Saudi women’s sport is moving from participation to performance, and into business. Few stories capture that shift like Alyah Abo Alola, a former pro basketball player who co-built a training academy, led a women’s team into league history, and then launched a racquet-sports venture in Jeddah. Her path mirrors the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 ambition to professionalize women’s sport, create new SMEs, and grow a diversified sports economy.

Background & Journey

Alyah’s early professional life blended education and sport. She taught special education at Dar Al-Hekma Schools and supported classrooms before stepping fully into coaching and academy operations. That grounding in individualized learning shows up in her training philosophy: meet athletes where they are, measure progress, and build confidence through structure.

Athlete Career

Alyah Abo Alola competed professionally in basketball with Al-Ahli and AlUla in Saudi Arabia. By 2018, she was already pairing elite play with community sport, serving as a Special Olympics coach and participant (Mar 2018-Oct 2019) and earning a Special Olympics gold medal, while also assisting at Jeddah United Academy (Aug 2018-Jan 2019), experiences that sharpened her focus on player development and inclusion.

Building ARMED Academy

In 2016, Alyah founded ARMED Academy in Jeddah to deliver structured basketball development for girls and young women. The academy would become a pipeline: fundamentals, game IQ, and leadership, all tied to measurable progress and competitive exposure. Over time, ARMED reported 800+ trainees, with 20+ graduates turning professional, proof that skilled coaching and organized programming can translate to contracts, not just medals.

ARMED didn’t stop at training. The founders, Alyah, Abdulrahman Osama and Musaed Abdulrahman, fielded a women’s basketball team, entered the first edition of the Saudi women’s league, and won the title against pro teams. That pinnacle led to a new chapter: a top-flight club took notice.

From Startup to Big-Club Acquisition

In February 2023, Al-Ahli Saudi Club completed legal and administrative procedures to acquire the ARMED women’s team, a milestone for women’s basketball and a tangible exit for a local sports startup. Local media covered the signing and named Alyah as ARMED’s founder present at the deal, underscoring her role as both athlete and builder. For a women-led venture in Saudi sport, a club acquisition is rare, and strategically important.

The Racquet Space: A Second Act in Tennis

Post-acquisition, Alyah and her cofounders launched The Racquet Space (TRS) in December 2023, aiming to make tennis a community habit, not just a social aspiration. The startup raised $800,000 early on, fuel to build venues, programs, and partnerships. Operating from Jeddah, TRS positions itself as a hub for play, coaching, and events.

The timing is smart. Riyadh is now the home of the WTA Finals (2024–2026), with the inaugural Riyadh edition staged in 2024 and won by Coco Gauff, a global spotlight that trickles down to grassroots interest, court demand, and private-sector opportunity for training operators. For a local racquet startup, the signal is clear: tennis in Saudi is entering its prime market moment.

Ground Sports Pioneers (GSP)

As Co-Founder of Ground Sports Pioneers, Alyah helps lead a Saudi sports-construction firm that designs and builds bespoke courts and facilities. GSP’s focus is infrastructure, delivering safe, high-quality, turnkey venues that enable clubs, schools, and communities to run organized sport.

Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 (2024)

Alyah and her cofounder featured on Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 (Sports & Entertainment, 2024). Being named to this regional list signals credible impact and momentum. It recognizes measurable results, from athlete development to venture building, and elevates visibility with partners, sponsors, and media. For Saudi readers, it’s also a cultural marker: women-led sports ventures are being seen on a major stage, aligned with Vision 2030’s push for inclusion and a vibrant private sector.

Sector Context: Why This Matters Now

Vision 2030 has catalyzed a 150%+ rise in women’s participation in sport and counts 330,000+ registered female athletes, a dramatic expansion of the talent base and a much larger addressable market for academies, events, and women-led sports SMEs. Alyah’s ventures plug directly into that momentum.

On the tennis side, the WTA Finals in Riyadh elevate visibility, media value, and sponsorship appetite, conditions that reward operators who can convert attention into programs and memberships. TRS is positioned to do just that, with a community-first facility strategy in Jeddah and the runway of fresh capital.

Leadership & Strategy

Alyah’s approach blends athlete empathy with practical deal-making:

• Athlete-led design: She built the programs: clear progression, elite coaching access, and real pathways to clubs. Her own stints at Al-Ahli and AlUla keep training grounded in match reality.
• Proof, then scale: ARMED converted training into titles and pros, then earned a club exit. That sequence (results → visibility → acquisition) is a replicable playbook for sports academies in the Kingdom.
• Category timing: Moving into tennis as Riyadh secured the WTA Finals shows market sensing. It’s easier to grow when the calendar, and the world’s cameras, are on your side.

Market Context: The Rise of Women’s Sport

Saudi Arabia’s women’s sport isn’t a side story, but a growth market. Participation and pathways have expanded quickly under national strategies. With more girls entering organized sport and more clubs investing in women’s teams, the demand for quality coaching, safe facilities, and competitive calendars is climbing. Entrepreneurs who link training, events, and club relationships will create the next generation of athlete careers and durable businesses.

Why Alyah Matters to Saudi Sport

Alyah blends athlete credibility with operator discipline. She turns community interest into structured programs, raises facility standards through build-first projects, and creates clear pathways from first session to club jersey. She invests in local coaching talent and designs inclusive spaces for women and families, converting participation into sustained habit and jobs.

Most of all, she’s visible proof that a Saudi woman can lead in sport and business, advancing the Kingdom's goals for an active society and a diversified, homegrown sports economy.

What’s Next for Alyah Abo Alola

Alyah Abo Alola’s journey shows how a Saudi athlete can become a multi-venture sports builder: spot the gap, prove the model, partner up, and scale into adjacent categories. It’s inclusive, bringing girls and women into structured pathways. It’s innovative, using programming and partnerships to turn training into careers. And it’s economic, growing SMEs that hire coaches, rent courts, and sign sponsors.

Alyah’s arc started with a ball and a belief. Today it’s an academy legacy, a club-level milestone, and a new racquet chapter in Jeddah. The next chapter could be yours.

Playbook for Young Founders

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