Near the port of Gaza City, girls practice roller-skating and skateboarding at a skate park decorated with graffiti, in the hope of a promising future in the sport and to challenge the general belief that this sport is for boys only.
Rajab al-Rifi, the 25-year-old coach of the Gaza skate team, told Al-Monitor that skating is not well known as a sport in the Gaza Strip. "It was initially only popular among older youth, as it requires focus and a lot of practice," he said, adding, "The idea of setting up a team of girl skaters came up in 2019. The team consists of 12 girls, aged 3-12. [The idea] has been a qualitative leap that stopped this sport from being limited to boys in Gaza.”