fishing boats return. The men complain of rough seas and a poor catch, but from the back of the boats they’re soon selling mullet, octopus, skate, fat sea snails, monkfish and palombo (small shark) to restaurateurs and fishmongers. Thirtysomething Nicola says he went out at midday and got back at 3am. When does he sleep? “Never.” A fifth-generation fisher, he began helping on the boats aged six.

We’ll eat fish later, but today is for pizza. Portento in Barletta is run by food nut Luigi Lacerenza. He has us try so many local products as antipasti – caprino goat’s cheese tasting of green mountains, grilled caciocavallo from an old couple who make just six a week and small-batch salami – that we’re almost too full for pizzas. But they are wonderful: one with sausage, olives, oyster mushrooms and yellow tomatoes; another with aubergines and grated cacioricotta.

In Cerignola, west of Barletta, Rosario Didonna used the money he won on a TV standup competition to turn his family’s deli into a cosy, wood- panelled restaurant, U’ Vulèsce (dialect for “peckish”). Rosario knows fishers by name, works with small farmers and wine producers, and invites nonne from all over southern Italy to demonstrate recipes in his kitchens.

We start with tasty goat prosciutto and plum-sized local olives called bella di Cerignola. Then an unforgettable prawn tartare served in sea urchin shells, hairy crab spaghetti (“the juice is better than lobster”), octopus with bean puree, and sea bass with orange mayo. He waves away our thanks: “I’m doing the best job in the world!”

Nicola Barbera at Masseria Barbera, a farm restaurant in the Alta Murgia national park, is equally inspired, but rather by what grows on the estate founded by his great-great-great-great-grandfather Riccardo, who fought with Garibaldi. Exuberantly bouncing us around the farm – it produces 90% of what the 100-cover restaurant needs – he shows us olives and vines, but also the “weeds” growing around them. “They’re eatable,” he says, grabbing handfuls of peppery rocket, and bitter but delicate wild chicory. From the abundant kitchen garden, he makes eight varieties of tomato sauce.

We tuck into a lot of this for lunch: a pie with white onions, anchovy and sultanas; courgettes with mint and garlic; spaghetti with yellow tomatoes. (“I call it bastard sauce,” says Nicola. “Those tomatoes take three times as long to pick.”) Then, something I never thought I’d eat: grilled donkey fillet. I feel bad about the patient, mild-tempered beasts, but this is healthy, low-fat food, never intensively farmed. It’s also the best meat I’ve ever tasted.

Good food is made better by good olive oil, and producers here include Muraglia, known for organic oil in hand-painted, rainbow-stripe ceramic bottles, and Sabino Leone, offering tours of its ancient groves and oil mill for €15, plus tastings.

This area also offers plenty to do between meals. Barletta was the home of Italian painter Giuseppe De Nittis, who hung out with Degas and Manet, and took part in the first impressionist exhibition in Paris, in 1874. Over 200 of his works are now displayed in the 16th-century Palazzo della Marra (€6).

At Europe’s biggest salt pan, Salina Margherita di Savoia, there’s an expanse of peaceful ponds with a snow-white salt mountain to climb. Another day, an exhilarating ebike ride in the Alta Murgia with Filippo Tito of Cycling ’n’ Trek, through dense forest to peer with awe into an old bauxite mine that resembles a mini grand canyon. We get back ravenous, but in this corner of northern Puglia, that’s a blessing.

Where to stay

Until this century, Barletta had little tourist accommodation. Pick of the few B&Bs is Antica Dimora (doubles from €97), a restored 17th-century palazzo run by Lilly and Riccardo Manna. There are three smart bedrooms with lots of plants and breakfast features different local specialities each day.

Lama di Luna (doubles from €230) is an organic farm in deep countryside, with six rooms set around an 18th-century stone courtyard. A well and solar panels make it energy and water self-sufficient; half of its 200 hectares are left wild, the rest are planted with olives, vines, almonds and cherries. There’s a cinema, a library and a large pool shaded by 600-year-old olive trees.

Where (else) to eat

Barletta’s 60-year-old Mosé bakery is revered for its krapfen filled doughnuts and sourdough croissants. There are also chocolates, ice-cream and cakes, all housemade, and great coffee.

