Nagin Ravand

Nagin Ravand (born 16June 1999) is a Danish-Afghan football coach.

Ravand and her family immigrated to Denmark in the early 2000s when she was three years old.^[3] She spent much of her childhood in Nørresundby, where she learned to play football after friend took her to Lindholm IF at eightyears old.^[3]

Moving to Gellerup in 2013, Ravand stated that she lacked the ability to continue playing football.^[3] She started working towards creating a team for girls in the area with non-Western backgrounds.^[3] At age 15, she was contacted by ACFC in Gellerup, who wanted to help her start a girls team with the club. She accepted the offer, despite no experience with coaching or knowledge of the club.^{[4] [5]} At the time, she was playing for Brabrand IF.^[4] She also founded the football club Vatanspor, located in Brabrand.^[6]

Ravand has received several awards for her efforts. In 2020, she was honoured with the PlanBørnefondens Pigepris for her initiatives to make football accessible for girls with different backgrounds.^[7] The award was given in connection with International Day of the Girl Child by the United Nations.^[8] The Swedish Embassy in Copenhagen, in 2021, awarded her the Nordic Pioneer Prize for her efforts to tackle racism and discrimination in Denmark.^[9]

In September2022, Ravand received the youth award at the annual Elle Awards.^[10] In October2022, she was one of seven girls honoured as the director for a day in charge of the Danish Football Association, which included a meeting with Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, who was then-Minister for Culture.^[6] She later joined the DBU's advisory board.^[3]

Ravand is a practicing Muslim, which she has stated is a large part of her life.^{[3] [11] [12]}