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ZEPP FM | Sport psychology for athletes, coaches & future sport psychologistsAuthor: Christian Zepp
Dr. Christian Zepp is an expert for sport psychology, a researcher and lecturer whose motivation it is to help his athletes, coaches, teams, and students take the next step in their athletic, mental and personal development. Based on his experiences as an athlete, national team coach and his applied work with many elite athletes, coaches and teams from different countries in the world, he shares with you tips, tricks and strategies to develop an optimistic attitude, have powerful habits, and show ambitious behaviors day in and day out. In his show, Chris reviews brilliant books that will help you getting a new perspective, being mindful, and eventually improving your performance. In addition, Chris interviews incredible athletes, coaches and sport psychologists, sharing with you their stories and experience about what helped them achieve success and become the person they are today. Discover how you can learn from them how to improve your motivation, discipline, and leadership skills, and how to also use this knowledge to help others soar. Language: en Genres: Science, Social Sciences, Sports Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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ZEPP FM 019 - Squash and death threats from the Taliban with Maria Toorpakai
Episode 19
Tuesday, 5 March, 2019
Maria Toorpakai is a Pakistani squash player who had the dream to become an athlete as a young girl. Unfortunately, the culture, the society and the Taliban don't allow girls to be actively involved in sports in Pakistan – and especially not in remote tribal areas like Maria's home, South Waziristan. However, Maria never gave up fighting for what was important to her, and luckily she had a father who was a strong advocate for equal rights of men and women, and supported Maria in her dream to become an athlete. At the age of 4 years, Maria burned all her girls clothes and lived disguised as a boy, which made it possible for her to be the athlete she always wanted to be. After discovering squash and the joy she experienced on a squash court her true identity was revealed and she received death threats from different groups, including the Taliban. Although it wasn't safe for her to leave the family's house she kept training inside her bedroom. She sent thousands of emails to people around the world, asking for help. Finally, Jonathon Power, former world #1 in squash, offered her to come to Toronto/Canada. Today, Maria Toorpakai lives and trains in Toronto, still competing for the Pakistan. In this episode, Maria talks about her story and her experiences as a girl in an extreme patriarchal society, about being oppressed, about receiving death threats and about never giving up. She talks about the mindset she developed on her journey in life in squash and sport, about equality, human rights and her book A different kind of daughter. We also talked about the Maria Toorpakai foundation is dedicated to building peaceful communities and gender equity by investing in education, sports and healthcare programs for young girls and boys in remote regions of the world, particularly the Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
