One day I saw Messi poster on my friend maryam's notebook, and I asked why she had it. She answered me with a great enthusiasm: “I am a big fan of Messi, he is the best soccer player.” It was very surprising to me that Messi had a female fan in Afghanistan. I was curious if she played soccer, but she said: “I love soccer and watch it, but I do not play it.”
Although Afghan women have limited access to sport facilities, there are still a great number of other problems that can be threatening. Lack of fields and space, unreliable transportation, harassment, conservative culture, and social obstacles can discourage Afghan women to engage in sports.
Asma Mohammadi is a passionate Afghan soccer player. Despite all the difficulties, she formed Esteqlal female soccer team that was recognized as one of the best female soccer teams in Afghanistan. I had the pleasure to interview this passionate and strong girl.
Question: How did you start playing football and how did you get the idea of forming a soccer team?
Mohammadi: “At first, I played soccer for fun, and ended up playing on the Afghanistan National Team. Last year, I had an opportunity to travel to India to practice soccer more. When I came back, I thought why not making a soccer team myself, so I could encourage girls to play soccer. After a year, we succeed to form Esteqlal Female Soccer Team that currently has 18 soccer players”
Q: What were the challenges that you faced while forming the team?
M: “One of the first challenges was finding female soccer players. I talked to most of girls public schools’ soccer teams, but the coaches refused to introduce their top players to my team. In addition, most of families do not want their daughters to play soccer for security and safety reasons. For example, Asma Ebrahimi who is one of the best Afghan female goal keepers was restricted from playing soccer. Asma’s father did not allow her to play soccer because he thought that it is not a useful activity. However, her brothers insisted and convinced her father to let Asma play soccer. It was very hard to find these 18 soccer players”
Q: What are the challenges that Afghan women soccer team face in general?
M: I think the lack of a permanent soccer fields is a serious problem. In addition, Lack of reliable transportation is also very challenging. Many girls do not participate in practices because their houses are very far, and they do not have a suitable transportation. However, the most serious problem is how people view us. Although we do our best, people still underestimate the female soccer teams. For example, when we practice they make fun of us and say: “Girls do not know how to play soccer.” However, we never gave up and try to move forward”
Q: What were your accomplishments?
M: “Esteqlal Female Soccer Team won the championship and almost all matches. Now we have more supporters and one of them is Film annex that provided us a lot of facilities and solve our problems.”
It was fascinating to meet an inspiring and wonderful Afghan youth like Masoma who plays a great rule in building a motivated community and proves women can bring change and become a leader.
