Salimah has always had a passion for sports from a young age. However, her love for golfing was uncovered just prior to starting high school. What began as a summer sport eventually turned into a fulltime passion.
“The more I played it, the more I fell in love with the individual nature of it,” Salimah explained. “What I put in, I got out... my senior year in high school my family moved to San Antonio, TX for me to play golf for a full year before making a decision ... .I never looked back!”
During her time as a professional golfer Salimah won the Canadian PGA Women’s Championship back in 2007. She has also worked at the Ladies Professional Golfing Association (LPGA). However, her career has not been without its challenges. Nevertheless, they were valuable lessons for Salimah aiding her success. Her advice for other aspiring athletes is “do not be afraid of failure, failure is a necessity, it's part of learning, growth and success. Salimah goes on to explain the importance of embracing failure, “none of us walked the first time we tried. Embrace the failures, and learn from them.”
Additionally, during tough moments in training, Salimah shared how remembering reasons behind why one is pursuing the sport can help maintain focus. The golfer shares how “falling in love with the process is essential, because you will lose more often than you will win in sports.”
Throughout her golfing career, one of Salimah’s greatest influencers has been her very first coach, Leo Zampedro.
“My first coach Leo Zampedro was my biggest champion,” Salimah highlighted. “He pushed me to get where I did, he believed in me, and I am now following in his footsteps and continuing his legacy of coaching.”
From being a professional golfer, Salimah is now helping others reach their golfing potential as a coach of Canada’s National Women’s Coaching Team. Her goals as a coach extends beyond improving athletes skills, but to also “be a positive influence and help them all to become better people and successful athletes.”
With the upcoming Global Encounters Festival, taking place later this year, Salimah looks forward to uniting as a Global Jamat and being in the midst of the incredible atmosphere!
Previously, Salimah was interviewed by Ismaili TV where she further discussed her golfing career, challenges faced and her golfing idol. The interview can be viewed here.