Puglia has hundreds of gelaterie but experts rate Scoop in Canosa (which is called Puglia’s “Little Rome” for its catacombs, temple ruins and Roman bridge). Francesco Di Nunno makes ice-cream with local seasonal ingredients: raspberry and strawberry sorbets are available only in early summer; percoca yellow peach until mid-August.

There’s affordable fine dining at chef Luciano Matera’s Il Turracciolo in central Andria. Highlights for me are broad bean and chicory “meatballs”, bright green inside; a “hidden mushroom” under baked eggy topping; and pasta discs with whole and pureed green beans and peas.

At A Sud dell’Anima, chef Nadia Tamburrano uses modern techniques and hyper-local ingredients to make food of astonishing quality for a small hilltop town (Minervino, population under 8,000). Her antipasti explode with flavour thanks to house-cured capers and homemade mustard, syrups and purees. A main of sweetbreads wrapped in intestines feels a bit out-there, but is delicious, the intestines crispy as crackling.

The trip was organised by Unexpected Italy, which offers personalised itineraries for Barletta and the surrounding area

MANILA: A fire broke out Wednesday evening aboard a vessel carrying over 100 passengers near a tourist hotspot in the Philippine province of Palawan, leaving at least five people dead, local media and the coast guard said.

“The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) immediately responded to a fire incident involving M/V June Aster at the vicinity waters approximately 1.2 nautical miles northeast of Barangay Marcilla,” in the Coron municipality, the service said late Wednesday on Facebook.

Video shared by the coast guard showed the vessel completely engulfed in flames.

Another post over two hours later said “five casualties were initially reported” and brought ashore, with accompanying photos showing several body bags.

The post said 42 people had been rescued, while GMA News reported the ship had been carrying 117 passengers and 17 crew, citing a coast guard official.

Tracking data from MarineTraffic showed the June Aster had departed from Manila.

KYIV: A Russian drone strike on a shopping centre in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed three people and ‌injured two, Regional ‌Governor Oleh ‌Hryhorov said.

Hryhorov, writing on Telegram, said a fire had broken out, and a photo posted online by the governor showed ‌a ‌badly damaged building and ‌rubble strewn on ‌the ground.

He said rescue teams were tackling the aftermath of ‌the strike.

Sumy and the surrounding region along the Russian border have long been subject to heavy attacks and Moscow has said it wants to establish a buffer zone in the area.

Once upon a time, in the woods outside Pola de Somiedo, lived a family of Cantabrian brown bears. The villagers reported sightings of a mother bear who had lost a leg to a hunter’s trap, her two cubs and two adult males, either of which might have been the father. In those days, at the end of the 1980s, they seemed to be the last of their kind in this part of Asturias. Meanwhile, the wider population dropped to about 60 bears across the surrounding Cantabrian mountain range that gave the species its name.

They have since clawed their way back from the edge of extinction here in northern Spain, and nature guide Luis Frechilla believes their numbers may now be upwards of 500 again. “They’re still classed as endangered,” he tells me, until the official count hits 1,000. But relative abundance makes them much easier to see today in Somiedo natural park – one of Spain’s first such protected areas, established in 1988.

Setting his scope on a tripod in a steep-angled pasture, Frechilla spots a bear almost as soon as we start looking. A juvenile, apparently, which means the animal is old enough to be foraging alone, but it’s still too small, and too far away, for him to tell if it’s a male or female. Another bear-spotter standing near us seems more willing to take a guess.

“Ooh, look at his little ears,” she says delightedly, beaming behind binoculars. No expert myself, I watch that distant fuzzy shape move across the viewfinder and along the sharp ridges opposite, blinking in and out of sight like a cursor on the trend line of a graph. I’m not sure that we are close enough to call this an encounter, but it is an experience.

The sun drops behind the peaks; the birds sing a dusk chorus in the birches and oaks; cowbells ring through the valley from the dairy herds that help this region of so-called “Green Spain” look and sound like the Swiss Alps. It gets cold at night up here, and it’s been known to snow in summer, though my own visit in late spring sees the mountaintops looking whiter than anyone around here can remember so deep into May.

That weather, and the sheer calorific spend of living and working at a median altitude of 1,300 metres, has made the traditional cuisine much sturdier here than elsewhere in Spain.

