A Sports Journalism student has been named runner up for a Football Writers’ Association award.
Hana Mohd Basir, a second-year BA Sports Journalism student from Singapore, was shortlisted in the FWA ‘Unheard Voices’ category.
Hana’s entry charts her experience of joining a women’s football team to help her settle into life in Liverpool.
The story of how she found love and protection from her ‘new family’ impressed judges, including the BBC’s Jacqui Oatley and former Everton and Tranmere Rovers player, Pat Nevin.
They said many footballers, who often find themselves thousands of miles from home, would relate to Hana’s theme of a club becoming their substitute family.
In an extract from her Football Writers’ Award entry, she writes: “After leaving home and having to look after myself, I suddenly felt exposed, like I no longer had a safety net. I’d always wanted to be independent, but I began to feel isolated instead.
“This all changed the more I played football with this incredible group of Liverpool women. In the absence of my family, they stepped in. I joined the team on 27th July 2021, and from then on, I gained multiple adoptive mothers and sisters.
“I could cry just thinking about it. After weeks of forcing myself to hide any form of weakness in the name of ‘independence’, the team became that safety net I so desperately needed.
She continues: “Football is a game that requires trust and chemistry. Nothing beats the feeling of knowing a teammate is there to cover you when you run into trouble with the ball at your feet, or when you’re low on confidence and you hear a familiar voice encouraging you to take a chance.
“Whatever the reason may be, the love and protection teammates can provide for one another is incomparable.”
BA Sports Journalism programme leader, Dave Randles, said: “Hana is a good example to any student adjusting to university life and for international students finding their way in a new country.
“She has a lovely writing style which the judges described as ‘excellent’. It is testament to the confidence she has gained on the course that she entered the competition. Hopefully next year Hana can go on to win it!”
A film & television graduate from Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Design, Hana’s biggest passion has always been sports. Inspired by documentaries made by Copa90, she decided to bring her love for writing and media production over to sports journalism.
“I hope to one day put these skills to good use and contribute to the growth of sports in Singapore as well as women’s sports,” said Hana.