McMaster student Mariam Kourabi has created a growing YouTube channel over the past six months to provide a presence of conversation regarding women’s soccer
Mariam Kourabi, a McMaster University student with a passion in the world of soccer, decided to make use of her knowledge in women’s soccer to create a unique YouTube channel: SHE scores bangers. This channel is dedicated to fostering important discussions about women’s soccer around the world.
“My YouTube channel is essentially all about women’s soccer. It is a project that I launched earlier this summer and so far, it’s been successful. I tend to cover different aspects of women’s soccer, such as the World Cup, major leagues, analysis, injuries among other things,” said Kourabi.
Although the channel is relatively new, Kourabi impresses with her consistent content creation. On the channel’s Twitter page, she keeps up her followers with daily updates on different situations within the soccer world, whether it's through text or media. Her video content is posted on a weekly basis and she has achieved 28,000 views in six months.
“My general goal is to post one to two videos a week onto the YouTube channel. This way, I can provide my audience with more content that they can follow on a weekly basis. Not only that, but I also post daily updates on the channel’s Twitter account. Do I find that sometimes school gets in the way? Of course, during midterm or finals season, I tend to post less but I still want to keep up with providing consistent content. Sometimes when I know that I have a midterm that is coming up next week, I would record extra videos over the weekend so that I have more time to focus on my studies whilst still posting content,” explained Kourabi.
Women’s soccer does not get as much publicity as men’s, evidenced by media coverage over the years, among other aspects such as ticket sales and TV viewership. This has produced a sense of inequality that is visible to all, with most YouTube channels and other media outlets covering mainly men’s soccer, whether it’s the World Cup or the Champions League. Kourabi aims to create more equality thorough conversations regarding women’s soccer, and by creating a presence of attention towards it.
“Generally speaking, there is a lack of conversation when it comes to women’s soccer. Therefore, I created the channel, I want to create more ambition and give more presence to the conversation about the subject and keep it relevant. Over time, I’m hoping that more people will gain interest in the channel, and the message would spread that women’s soccer deserves as much attention as men’s [soccer]. For now, I feel that I am progressing well with the channel and hope that it continues that way,” said Kourabi.
Over time, I’m hoping that more people will gain interest in the channel, and the message would spread that women’s soccer deserves as much attention as men’s [soccer]. For now, I feel that I am progressing well with the channel and hope that it continues that way.
Mariam Kourabi, FOUNDER Of SHE scores bangers
It’s not every day you hear about a student creating a successful YouTube channel that focuses on bringing in an important conversation into the sporting world, but Kourabi defies this expectation. With her stellar rise in popularity over the past few months, her channel is showing great potential and we can expect many more things from SHE scores bangers in the future.
McMaster women's soccer season ended on a high as the men's team continues through to the OUA finals
The regular season for both McMaster University’s women’s and men’s teams came to a successful close earlier this month. Both teams have earned themselves a playoff spot, with the women’s team finishing fourth and the men’s team finishing second in their respective divisions.
In their first round matchup the women took on the Brock Badgers. After failing to reach the playoffs in the season prior, the team was looking to make greater strides this time around.
On Wednesday night, the Marauders did just that. Within just 30 seconds, Bryanna Caldwell found the back of the net. The top goal scorer made good on a corner sent in from Ignacia Jimenez.
With the wind in her sails and a loud home crowd spurring the team on, Caldwell managed to score an almost identical goal. Another corner by Jimenez found the head of Caldwell, making the score two to zero.
“Ignacia puts the ball in the box and I know where it's going to land every time. It’s a connection only we have. Practice makes perfect,” says Caldwell.
“Ignacia puts the ball in the box and I know where it's going to land every time. It’s a connection only we have. Practice makes perfect.”
Bryanna Caldwell, Women's Soccer Team
The Badgers managed to put one in, but McMaster responded with a goal of their own by Tiam Pourbakhtiari. Brock put in one more goal just before the end of the game, bringing the game to a final score of three to two.
The women’s team went on to the quarterfinals to take on the Western Mustangs. In a disappointing game though, the team lost five to zero, effectively ending their playoff run.
While the team did not advance further, they are still looking to grow in the seasons to come. Having made it further than they had last year, it seems their game can only improve.
“With every season and game we’ve played, we’ve improved. This series of games is just a step in our path in growing as a team.” says Caldwell.
As the men’s team finished in second place, they were given a bye week. Resultantly, the bye week automatically placed the team in a quarterfinal spot, where they would take on the Guelph Gryphons.
The last time these teams met, the Marauders lost by two goals. This time however, the advantage was to the Marauders as Guelph was not awarded a bye week. The Gryphons took on the Brock Badgers just three days prior in a game that took the teams to double overtime and penalty kicks.
The Marauders won two to one against the Gryphons. Goals by Amir Shirazi and Miles Green brought the team over the Gryphons and into the OUA semi finals.
Facing the Nipissing Lakers in the semi final round, the two teams met on a very foggy night at Ron Joyce Stadium. It was the furthest most members on the team had ever gotten, so the feeling of anxiety was high for many in what turned out to be a really slow start.
“Many of us have not been in this position before, so maybe the nerves got to us,” explained Bryan Florent.
This was apparent as the game at half was tied with neither team having scored. Fortunately, the Marauders turned this around, coming out of the break on a game changing streak.
“The first half was very much a stalemate with attacks coming from both sides. In the second half, we had a change in mentality. We realized there's a difference between playing fast and playing rushed. We played rushed, which didn’t allow us to create opportunities,” said Florent.
"We realized there's a difference between playing fast and playing rushed. We played rushed, which didn’t allow us to create opportunities."
Bryan Florent, Men's Soccer Team
The team came out with a resounding win, with Green putting away two with assists from Sean Ross and Shirazi and Ed Bryan Florent putting away one on the assist from Justin Baker. This win qualified the team for Nationals and secured them a spot in the OUA Finals. They will now take on Toronto Metropolitan University in a challenge for the OUA Championship on Nov. 5.
It’s been an astonishing season on both sides, with head coach Miranda Wiley and rookie head coach Chris Markou leading their teams to new levels. With the roads paved by the current teams, the future of McMaster soccer looks bright.
