Asha named Pride of Britain Award winner

A football coach who is harnessing the power of sport to protect young people from gang violence and build bridges in the community, has been recognised at the Pride of Britain Awards 2025.

When mum of three Asha Ali Rage enrolled on a coaching course at Aston Villa, she had never even played football before, but she had a plan to use the game to help keep young people off the streets and give them new opportunities.

After starting by taking youngsters for a kickabout in the park, in 2016 she founded Dream Chasers FC in Small Heath, an area of the West Midlands with one of the highest rates of knife crime in the country.

OPPORTUNITIES

Nine years later, Dream Chasers is now much more than a football club. Asha has built a community hub where all young people can feel secure, supported and valued. The project has grown to become a social enterprise dedicated to giving young people safe spaces, life skills and opportunities.

It runs mental health and employment workshops, including youth mentoring sessions at local schools as well as activities such as dance lessons. The organisation even offers English lessons to migrant parents and has provided food parcels to those in need. A Ladies Community Hub brings people together, and also offers workshops including nutrition, health and wellbeing, parenting and measles vaccine information.

Dream Chasers FC has also forged bonds between young people and local police officers as they join forces for litter-picking sessions.

The purpose of the team is clear for 46-year-old Asha. There are an average of 14 knife crimes a day across the West Midlands, and in 2019 players at Dream Chasers FC lost a friend in a knife attack.

BELONGING

She says: “I faced a lot of negativity at the beginning as a Muslim woman playing football. Now parents say ‘If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t know what my boys would be doing’.

“Our work changes lives and that’s what keeps me doing what I do. It’s so important for people to have a safe space and sense of belonging.”

What the judges said: “The challenges facing young people today can seem overwhelming, but Asha gives them hope and a path to a brighter future. More than that, she is a force for good for the entire community.”