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.

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.

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.

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.

With the support of the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee (ANOC) and the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) AYSE has:

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).

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 http://www.afghansports.org/.