Former women's team captain Seyni Ndir Seck: "My dream is to see girls playing football everywhere in Senegal"
The former international player has paved the way for a generation of female athletes who dream of playing football. In celebration of International Women's Month, Olympics.com caught up with the now President of the Women's Football Commission.
Football
Seyni Ndir Seck is not one to sit still.
So when she was asked to pose for a portrait picture after a 30-minute sit-down interview with Olympics.com, the former captain of the Senegal women's football team preferred to stretch her legs and leap onto a rock. Her smile in front of the camera was lively as ever.
This spontaneity and this energy are what helped Seyni pursue her passion against all odds.
"I'm living my dream, I'm passionate about football and I work in football," she said when we met her at the 2023 edition of the Dakar en Jeux Festival.
"It's always a pleasure to wake up, to go to the federation, to go out on the pitch, to go to activities with the young girls. For me, it doesn't get any better than that."
Seyni Ndir Seck on fighting stereotypes in women's football
2002 was a historic year for Senegalese football.
Not only did the men's team reach the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup, but it also marked the formation of a Senegalese women's squad, who took part in the qualifying phase of the African Cup of Nations.
"In 2002, I was in that team," remembers Seyni.
"It's a great victory for all the battles I had to fight during my childhood to convince people that this is a sport like any other, that I had the right to play football."
Ndir Seck faced many stereotypes within her community, and it wasn't easy for her to even make her family accept her passion: "I started playing football, like a lot of young Africans, in the street. I knew straight away that this was what I wanted to do and I gave it everything I had. It wasn't easy for my parents. It wasn't easy for the community. But I was stubborn and I stuck with it."
She then continued: "Here, football is seen as a man's sport. There are a lot of stereotypes which mean that when you play football, people say 'you're going to be muscular, you're going to be a tomboy in the street', and everyone points the finger at you. My parents weren't happy about it. But I compromised with them and they used it positively. Like if you get good grades, you can play football."
At the start of her football career, she also received support from her brothers, who gave her a nickname that has stuck with her to this day: Platoche, in homage to France legend Michel Platini.
"My brothers were my first supporters. One day, they were playing and I was passing by and I headed the ball and they applauded me and called me 'Platoche'. I didn't even know who Michel Platini was and I spent my whole childhood getting into fights because people called me Platoche. One thing led to another and it became my nickname. At school, in my neighbourhood, everywhere, people called me Platoche and I got used to it, so it's really funny."
As her career progressed, taking her to eventually wear the armband of the Senegalese team, Platoche managed to make a name for herself in Senegal, and she could finally join a team made exclusively of women, a rarity at the time.
"I always played with the boys in my neighbourhood, there was no girls' team. The day I played with a girls' team for the first time, personally, it was already a victory!," she recalls.
Seyni Ndir Seck has been a trailblaizer for women's football in Senegal
Seyni Ndir Seck: "I want a multitude of Seynis in Senegal"
Ndir Seck now hopes that Senegalese girls who dream of becoming football players don't have to go through her same experiences.
"My career path has given me a certain motivation," she said.
"I struggled a lot as a child to play football. I always told myself that the day I stop playing football, I'm going to do everything I can so that girls can have the opportunity to play, without embarrassment, without their parents telling them no".
To make football more accessible to young Senegalese girls, the former Senegal captain set up the Ladies' Turn association.
"Ladies' Turn is my little baby," she explained.
"It's football that has given me my self-esteem and confidence. My character, my temperament. It's all about football. My dream today is to see girls playing football everywhere in Senegal, just like young boys. That's my biggest dream."
Since 2009, Ndir Seck and her association have been touring the local neighbourhoods across Dakar and other Senegalese cities to introduce women's football to everyone, even the most reluctant individuals.
"We really wanted to play in the heart of the neighbourhoods to show parents that football is a sport like any other and that they should be more lenient with their children when it comes to playing football," she said.
Now Ladies' Turn has its sights set on schools, the educational foundation of Senegal's youth.
"It's possible to succeed at school and in sport. It all depends on the environment and the support. That's really what I'm fighting for. Currently, our slogan is women's football within the school walls," said the current chairwoman of the Senegalese FA's women's football committee.
Despite the numerous obstacles that still need to be overcome, she wants to send a message to all young Senegalese girls who want to play football: "If a young girl comes to see me, I'll tell her that you have to be tenacious, you have to hang in there," she shared, as her country prepares to host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in just over two years.
"It's not going to be easy to believe in your dreams and not listen to what's being said all the time, but in the end, you're going to have a positive result.
"I want a multitude of Seynis in Senegal, so that they can surpass themselves and follow their dreams to the end."
Seyni Ndir Seck with the Senegalese jersey