‘My main issue is the fear of trying and failing. That is what stops me’

Zina Cheikh tells Lara Alsaid about her decision to play for Oakham United instead of professionally at The Posh Women's Football Club.

Zina Cheikh just turned seven and it´s the summer of 2009 in Oakham, Rutland. Zina´s brother and his friends take her with them to kick around a ball at the park. She´s the only girl and is younger than them so the boys barely pass her the ball, but she still enjoys it. This became a routine, she sat on the grass, watching the boys play, wishing there was an option of a female youth team in her small town. 

Zina is now 22, apart from her work as a family engagement practitioner, she still spends most of her time on a football pitch, playing left wing and captaining Oakham United in Leicester Division 1. 

It wasn’t until Zina was 15 when her local side Royce Rangers started a girls’ team and after having spent many hours playing football in the park, she thought it was a no-brainer for her to join the team. She admits that that team wasn’t great and they kept swapping coaches all the time. For many kids that would have put off their interest and motivation to still show up, but not Zina´s. She has always loved football, it’s her passion, and it also keeps her fit and happy.

Two years ago, her mindset changed about football, it became more serious, and she never thought of it in that way.

“I was never really good enough, so I didn’t really think about it,” Zina says, explaining how the conception that football wasn’t a female sport affected her while growing up.  

“And it also wasn’t a sport women did.” 

She spent the summer of 2021 doing individual training with her boyfriend, to help her improve her shooting skills. Zina had always been fast, but she had trouble scoring. After coming back the following season, Zina went from scoring two goals in season 20/21 to scoring 24 goals and 11 assists in season 21/22.

In Season 22/23 Zina became the top scorer in the league with 50 goals and 16 assists in 18 games, which adds up to nearly three goals per game.

The season Zina got to see physically how much better she had become was the season when her fire for football burned even stronger. Improving and scoring is a special feeling especially when you have played for so long and only now when you’re older you can see a massive change.

Zina started this season confident and enjoyed playing football. At the start of this season, she played for three teams, Stamford (East Midlands Regional), Oakham (Leicester Division 1) and The Posh Women U23 (National Reserve League), juggling between three completely different teams. It was difficult for her, not because most of her evenings were spent at training, but because she was constantly adapting to three different environments, team players and playing styles, which ended up confusing her.

“When you play that much football, you’re bound to get better,” she says.

“However playing for three different teams at the same time made me a different player and I don’t think that that was a good thing necessarily.” 

She explains that she came to a point where she became confused, she stopped running down the wing and cutting in to shoot, which was what she normally did. It frustrated her because she knew that it had to do with her playing for three teams at the same time, training sessions were different, the people were different, and the team dynamics were all different.

Photo by Rob O'Brien

At the start of the season, she had to decide on what team to prioritise. On the one hand, she wanted to commit fully to The Posh Women and see how far she could get, but on the other hand, she felt that she couldn’t leave Oakham, after having all her friends there. Her decision was affected by the fear that she would give up two teams to play at Posh, just to be put on the bench and not play as much. Zina chose Oakham, because she felt a sense of loyalty to them, which sometimes makes her wonder if she had made the right decision or if she had taken a step back in her football career.

“I have a deep appreciation for Oakham, yet there are times when I reflect on my days in Posh,” she explains.

“Although I don’t have any regrets, a part of me wishes I had been more open-minded, allowing myself the chance to explore opportunities with Posh and potentially achieve more. 

Since turning down Posh, Zina´s confidence has been knocked a bit, whenever she doesn’t score, she feels like she’s getting worse. 

“I’m more critical of myself after it not working out at Posh. I know I should be doing 

better.” she says.

 It´s difficult to stay motivated when you’re not performing the way you want to, and it has made Zina lose her spark this season however her love for the sport is what keeps her going.

“I don’t think it’s the better you play the more confidence you have. I think it’s the more confidence you have the better you play,” she continues.

 “I think it’s hard to earn that when you’ve never had the confidence before, it’s hard to kind of just get that engraved in your head.” 

She wishes that the development of female football in society started sooner. When Zina was younger, she felt that nobody ever pushed her to become better. Seven years later Zina was asked to coach the new girls’ team Royce Rangers U11, after it folded. She is now encouraging the girls to reach out to academies and give it a try. She wants to let them know about the potential opportunities for female football players nowadays, something that rarely existed when she was a little kid.  Zina hopes to see herself in 10 years still loving football as much as she does now and believes that when one opportunity passes you by, a hundred more come your way.