Down at the village inn, Casa Miño, we share a bottle of regional cider and a cachopo (beef fillet topped with serrano ham, peppers and goat cheese, and pounded into a single solid unit the size of a solar panel). I want fabada, too, the famous Asturian stew of white beans, pork belly and blood sausage. Frechilla says it’s a winter dish, customarily eaten for lunch – too heavy for the body to process later in the day. But I would order fabada at midnight in a heatwave, and keep eating it even while they loaded me into the ambulance.

The bears, meanwhile, don’t have much to feed on at the moment. They only woke from hibernation a few weeks ago, explains Alicia Madrid the next day, on a forest trail above the century-old hydroelectric power station at La Malva. A biologist with the conservation group Fundación Oso Pardo, Madrid tells me that Cantabrian bears don’t hibernate as long or deeply as other brown bears and are generally smaller and lighter than American grizzlies.

“They’re adapted to this terrain, and they can’t be too heavy because they have to climb a lot,” she says. Their paw prints in the mud look big enough to me, and the bite marks where they chewed clumps of long grasses, and the hairs shed where they scratched their backs against trees. Madrid shows us, too, the hefty rocks they overturned looking for insects. Further into the summer, there’ll be plenty of berries, acorns, chestnuts and maybe some meaty carrion to fatten them up.

The foundation has played a major role in the regrowth of bear populations, building bio-corridors with strategic placements of trees and bushes full of all the things they like to eat. Another key factor is the hunting ban, introduced in 1973. The trick now, says Madrid, is coaxing isolated cohorts to breed with other groups and boost genetic diversity.

Also: managing the tourists who come to see them, and balancing ecological imperatives against financial incentives. Later, after a long hike through the Valley of the Lake to reach the aptly named Lake of the Valley, I overhear Frechilla fielding the related concerns of two local women. Against a backdrop of blue sky, bright wildflowers and silver waters, the women seem to argue that conservation efforts amount to commercial exploitation. Frechilla gently insists that Somiedo natural park is a model of good practice in Spain. Much of the bears’ territory is closed to the public, and spotting expeditions are only permitted in the company of licensed guides. Nature tourism, he says, keeps villagers in jobs where farming culture cannot, and is proving vastly more sustainable than hunting bears for sport. As for protecting humans, there has been only one bear attack in recent memory, on an elderly lady whose evening stroll led her between a mother and cubs. She survived.

For now, at least, most residents seem willing to share the bears with outsiders. That evening, a small crowd gather by the side of a winding back road near Saliencia, some sitting comfortably on camping chairs with spotting scopes in their hands. Everyone is watching a large male bear – so big and so close that they don’t need the viewing equipment – as he lopes across a meadow to take a quick splash in the river. Another male is spotted in the treeline above, and the two circle each other at a distance for a while. There is some speculation that they might fight for this turf, and a man with two leashed greyhounds seems ready to take bets on it. Frechilla shakes his head.

“Maybe later in the season, when they’ve gained enough weight.”

These bears are doing better now, but it’s still a tough life. The reality of their ongoing baby boom is that only 30% of juveniles will survive on their own, after a year of maternal supervision. This is surely why I find it so moving when we follow reports of another sighting in the twilight: a mother and her two young cubs have been seen climbing a slope called El Diente, or “The Tooth”.

It’s getting dark and cold, but we can see them through the scopes, about a mile away from us across the high mountain pass at La Peral. I watch the mother bear waiting and cajoling as needed while the siblings struggle up the vertical planes of rock like toddlers trying to climb a baby gate. On the ridgeline, they turn to silhouettes, play-fighting against a white sky.

They disappear over the far side, but then a little one comes back, seeming to wave goodbye with both front paws in the air. I remember a story I read to my daughter once, which put a poignant time limit on the usual fairytale ending: “And they all lived happily together, for as long as they could.”

The trip was provided by the Spanish Tourist Office, Turismo Asturias and Casa Miño in Pola de Somiedo. Bear-spotting tours with nature guide Luis Frechilla can be organised through Wild Spain Travel. For more information on the Cantabrian brown bear and related conservation efforts, visit Fundación Oso Pardo

SEEING the Northern Lights tops many a traveller’s bucket list.

The problem is, they can be elusive and costly to find and because they are at the whim of nature, there are never any guarantees . . . until now, that is.

