Afghan Soccer Club members with their coach Mr. Wais Omer.
The Afghan Soccer Club is a Bay Area-based Afghan youth soccer group that is organized under the umbrella of the Afghan Coalition, a non-profit community building organization. The mission of the Afghan Soccer Club is to promote access to sports, healthy lifestyle choices and leadership for youth, with an emphasis on low income immigrant youth who would not otherwise have such opportunities. The Club also seeks to serve as the premier center for sports in the Afghan community and to improve the quality of life in our local communities by increasing unity, visibility and civic pride through sports.
The primary purposes of this program are to teach the fundamentals of soccer, leadership, discipline, and the importance of teamwork to all of the participants. The Afghan Soccer Club program aims to be a safe, fun and exiting experience for every athlete child and youth who participates. The ultimate goal of the program is to teach young people how to be more successful and healthy in other areas of their lives.
The Afghan Soccer Club has 5 teams and 44 players including Afghan boys and girls in grades 1-8. To date, over 53 Afghan youth have participated in this club, and a few have won awards in soccer tournaments.
All youth soccer teams are organized and coached by Afghan volunteer trainers Mr. Wais Omer, Mr. Nazir Baba Karkhil and Laila Mojadidi. The program began in September 2008 with recruiting and meeting with youth, families and coaches. In October and December the group put on its first youth soccer tournaments. The youth practice Tuesdays and Sundays at Park Elizabeth in Fremont.
We have received very positive responses from our community and have discovered that soccer is one of the best ways to bring parents and youth together to have fun and learn about each other. We would like to expand this program to reach more youth and improve the emotional and physical health of the community.
We are seeking help in identifying community partners and funding for the project. If you have ideas or if you would like to raise funds on behalf of the group, please contact us.
Youth are excited to play
Youth member receiving award from AFSO.