It was a source of great pride for the Bangladeshi community in the United Kingdom as well as for the Sylhetis back home in Bangladesh as Yasmin Hussain, hailing from Balaganj upazila in Sylhet district, carried the Queen’s Baton, ahead of next month’s Commonwealth Games.
Birmingham 2022 staged the 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay – an epic journey across the Commonwealth - with The Queen’s Baton visiting all 72 nations and territories.
The relay began on October 7, 2021, with The Queen placing her message to the Commonwealth into the Baton.
The Baton made a 294-day long journey to every corner of the Commonwealth before returning to England this summer where it will be carried across the country by inspirational Batonbearers, each with incredible stories.
Enter Yasmin, an inspirational role model, football coach and mother living in London.
She thoroughly enjoyed playing football as a young girl, yet as a female Muslim she often found it difficult to access the sport due to the lack of female coaches.
Four years ago, Yasmin decided to get back into the sport she loved so much.
Once she started playing, she spotted a poster looking for female coaches.
Yasmin now coaches Frenford & MSA, a recently setup team of 80 female players, many of whom are of south Asian heritage and have gone from worrying that “nobody else looked like us” to feeling “part of the family” in their grassroots league in east London.
She is passionate about the mental and physical benefits of playing football and holds an FA Level 1 coaching qualification so that she can help others enjoy these benefits too.
Yasmin is also the recipient of BT Action Woman Award for her work as a visible role model and work to encourage women from ethnic minority backgrounds to engage in sport.
She has taken her qualification to new heights and is an inspiration to her whole community.
Yasmin was chosen as one among 2,000 Batonbearers as she regularly takes on challenges and inspires others to get involved in sport.