There is a new Northern Lights Train in Norway which promises to take you where there’s a greater chance of spotting the Aurora Borealis than ever before. It costs £115pp and looks so good I booked a ticket.

Meeting point: Narvik Station, high in the Arctic Circle. Waiting on Platform 1 is a four-carriage train, guide Lill and buckets of white stuff. It’s been snowing non-stop from thick, heavy clouds.

Spotting the Aurora normally requires a clear sky, so these conditions are far from ideal. Do we really have a chance of seeing them? Lill consults an app and smiles. “Yes,” she says.

I’m nonetheless sceptical as I hop on board.

FJORD FIESTA

I tried the Nordic cruise with dog-sledding, Northern Lights and cable cars

WINTER WONDERLAND

My night in Arctic igloo where you can watch the Northern Lights in bed

The three-hour experience includes a 90-minute stop in the Arctic wilderness and, as the train pulls off, lights are dimmed to better see the Aurora.

After we’ve rattled past Narvik’s fjord and suspension bridge, a fellow passenger points excitedly at the window. Outside, a green plume is painting the sky.

Well I never — our first sighting.

From here, we climb north into the mountains towards the Swedish border. This historic track was built in 1902 and is still used to transport iron ore from Sweden’s Kiruna mines to the port of Narvik and beyond.

Our destination is Katterat — a remote, 373m-high (1,224ft) outpost accessible only by train or foot.

There’s no light pollution or civilisation and, thanks to its altitude, the sky is usually clear here when elsewhere else it’s not.

Once we’ve arrived and descended on to the platform, nobody budges — we’re too busy looking up.

Streaking overhead are bands of green criss-crossing a starlit sky.

Necks crane, photos are taken and the excitement is palpable. A trail leads to a makeshift camp where there are snowshoes to try, fires to warm hands and an indigenous Sami tent called a “lavvu” for shelter, with hot drinks, biscuits and sausages.

Despite the sub-zero temperatures (it’s -20C), nobody cares about warming up because we’re all too fixated on the sky show.

One moment the aurora shines to the right, the next to the left.

They come, they go; they fade, they flare; they keep us guessing, eyes peeled. It’s a magical night.

This train is one of many ways to chase the Northern Lights but there’s still magic to be found when the Green Lady plays shy.

On an excursion with Arctic Moments the next night, we sip hot chocolate and toast cinnamon buns on a fire in a Narnia wonderland.

No Aurora but happy memories with photos included in the package.

Narvik’s also a superb base for other adventures. There’s downhill skiing — it’s hosting the 2029 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships — as well as cross-country skiing, considered Norway’s national sport.

I give it a go but it’s harder than it looks — even on flat terrain.

There are also historical links. A fierce World War Two naval battle was fought and lost in Narvik in 1940 — Norway was occupied by Germany afterwards — and the town’s War Museum tells this story.

A new boat excursion even sends a drone underwater so you can see the shipwrecks on the ocean floor.

Narvik has everything from self-catering apartments to hotels offering Scandi-style breakfasts — think herring and smoked salmon — to the deluxe glass cabins of Camp 291, which cling to the mountainside.

This is my favourite accommodation, with superb fjord views.

Hiring a car allows you to explore even further. Polar Park is home to lynxes, musk oxen, moose and wolves. I’m taught how to howl and, amazingly, they howl back.

Best of all is the Arctic fox experience. You get to feed them but be prepared — they’re playful and love nothing more than clambering all over you.

For a final treat, I head to Narvik’s floating Arctic Sauna where a hole and a ladder lead directly from the heat into the chilly sea.

But the ultimate thrill is the Aurora Borealis. Travellers have been trying to find the best and most reliable way to see them.

Norway’s Northern Lights Train may just be the coolest way to do just that.

Aug. 30 (UPI) — At least seven people have died following a ferry capsized off northern Cyprus on Sunday, according to media reports.

Northern Cyprus Prime Minister Unal Ustel said 237 out of the 267 on the Filo Jet had been.rescue. He added the 23 people were missing.

None of the rescued were in critical condition, Ustel said.

According to Ustel, the ferry began taking on water 15 minutes amid bad weather after leaving port. The ship put out a call for help soon after, he added.

