afghan Euro Sport

عطا اله ارغندیوال سابق رئیس کلپ ورزشی استور فعلاً مقیم ایالت کلفورنیا امریکا

طرح ها ونظریات در رابطه به چگونگی تدویر هرچه بهتر گردهمائی های ورزشی در کشور های امریکائی واروپائی

Salam to all,

I am writing these note

s with utmost respect to our sister and brothers who put a lot of effort and hard work while sacrificing personal and family time trying to improve quality of life through sports for our children and Afghan communities in general all across US and other parts of the world. So let’s congratulate and applaud the hard work and sacrifices you make every day to provide a healthy environment for our children and families. I want to also ask that we never underestimate or undermine the hard work and effort that goes into these activities. For all of us participating and working through these activities we know how difficult a job it is considering the fast pace of life and many limitations and challenges facing us.

These notes are by no means intended to offend, disrespect, criticize or undermine our sisters and brothers’ hard work again as you all continue to make a difference while steering our youth towards healthy life style and keeping them away from obvious dangers and distractions of today’s society. I simply can’t thank everyone enough for the great effort so kudos to all of you.

Our Afghan sporting communities have come a long way as a result of everyone’s dedication and admirable job considering enormous financial, logistics, social barriers and challenges for the benefit and best interest of children. In order to further improve and enhance our activities and plans I am taking responsibility for writing these notes. I have been thinking of writing these notes for quite a while but wanted to observe things a little closely and upfront as well as listening to management teams, coaches, players and parents so these recommendations are simply not mine but rather ideas and suggestions shared by many for a long time. I personally have no interest or demand for getting credit for these recommendations. These are again simply ideas and suggestions of others that have been shared and brought up to everyone’s attention over the course of last few years but we continue to neglect them either intentionally or unintentionally due to challenges surrounding our personal and professional lives. So in best interest of our children and sporting communities as a member of Tracy’s Itifaq club I thought someone should take time to write and submit to all sporting communities/authorities responsible for launching tournaments and sporting events around US. I must also state that these comments are not issued by Tracy’s Itifaq and should not reflect or be considered an Itifaq club document. I take personal responsibility for writing this document. I happen to agree with these ideas which have been shared by coaches, players and management teams and parents of throughout the years but we all continue to go through and commit same mistakes and frustrations again and again. So I am politely asking you once again to simply respect, read carefully and objectively to see if you find value in these recommendations. I am simply impacted just like you and hundreds of our youth, coaches, managements and families so it is only fair to objectively listen and do something about them.

So let me share what people say about all of us in general in light of ongoing weaknesses and areas that need our attention. As a member of Tracy’s Itifaq coaching and management team I consider myself as guilty as the rest of us who continue to look the other way and ignore obvious weaknesses and other people’s ideas. Here are some true comments and words people use when we don’t listen and continue to ignore them:

We as leaders in charge of various clubs and sporting organizations are referred to as “’THEY” are:

“Ignorant, stubborn, people with big egos, does not understand, they never learn, they only think of themselves, unorganized, they act like they know, they lack experience” These are very true samples of what people talk about and describe us all. I am hearing similar comments from all so I am quite confident about these. Right or wrong is not what matters, it does not also matter if these are just perceptions but the reality is that people say and have every right to talk about these issues as most of them have children playing in competitive sports in America and rightfully expect us to implement and learn from. So my challenge to you is to simply accept them as feedback but let’s once and for all do not ignore them. If we truly believe in talking and submitting ourselves to serving our needy communities then let’s take action and not become defensive as we will accomplish nothing and further hurt our children while losing respect.

Here are people’s common sense recommendations:

Tournaments all around US:

Don’t you think it is time for all the leaders from coast to coast and Canada to open lines of communication? How about setting up a get on a conference call in light of physical challenges around US and Canada to talk and agree on set yearly tournament dates, rules etc. I know some have been thinking to meet during tournaments but to my knowledge this has not happened. I am quite sure a national conference call can be arranged to start the process and then advertise and announce the move on TV shows so that Afghan all over can hear about the effort and beginning of communication, coordination and chemistry amongst us.

As you know we have had multiple tournaments running at the same time in various locations in America this year again. This is simply wrong and does not help our players, clubs and sporting communities. While we love showing up for the games, competition and tournaments many have and continue to denounce the unhealthy completion and claims of territory and timing of tournaments. It is again time to listen and talk respectfully. Memorial weekend conversations around every home table were that of disgrace and “not very smart” It did nothing but further separated us as Afghans. Afghanistan and its people in general are in much need of leadership in general and do not wish to see disrespect and lack of chemistry even through sports organizations. Lack of coordination and agreements simply hurt and do nothing to help bring leadership and respect to our children and society in general. It is time for us to take responsibility and show our children and families that we truly respect each other and will do everything possible to restore the quality of tournaments across east and west coast where teams can participate from all around northern America and hopefully Europe. I know quite a few people in Europe who cannot figure out when and where as set dates. It’s been actually very nice to see many quality players from Europe participating in Virginia Cup the last couple years but why not open the door to more teams? Stubbornly holding tournaments because of history and repetition does not solve this problem. Let’s look at weather conditions, logistics, and quality fields/venues more than other factors and agree on tournament dates and locations.

