Saudi Arabia’s sports story is changing fast, and Hala Al-Hamrani helped light the fuse. As the country opened doors for women’s sports, she opened a gym and a mindset. Today, her work with FLAG - Fight Like A Girl in Jeddah is part coaching lab, part confidence factory, and part blueprint for the Kingdom’s next wave of fitness entrepreneurs.
Background & Journey
Hala grew up in Jeddah and fell in love with martial arts at age 12. She earned a black belt in Japanese jiu-jitsu as a teenager, and later added kickboxing and Muay Thai to her toolkit. After high school she moved to the United States, studied Environmental Studies (with a minor in international relations) in San Diego, and deepened her boxing skills there. She also obtained certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), a credential she still cites as the base of her coaching practice.
Back home, she began training women when opportunities were scarce. Multiple profiles credit her as Saudi Arabia’s first female boxing trainer, an early pioneer who taught women long before mainstream facilities existed.
From Private Sessions to a Women-Only Gym
Long before large fitness brands and mixed-use complexes arrived, Hala coached in private settings and small classes. In 2016, she formally opened her women-only studio in Jeddah under the banner FLAG - Fight Like A Girl. The studio blended boxing, kickboxing, calisthenics and strength work, and quickly became a word-of-mouth destination in the city. Early media coverage emphasized how unusual a women-only combat gym was at the time, and how purposeful her programming felt for first-timers.
By 2018, she was training 150-200 women, ages “early teens to 60,” and advocating for local women’s competitions and clear development pathways. Her stated goal: see a Saudi woman box at the Olympics one day.
"When I came back from the states, it was my mother that actually gave me the idea to start teaching boxing and kickboxing, and so I started teaching girls in Jeddah out of a room in my parents house."
– Hala Al-Hamrani
Why the Timing Mattered
Her expansion coincided with policy shifts that reshaped the sector:
- Licensing of women-only gyms began in 2017, part of a wider health push.
- Girl's physical education entered public schools the same year.
- Women’s participation in sport has since grown more than 150% under Vision 2030 initiatives, with hundreds of thousands of girls now registered across sports.
These changes created demand. Hala supplied a discipline, a brand, and a safe space to meet it.
The Venture: FLAG-Fight Like A Girl
FLAG is simple by design: technical boxing taught with clear progressions, conditioning that respects starting points, and a culture that puts mental strength alongside physical skill. Sessions include stance, guard, footwork, pad work, and controlled drills. Hala’s coaching style is direct and encouraging. Media features consistently highlight two things: empowerment through practice and safety through instruction.
"I’ve said it before, and it is really true: Women find their voice here in the gym. I’ve had ladies here who have been shy, or have let people use them and abuse them. Through coming to boxing and kickboxing training they have found their voice and have found their inner power." – Hala Al-Hamrani
Milestones
- 2003: Begins coaching women in Jeddah (private/early sessions).
- 2016: Opens the women-only gym, FLAG Boxing.
- 2018: Training 150–200 women; publicly advocates for local competitions and long-term athlete development.
- 2023: Profiled discussing shifts in public perception and the sport’s growing grassroots base; notes she was invited to serve as the first female board member of the Saudi MMA Federation, a signal of trust in her combat-sports expertise.
Impact Metrics & Ecosystem Context
Hala’s local impact aligns with a broader national wave. Saudi Arabia is now a regular host of global fight cards, events that raise mainstream awareness and, in Hala’s words, send a surge of interest into gyms after each showcase. Examples include Usyk–Joshua II in Jeddah (2022) and Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury in Riyadh (2023). Those nights put boxing on millions of screens and sparked trial sessions the next week.
At the community level, Vision 2030 programs and school leagues have expanded the base of active girls and women. Official communications from Vision 2030 and SPA highlight the participation jump (150%+), growing coach pipelines, and dozens of women’s national teams, building a pathway from playgrounds to podiums. FLAG sits squarely in that pipeline on the skills and confidence end.
Leadership & Coaching Philosophy
Hala’s coaching emphasizes process over bravado. She disarms fear with structure: short, technical drills, clear feedback, and visible progress. Her story also underlines how sport supports focus and mental health; she has spoken about how martial arts helped her manage attention and energy as a student, and she brings that empathy into her gym culture, meeting women where they are and letting competence build confidence.
Vision 2030 Impact
Hala’s journey mirrors the Vision 2030 arc: inclusion, participation, and a new sports economy.
- Inclusion: Girl's PE and licensed women-only gyms unlocked demand. FLAG met it with quality instruction.
- Innovation: She normalized a combat sport for beginners through content and coaching systems. That’s social innovation more than tech, yet just as catalytic.
- Economic Diversification: As high-profile events flow through Jeddah and Riyadh, the local gym ecosystem gains members, jobs, and vendor activity. Interest spikes after major cards like Usyk–Joshua II and Paul–Fury correlate with new inquiries at gyms like FLAG.
- Governance & Pathways: Interviews note her invitation to participate in combat-sports governance, exactly the kind of female leadership Vision 2030 aims to scale.
1. Design for First-timers
Offer trial classes, beginner tracks, and no-pressure signups.
2. Teach the Why
Explain purpose and progressions to cut anxiety and boost retention.
3. Ride National Moments
Sync promos with major fight nights; host discovery sessions the week after.
4. Show Your Credentials
Highlight certifications to build trust, especially with women new to boxing.
5. Build Alliances
Turn policy shifts (girls’ PE, women-only gym licenses) into partnerships with schools, federations, and community groups.
Final Word: Your Turn
Hala Al-Hamrani started early, stuck with it, and turned personal passion into public benefit. She is a coach and a company builder, but also a cultural translator who made a previously “off-limits” sport feel normal, even necessary, for thousands of Saudi women. That is leadership. Quiet, persistent, and measurable in the number of women who now walk into a boxing class with their heads high.
Want to test the waters? Shadow a female coach, volunteer at a school league, or host a beginner clinic next month. Our sports economy is growing because people like Hala chose to build. Now it’s your move.
Follow Hala Al-Hamrani's Journey on X, Instagram, and FLAG Boxing.
