For a Women’s Soccer Team, Competing Is a Victory
KABUL, Afghanistan — On Tuesday the Afghan national women’s soccer team had only two days left to practice before leaving for its first international competition.
They took turns with long shots at the goal, practiced blocking penalty kicks and dribbled the ball to one another around a circle.
Then armed soldiers burst through a gate in the corner, ordering them — politely — to go to the edges of the field. Overhead there was an awful roar, then the rotor wash of incoming helicopters, sending dirt and debris flying in their faces.
Once again, NATO had reclaimed its helipad, and the women had to vacate the only place in the capital where it was safe for them to play.
“I hate helicopters, but anywhere else, we would not be able to play in public. We would be attacked,” said Khalida Popal, a women’s soccer federation official and one of the longest-serving team members. She plays defender on the team, but is a tireless attacker when it comes to promoting women’s soccer, or football, as it is called here and in most places in the world.
“This is how I fight,” she said. “We want to send a message over the world to show that women can play football, and study, and work.”
None of those activities have been easy for Afghanistan’s women, but sports particularly have been difficult. Completely banned during the Taliban era, women’s sports have made only a fitful comeback, hampered by low budgets and insecurity — but most of all, by a lack of places to play in a society where even the most modest display of the body is often treated as a social crime.
“Everywhere we go, people are saying to us: ‘Why are you playing football? This is not a woman’s game,’ ” Ms. Popal said.
While the country has some sort of international team in 22 women’s sports, mostly those efforts are just starting off. In the 2008 Olympics, only one Afghan woman competed, in track and field, while just two competed in 2004, according to Shukaria Hikmat, head of the Afghanistan Women’s Olympic Committee.
In men’s sports, on the other hand, Afghanistan has been able to punch well above its weight, despite the war. Its cricket players are national heroes, particularly after defeating Scotland recently, and its tae kwon do team is an Asian power.
On Thursday, the women’s soccer team flies to Bangladesh for its first official international competition, a tournament sponsored by the South Asian Football Federation. “Just competing internationally will be enough of a victory,” said the team’s coach, Wahidullah Wahidi, especially since the Afghan women will be playing teams from countries where women’s soccer is well established.
The Afghan team has multiple handicaps. It is allowed to use the soccer field, inside a NATO base in Kabul, only three times a week — landings permitting. (And that only because President Hamid Karzai ordered the field made available after the team had an unexpectedly strong showing in a friendly competition against Pakistan.)
The captain is a 16-year-old high school student, Roya Noori, a diminutive striker with a ferocious kick. Four of the top players are living in America, and have had no chance to practice with the team before the tournament in Bangladesh. Even their sports clothes and shoes are a hodgepodge of assorted gear — shorts or short sleeves are not in their ensembles.
Most players, however, dispense with head scarves — otherwise required dress for women in public here — as just too impractical. “It could be dangerous,” Ms. Popal said. “Another player could grab it and strangle you.”
Ms. Popal, 23, an engineering student, comes from a conservative Pashtun family. When she showed an aptitude for the game in high school, her father and brothers opposed the idea of her pursuing club play. Nearly all of Afghanistan’s 21 girls’ clubs are in the capital city.
“I wore them down with my love for football, and finally they agreed,” she said. That was five years ago. “Now they are very proud.” They are also worried. As a high-profile spokeswoman for women’s soccer, she has drawn death threats, and is often taunted on the street, she said.
“This is the civil right of every woman,” Mr. Wahidi said. “Sport should not just be for men. The problem with our country is there are so many illiterates, 85 percent of our people, who don’t know any better.”
In October, the Afghan team had an exhibition game with the women’s team of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. “We wanted to show them Afghans are friendly people, not like the stupid people they are fighting,” Ms. Popal said.
The ISAF team captain was a Marine sergeant, Danielle Figueroa. “I realized that I’ve taken a lot for granted just being able to play any sport,” she said. “It didn’t dawn on me until last weekend when we got a chance to talk to them that this is new for them.”
Uninterrupted by helicopter landings, Afghanistan’s women beat NATO’s, 1-0.
Since the subject matter relates to Islam, something we've been talking extensively about in my English class, I thought this would be a good article to use to explain some of the technical terms of newspaper writing.
Newspaper articles don't have titles, they have headlines, which serve an obvious purpose: to attract the reader's attention and provide a basic idea of what the article is going to be about. This headline leads a reader to crave more information.
While this particular article does not have one, a "sub-headline" that is often seen in articles is technically called a deck, and is used to provide further clarifying information. Decks are most common for large stories that dominate the page.
The first paragraph is called the lead. It is used to engage the reader and does not necessarily provide crucial information to the story. This lead is great at building suspense. It makes the story actually like a story and not just a boring arrangement of facts, which isn't what news is supposed to be. While much of news is factual, some of the best journalism results when the writer strives to tell a story. This is where different perspectives come out and a more complete picture of a situation is grasped. Emotion is not illegal in news writing if it's conveyed accurately.
A less common term is a nut graph. This is usually used in feature stories, such as this one, and is a paragraph which contains the most important information, and what makes the story newsworthy. In this story, the nut graph would probably be "On Thursday, the women’s soccer team flies to Bangladesh for its first official international competition, a tournament sponsored by the South Asian Football Federation. “Just competing internationally will be enough of a victory,” said the team’s coach, Wahidullah Wahidi, especially since the Afghan women will be playing teams from countries where women’s soccer is well established." This paragraph conveys concisely the essence of the story.
In more factual news stories or in briefs (very short articles meant only to relay the basics on a topic and not delve into a story, usually around 150-200 words), the inverted pyramid technique is used. This means that the most important information goes at the beginning of the article, while the less important facts go toward the end. This way readers can quickly gain the information they want on a basic topic.
If more relevant terms come up, I'll be sure to post about them! A
As for this article in general, I thought this was a great article. It didn't alienate Afghan women. In fact, it demonstrated the common interest of soccer that American women and Afghan women share. It succinctly explained the lack of women's rights while also providing the perspective of the women themselves and tying it all together in an engaging story. Kudos to Rod Nordland!
