One great day: Campers learn invaluable lessons from two brave young women
Thursday, June 29, 2006

By BRIAN SMITH
of The Montclair Times

As females under rule of the Taliban in their native Afghanistan, Shamila Kohestani and Roia Nooir were prohibited from speaking their minds — or, for that matter, speaking in public at all — during their developing years. Despite this, Kohestani, 18, and Nooir, 16, had a group of 100 American girls hanging on their every word Tuesday.

The pair is in America for a month and a half through the Afghan Youth Sports Exchange, a program which allows young Afghan women to participate in athletics, something unfathomable just six years ago.

As part of their stay, Kohestani and Nooir are spending a week at the inaugural Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy, which was co-created by Julie Foudy, a former U.S. National women’s soccer team member, and Todd Smith, athletic director at The Montclair Kimberley Academy. Foudy and Smith started the academy to help young women stateside become better leaders through sports and education.

Tuesday’s activities at the academy started with a talk from Robin Roberts, co-anchor of ABC TV’s “Good Morning America.” Kohestani and Nooir listened and learned like the others, but once it was their turn to address the group, it was clear they were also there to teach.

The pair talked of the hardships they faced under the veil — literally and figuratively — of the Taliban, captivating the group of campers and counselors alike.

As young women, Kohestani and Nooir were prohibited from attending school, could not leave home with a male outside of their family and music and television were strictly forbidden. The two dreamt of playing soccer, but to even consider it was just that, a dream.

This all began to change with the defeat of the Taliban five years ago, and the girls are making up for lost time quickly. Only in school only since she was 14, Kohestani spoke to the group, in nearly perfect English, of the opportunities she now has. But, a new language isn’t the only thing she has rapidly mastered.

By starting to play soccer two years ago, both she and Nooir are pioneers in their country. They were also members of a small collection of Afghan girls who came to the U.S. in 2004 to take part in a tournament of many countries.

Back then, the team that came to the States made up the entire group of Afghan girls playing soccer, now thanks in part to Kohestani and Nooir spreading the word, there are fifteen teams in the capital of Kabul alone.

Traditional head-to-toe garb and limited transportation for the girls still makes practicing and playing difficult, but good luck stopping Kohestani.

“The last two years of playing soccer have been the greatest years of my life,” she said. “Some people still say soccer is not good for girls in my country but this is not true, and we are trying to allow as many girls as possible to play the sport.”

For their spirit and grassroots efforts, Kohestani and Nooir were selected by AYSE founder Awista Ayub to receive the 2006 Arthur Ashe Courage Award at ESPN’s ESPY awards night next month in Los Angeles.

“I think it’s just great that these two are receiving the ESPY award,” Foudy said. “I was asked by Awista to come to Afghanistan to speak to the girls, but we invited them here which is the next best thing.

“I love that our campers get to hear their stories, it puts things into perspective for them. They were very receptive to Shamila and Roia and I hope our camp will allow them to go home and become even better leaders.”

When asked by a camper if they ever considered moving to America, Kohestani did a little name dropping in her heartfelt response.

She told the group U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said she would be more than willing to have her as an U.S. citizen, but Kohestani politely declined, because there is still more work to be done at home.

For Smith, Tuesday’s events helped him realize just three days in that the academy’s intentions were already being met.

“Seeing how much the girls are letting this all soak in has been just amazing,” he said. “To hear these two young ladies from Afghanistan and their trials and tribulations they faced just to play the game they love put things in per-spective. The campers see that, and I think they will go home with an even more positive outlook on what it takes to be a leader.

“We couldn’t have asked for two better leaders than we heard speak today.”