UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH SUPER FALCONS AND ATLETICO DE MADRID STAR,RASHEEDAT AJIBADE
Despite her fame and fortune,RasheedatAjibade is asurprisingly unassuming young woman with big dreams. From a humble background in Mushin, Lagos, “The Girl with Blue Hair” has gone on establish herself on the global stage, winning laurels for her national team, Nigeria, and performing at the very top of female club football with Atletico De Madrid in Spain. Her exploit has taken her around many continents and countries, hence her choice as our woman in travel for this edition.
WIT: Let’s meet you
RA: My name is RasheedatAjibade, a former player of FC Robbo Queens of Lagos, I currently play for Atletico De Madrid in Spain. I plied my trade internationally, first at Avaldsness in Norway; I have represented the Nigeria Under-17 national team, the Under-20 national team and, currently, the Super Falcons (the senior national team).
WIT: How did you start your career at FC Robbo?
RA:I started playing with FC Robbo at the age of six and ever since it has been an amazing journey; it has also been a challenging, tough, sweet and bitter experience rolled into one. But with the help of God and the coaches, I have been able to embrace my challenges and used them to build my capacity, and made them stepping stones to the limelight. Honestly, the journey has been tough. There were days when I didn’t have anything to eat when I trained hard and yet didn’t even know where my hard work was taking me. But I am grateful to God that I got to this level, and I pray that I will always be better.
WIT: What are the challenges you face being a female footballer and how have you been able to overcome them?
RA:There are lots of challenges you face as a female football player. Fundamentally, football is viewed as a men’s game in this part of the world, to be played only by men, not girls. So that already creates an imbalance. Then add that to the fact that as a woman in this part of the world, you are expected to be behind the scene, at home, cooking. People don’t believe you can excel in a man’s sport.
Then again, the environment does not encourage one; hardly doesone have access to facilities that one could use to train and prepare for games. Also as a lady going through puberty, you have physical challenges playing football during yourmenstrual cycle; for example, you can’t play football with a menstrual cramp. Life can be difficult for female athletes but I have been able to build capacity with the situation. Despite it all, I am here, and luckily. Thank God we are still in the process.
WIT: How did you join Atletico Madrid?
As I said, I started at FC Robbo because before you can play internationally, you have to establish yourself in the local league and the national team. So playing in the Nigeria Women League gave me a platform to be invited to the U-17 where I played twice and later U-20 where I also played twice before I was invited to the Super Falcons.
My first appearance in 2018 gave me the big break. I had been having people come with different offers while I was growing up playing my under-aged competitions but I couldn’t sign a professional contract until I was 18 years. So, it was when I played for the Super Falcons that I had the opportunity to play for Avaldness where I signed a 2-year contract. After my 2 years, I had about five clubs looking to sign me and Real Madrid was one of them. I weighed the offers and discussed them extensively with my management and we agreed that Atletico will give me a better opportunity to develop my game, so we settled for Atletico.
WIT: How challenging has it been adapting to the culture of the Spanish people?
RA: It’s been tough, but thenmy foundation back at home has helped me. I had learnt extensively at FC Robbo; the club is more or less like my foundation. One of the things I learnt there was that I must be able to adapt to any situation I found myself in. So, that orientation prepared me to face any challenge that came my way and adapt to the new situation. I find the Spanish culture both interesting and strange but I just had to embrace it because that is where I get my daily bread. It’s home for me now and I just had to open my mind and make the mental switch. The language has been a very big barrier; I take language classes but it’s still not easy mostly because you cannot directly translate the language from English. Nonetheless, I have been managing to cope. At least, I can do my daily business like goingto the mall and telling them what I want. It only becomes a problem when they start to speak fast. I believe that overtime, I will settle in well.
WIT: You are known as the girl with blue hair. What inspired the hair?
RA:Well, my blue hair is something that caught everybody by surprise. At the time I made the hair, I was going through a lot; I had a mental breakdown and depression, and needed to do something to ease me up. I thought I needed some form of transition and the hair was one of my transitions. Everyone knew I was always on a low cut, so the only thing I could do differently at the time was to dye my hair blue. Many people couldn’t believe it at first because they always saw me as someone who is reserved, not daring or social. So I managed to surprise a lot of people and that informed my choice of blue.
Secondly, I believe in personal branding. I believe every athlete should have an image. It’s not just about playing football; your brand is something that will differentiate you, and single you out from others both on and out of the pitch. Whenever my name is mentioned now, people easily connect with my blue hair. The sky is blue, my hair is blue and I am loving it for all its symbolism.
WIT: Coming back to Nigeria, how do you plan on adding value to the football community?
RA: My belief in life is that it’s not so much about how much I accumulate in properties and possessions that measures my success, but by how many lives I can impact, support and give back to. So I try to give in my little way. Sometimes when I am coming back home to Nigeria, I get used boots from my teammates, add them to the ones I have, and bring them back home to female footballers. Sometimes, I interact with the players individually and talk to them and try to see how I can help and support them. I actually want to do more,but I don’t have the capacity yet, hence I am starting small. Looking ahead, I want to create a platform for female footballers where they can play football, study or learn skills because not every one of them can go to school. I look forward to having a Foundation to help get female footballers out of the streets and support their talent. I believe that with time, I will be able to do these things.
WIT: What are the things you cannot travel without, aside from your soccer boot?
RA:I can’t travel without my Bible and my phone.
WIT: What’s advice do you have for young girls who look up to you as a role model?
RA:My advice to every young girl out there is for them to be themselves. Just be yourself; be true to yourself. Yes it’s okay to look up to somebody as your role model, but the best you can be is yourself; be dedicated to your dreams and be consistent in all you do. Then be disciplined. Discipline has brought me this far. Without it, you can’t go far.
