Carnegie Mellon Qatar graduate leads women’s football in historic season

The Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), women’s football team finished off a historic season with back-to-back wins in inter-university tournaments. The team was led by Kuwait’s Sara AlKhaled, who is graduating from CMU-Q with her degree in business administration. CMU-Q is a Qatar Foundation partner university.

AlKhaled joined the women’s football team in 2019 when she was a first-year student at CMU-Q.

“I played football as soon as I was old enough to kick a ball,” said AlKhaled, who grew up in Kuwait. “I played in my grandma’s backyard, I played in PE class–any chance I could get I wanted to play football.”

The pandemic put team sports on hiatus in Education City, but in August as she started her final year at CMU-Q, the team came back together.

“This was the first time I captained a team,” AlKhaled reflected. “Then we had a hard time finding a coach, so I decided I was up for the challenge.” Serving as both captain and coach, AlKhaled was on a mission to put women’s sports at CMU-Q on the map.

“We had to find ways to increase engagement. Some team members didn’t see the potential in themselves. We worked with them, and I am so proud of how each member of the team rose to the challenge.”

The team played in the Qatar Foundation Student Life tournament and fought their way to the first victory for a CMU-Q women’s team in campus history. They went on to win the Education City Women’s Football Championship in a very close final match against Georgetown.

“This was a celebration of women’s athletics,” said AlKhaled. “We also played the American University of Afghanistan, who just moved to Education City and only recently formed a team. I think all of us who played felt a huge sense of teamwork and togetherness.”

AlKhaled will be returning to Kuwait after her graduation from the business administration program in May. 

“I can’t even express how bittersweet it is to graduate. Kuwait is my home, but I will miss CMU-Q so much. This football win was the cherry on top of my undergraduate experience.”