Turkey’s Interior Ministry said the ship was traveling from Kyrenia in northern Cyprus to Tasucu in Turkey.

Four coastguard ships and four helicopters and a civilian passenger ship were involved in rescue operations, according to the ministry.

It said search and rescue efforts were continuing.

Turkish parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus in a post on X offered condolences to those who died in “this exceedingly tragic incident.”

Abuja, Nigeria – Khamila Sani Ibrahim remembers growing up in Kano State in northern Nigeria, where opportunities for girls to play organised sport were limited and seeing girls on the basketball court was uncommon.

When visiting her grandparents during school holidays, she had to find ways to fit basketball around family expectations.

“It is very hard for me to train in basketball,” Ibrahim said. “I only go out to play when they are not around, or I tell them that I’m going to visit my friends, and from there I go to the court.”

Across northern Nigerian communities, sports such as basketball and football have historically been viewed as male-dominated spaces. For girls who want to play, the obstacles can include limited access to courts and equipment, a shortage of coaching and funding, and fewer chances to compete.

Finding a place on the court

Now, through Grassroots To Greatness (G2G), an initiative dedicated to female empowerment in sports, girls are finding opportunities to train, compete and develop their skills.

Jawahir Bello, a youth sports advocate, founded the initiative after seeing how few opportunities were available to girls in the region.

At tournaments, players wear custom hijabs, long sports vests and athletic tights.

“Our core value is about participating in sports without doing anything that goes against our cultural values or our identity as Muslims,” Bello told Al Jazeera. “Whether you put on a hijab or innerwear under your jersey, modesty is key. You come out modest, decent and fully covered.”

Although she anticipated resistance from some communities when launching female-only tournaments and community training sessions, Bello said she has been encouraged by community stakeholders who have welcomed the initiative.

To mobilise participants, G2G partners directly with local grassroots coaches who already run community teams on the ground.

A tournament of their own

When Ibrahim represented Kano State in a multi-state G2G tournament featuring female players from up to nine different states, she found herself in an environment unlike the male-dominated local teams she had previously played with, where girls were often underestimated.

“What G2G did for us was incredible,” Ibrahim said. “They provided jerseys, custom hijabs, basketballs, cover for our transport and even financial stipends for all the teams, regardless of who won or lost. It made us feel seen and valued.”

Fatima Diouf, another young player based in Abuja, started playing basketball at her school when she was 11. She joined the G2G programme to test her skills against tougher competition. Though her team fell short of the finals, she left with lessons she says will stay with her.

“I have learned a lot beyond just basketball. I learned teamwork, confidence, discipline and how to keep improving,” Fatima told Al Jazeera.

The struggle beyond the court

For Ibrahim, getting time on the court is still not always easy. She has had to push past self-doubt and the dismissive attitude of male peers who assumed girls could not compete at the same level. She also struggles to balance intense training with domestic chores and schoolwork.

Mansur Abdullahi, assistant coach of Nigeria’s U-20 women’s national football team, the Falconets, says grassroots coaches and organisations can help create opportunities for young athletes that larger sports structures may not reach.

“Official sports bodies have big structures, but local groups provide the actual trust and cultural understanding,” he said. “So it’s only through community-led initiatives that more professional teams will understand what’s acceptable for girls and boys and how to frame sports so it fits the existing values instead of clashing with them.”

Dreaming of the next level

For many participants, the tournaments are a chance to test themselves against new opponents and think about what could come next.

Before joining G2G, Ibrahim’s father had reservations about whether competitive sports would compromise family standards. But once he attended her games and saw the athletic wear and the structured environment of the initiative, he became one of her biggest supporters.

“I want to secure a college sports scholarship in the United States and eventually turn professional. More than that, I want other Muslim girls across northern Nigeria to see that sports build your health, strength, and confidence, and that nothing should hold you back from chasing your dreams,” Ibrahim told Al Jazeera.

Seeing the network of coaches, stakeholders and organisers at the tournament also broadened Diouf’s perspective and allowed her to imagine playing across Africa.

For G2G, the ambition goes beyond organising female-only tournaments. Bello wants the programme to show girls there is a place for them in sport and that they can compete without feeling that they have to give up who they are.

“You can keep your identity, stay covered and still achieve something in life,” Bello said.