No.48 September 2006 |
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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the first Afghan
Youth Sports Exchange (AYSE) girls’ soccer clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan
held in April of 2006 and demonstrate the strong correlation between
athletics and human rights of girls and women in Afghanistan. Four Afghan-American
coaches traveled with the AYSE Director to lead girls’ soccer
clinics on the ground in Kabul in coordination with the Afghanistan
National Olympic Committee (ANOC) and the Afghanistan Football Federation
(AFF). Soccer equipment was shipped and distributed to players and coaches
in order to provide the resources and tools to ensure proper support
for the girls programs with the ANOC and AFF. In addition to the players’
clinic, a coaches’ clinic was set-up in collaboration with the
German Football Federation. The clinic proved effective in bringing
female coaches from around the city together to discuss the best methodologies
for training girls’ soccer. The success of the program was measured
by immediate feedback from players and coaches as well as officials
with the ANOC and AFF. Two girls from the 2004 AYSE girls’ soccer
camp received the 2006 Arthur Ashe Award for Courage from ESPN at the
ESPY Awards on behalf of girls’ soccer in Afghanistan.
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About the Afghan Youth Sports Exchange (AYSE)
The Afghan Youth Sports Exchange (AYSE) is a non-profit organization
dedicated to equipping Afghanistan’s youth with leadership skills
required to promote athletics in their schools and communities. AYSE
was founded by Awista Ayub, an Afghan-American, based on the concept
of using sports as a tool to promote leadership among children in Afghanistan.
The AYSE’s vision is to create a structured youth sports system
that will support and cultivate future sports leaders for Afghanistan,
utilizing already established programs on the ground, while working
to address human rights issues through athletics.
In 2004, the Exchange’s initial mission was achieved with the
arrival in the United States of a fully-sponsored girls’ soccer
team from Kabul, Afghanistan. The team worked together at a sports leadership
camp run and organized by AYSE in preparation for competition in the
International Children’s Games held in Cleveland, Ohio. AYSE NOW…
In spring 2006, two years after the first camp, AYSE traveled to Afghanistan
bringing four Afghan-American soccer coaches to work with 15 teams registered
under the ANOC through the AFF. The goal for the 2006 girls’ soccer
clinic was to raise more awareness about girls’ soccer in Afghanistan
by recruiting players and coaches and providing them with the tools
necessary to improve the current status of girl’s soccer in Afghanistan.
Assessed Needs
Afghanistan’s infrastructure is still in its rebuilding phase
and one key area that needs to be addressed is youth sports. There are
many lessons that children can learn from playing sports: leadership,
self-confidence, unity, and teamwork towards a common goal. As a result
of thirty years of continuous warfare, most Afghan children have not
had the opportunity to play sports nor have they received the proper
training and coaching in order to achieve a high level of success in
athletics. A social structure now exists that will allow new athletic
programs to be introduced.
Schools are operational again, but there is further need to incorporate
athletics into the curriculum. Afghan children have some access to athletic
facilities such as basketball and volleyball courts, but they would
benefit from formal training in order to learn the rules, regulations,
techniques and drills necessary to master their sport. In addition to
the physical benefits, an active sports program would provide children
with a therapeutic outlet to release emotions resulting from witnessing
years of warfare.
Currently, few people are addressing the need to rebuild youth sports
programs in Afghanistan even though a strong program would help cultivate
future coaches, Olympic athletes and provide Afghan children with the
skills they may also apply to their own society and government as adults.
AYSE aims to provide dynamic leadership and athletic training in the
hope that young athletes will start sports programs in their schools.
By working to break down gender barriers, athletics can become an effective
tool to address human rights issues for women in developing countries
like Afghanistan. According to Article 10(g) and 13(c) of the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, boys and girls should receive
the same opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical
education and, boys and girls should also be given the right to participate
in recreational activities, sports and all aspects of cultural life
(United Nations, 1981). Until 1978, when Afghanistan was invaded by
Soviet forces, Afghanistan’s culture was progressive towards providing
equal opportunities for education and athletics to both boys and girls.
Afghanistan fielded local school girls’ teams in various sports
including basketball and volleyball. Human rights and equal access to
athletics was not a concern. Today though, the youth sports structure
in Afghanistan has deteriorated and both boys and girls suffer from
a lack of adequate programs for youth sports. The AYSE with the ANOC
and the AFF is providing the framework for programs that will once again
allow for an equal playing field and ensure that human rights through
athletics are upheld in Afghanistan for boys and girls.
