Reported by Kim Wheeler
POSTED: Friday, July
16, 2004 5:19:39 PM
UPDATED: Wednesday,
July 21, 2004 4:38:49 PM
SIMSBURY, Connecticut -- Not long ago in Afghanistan, girls could not go to school, women had to cover their faces and couldn’t leave their homes without a man.
But things are changing and you’ll see evidence of that, at the International Children’s Games right here in Cleveland.
Channel 3’s Kim Wheeler traveled to Connecticut to meet the first all female afghan team to compete in the games.
There the girls are running as fast as they can just to keep up. They are the first team ever from Afghanistan to compete in the International Children’s Games.
In a country where the Taliban oppressed women, it’s significant that the team is all girls ages 12 to 16. The girls are thrilled to be here.
“Yes . . . I like America very much,” one of the girls said.
They’ve only played soccer for five-months but their determination makes up for their lack of experience. They will be in the U.S. for 6 weeks as part of the Afghan Youth Sports Exchange - an organization that was the dream of Awista Ayub.
When she was 2-years-old, her family came to the U.S, from Afghanistan. She used much of her own money for this project.
“If [you’re] able to teach girls in Afghanistan about the positive power of athletics, use that to change the future,” Ayub said.
The soccer team is training at the Ethel Walker School which is a girl’s boarding school in Simsbury, Connecticut. That’s where we found local coaches volunteering to teach the girls the fundamentals of soccer.
“The soccer community is very special and we wanted to give back to those who don’t have anything,” said coaching coordinator Jerry Garlick
“There’s been an outpouring of support for the girls. They have received all kinds of equipment donations from soccer balls to cleats from a 10-year-old boy in Maryland. So much they hope to take it back to Afghanistan to help children there.”
When the girls go back, they plan to coach kids and become leaders.
The girls were picked based on their leadership skills and sports interest.
American Airlines is flying the girls free on all domestic flights.