Athletics is able to address human rights issues internationally because
of the positive life lessons it instills in children. In a recent briefing
report on using sports to create spaces and build social assets for
female athletes, Martha Brady (2005, p. 2) with the Population Council,
notes that athletics offers girls access to and visibility in the public
sphere, allowing them opportunities to:
By providing access to the public sphere, equality becomes a necessity
in society and young girls in Afghanistan will be able to gain strength
from athletics to become proactive in their community once again. The
2006 AYSE Girls Soccer Clinic was able to address basic human rights
issues by leveling the playing field for female athletes and giving
them equal access to equipment, fields and coaches.
In addition, gender roles in Afghanistan are very strict with a stark
line between men and women. Athletics for women can help to break down
current gender norms. Today, Afghan women are becoming more involved
in society after 30 years of war. They are now running for President
and being elected to seats in the new Parliament. Athletics for girls
can work to further reintegrate women in society, returning Afghanistan
to the egalitarian society, which existed up until 1978, prior to the
Soviet invasion. According to Brady “by seeing girls in this new
action-oriented role, boys learn about the strengths, capabilities and
contributions of girls and women, which in turn may begin to reshape
male traditional gender roles. In brief, sport helps transform the ways
girls view themselves and the ways in which their families, boys and
communities perceive them.” (2005, p. 2)
Athletics is also an effective tool that developing countries have utilized
to promote peace building among groups. The Swiss Foundation for World
Affairs (2004) noted that “Sports are an effective but highly
undervalued tool in peace building and development. If systematically
employed, sports can improve public health, reduce violence, diminish
social and ethnic tensions in conflict regions and help build more inclusive
communities.”
For developing countries like Afghanistan, athletics has the ability
to address a number of social issues in a constructive manner towards
breaking down current gender barriers and human rights concerns.
Objectives and Goals Achieved (2004-06)
With the support of the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee (ANOC)
and the Afghanistan Football
Federation (AFF) AYSE has:
1. Built athletic and leadership skills among girls and young women
Activity Goals:
Goals Achieved:
2. Created regular activities by forming city-wide girls’ soccer
leagues.
Activity Goals:
Goals Achieved:
3. Created an open forum to identify needs of girls and young women
Activity Goals:
Goals Achieved:
Overall Success and Deliverables
Follow-up
The 2006 AYSE Girls Soccer Clinic was a success. The clinic laid the
foundation for future sports camps in Afghanistan so that AYSE can reach
out to more girls and boys in an effort to teach athletic and leadership
skills to the future generation of leaders for Afghanistan.
Sports have the power to create a strong social network among children,
in particular youth. “Affiliation with a recognized team or group
provides girls with a sense of belonging and their role as a team member
can give girls an identity beyond the domestic realm” (Brady,
2005, p. 3).
AYSE in the Media
The 2006 AYSE Girls Soccer Clinic and tournament were featured on ESPN
during the 2006 ESPY Awards. Millions of viewers tuned in to the 2006
ESPY Awards and had an opportunity to learn about the lives of two of
the AYSE soccer girls, Shamila Kohestani and Roia Ahmad, both of whom
received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage on behalf of girls’
soccer in Afghanistan. The film showcased the positive impact soccer
has had on the girls’ lives and explored the lives of women in
Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban.
In addition to the ESPN ESPY Awards feature, the 2006 AYSE Girls Soccer
Clinic was featured on ABC Nightly News, Glamour Magazine, SportsIllustrated.com
and The New York Daily News. For more information on AYSE contact Awista Ayub,
AYSE Founder and Director, at Awista@afghansports.org.
Please log onto the AYSE website at www.afghansports.org.
References
Brady, M. (2005). Letting girls play: Using sport
to create safe spaces and build social assets. Population Council
Brief no. 1 May 2005 – Promoting health, safe and productive transitions
to adulthood, 1-4.
Swiss Foundation for World Affairs. (2004, November
1). More than just a game: The role of sports in international relations.
Retrieved from www.sportanddev.org.
United Nations. (1981, September 2). Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved from: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/e1cedaw.htm.
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