Length of Tournaments: Let’s not rush to hold tournaments in two days or even three days. At no time teams should be subject to playing five-six or seven games even during two-three days. There should be enough down/rest time between games. Let’s include only teams and age groups that we can effectively manage.

Advertising Tournaments and dates: Once all sporting authorities agree on set tournament times all tournaments dates and locations should be posted on all organizations Web pages. Sporting authorities should start negotiating and reserving venues immediately once Regional/US Tournament dates are agreed upon and established. This process must take place months in advance. People and clubs should be able to plan well in advance. In today’s world all events and activities get scheduled on annual bases and often times reserved for the following years. Currently tournament dates and times get announce within a couple months in advance of tournaments at best in most cases without identifying venues and locations.

Manageable Tournaments: We try to please everyone by including too many teams. It’s time for all of us to start distinguish between youth and adult tournaments. It is appropriate for the big AFSO and Virginia Cup tournaments to include teams of all ages as these are big tournaments and it is actually nice to see youth, girls and adults participate in games but we must find a way to extend the length of these tournaments and not subject teams to extreme exhaustion and more importantly find complexes and locations with more quality fields that can accommodate all age groups. We should start to focus more on quality than quantity. Having too many teams without ability to hire adequate referees and linesmen and support is simply wrong.

Exceptions: This is a huge northern Ca problem. I am so sorry but I have to respectfully ask the management and leadership teams of all clubs to once and for all come to an agreement and establish true and honest age groups. This as you will all agree is a big challenge where the practice is now referred to as “CHEATING” and not actually exceptions. It is time to establish TRUE age limits that you all agree such as u7-u10, u13, u16 and allow players that fall within these true age limits and not make any more exceptions. We have heard of one day, one month, two or three months difference from birth dates after long and grueling arguments. The other common practice so far is to allow two or three over age groups players who are mainly the top players to come and join play with younger age groups. These players are referred to as exceptions where they simply take over the game and dominate small players. This is wrong and should be stopped immediately in order to preserve the integrity of the game as well as your youth if we truly believe in growing and helping our youth.

A true statement: A seven year old nephew and his friends came to at the park in Fremont to tell me “kaka Attaullah, they cheated.” I was embarrassed and devastated and knew exactly what and whom they were referring to. This is not what we should be teaching our kids. All these young kids and parents know and are of our actions, which designed to simply win games. This is again wrong and hurts our youth and all of us. I know the same type of comments dominate conversations in and around all parks. It is time for all BAORD MEMBERS AND LEADERSHIPS to take notice and take appropriate action to stop this unacceptable practice.

Once a young player is moved to an upper level team that player should not be allowed to come back and play with his real age group in a tournament. Why move them up in first place? If these players are that good then they should remain in upper group level. I saw quite a few very young players playing in upper age group deservingly but that is where they belong and should not be brought down to beat up on younger age groups. It is a decision you make and should stick to and not hurt the younger teams.

It is true for the U17 boys. We have quite a few players who have reached the age of 17 but they continue to play for U16 teams where exceptions continue to take place. These players have already turned 17 and should be playing for open teams now. It is time to discuss and agree about TRUE age limits. We should decide once for all as our youth and parents are disgusted with the practice and do not appreciate it. They demand and deserve honesty.

Our kids speak and tell the truth. All you have to do is ask them and they will tell you their true age. We as adults unfortunately are making a huge mistake and actually cause more damage for the sake of winning. I was again devastated to hear 7 year olds talk about unfair games and Cheating. Can you imagine the conversations around family table?

Open and 40+ tournaments: As mentioned while it is appropriate to include all age groups in big AFSO and Virginia Cup tournaments given the right conditions and adequate fields and referees, it is not OK for our regional/various city tournaments to include open and 40+ age groups. Our youth tournaments are losing its luster and quality because of open and 40+ teams. We simply do not have the capability and resources to accommodate everyone. As one brother put it lately the entire focus shifts to open and 40 teams during these tournaments. A perfect solution to this dilemma:

Let’s do what brothers in Virginia have done. They have created a league in which 5-6 teams participate on ongoing basis. We now have at least four major cities in northern CA with open teams and quite a few 40+ groups. Why not create actual teams instead of generating and making overnight teams where a few manage to just put on half uniform and get on the field while cutting children and youth’s playing time. Why not build teams and have them play each other once or twice a month through a league. Many cities have made accommodations especially Mexican leagues. We can easily make time for anyone to come to Tracy once a month and play. Or better yet, we should manage time, and resources to create open and 40+ teams that can play every week or every other week and not wait for the annual tournaments. No wonder so many players are out of shape and can’t even play a few short minutes.

Again, our youth and families are not happy about squeezing too much into our tournaments. No one really cared as some open teams and 40+ played. As a matter of fact several parents complained about lack of organization and constant delays. It is time plan and commit to activities we can manage. Including open and 40+ in youth tournaments take away from the real purpose and quality of tournaments. No matter what we say the main focus shifts towards open and 40+ where we find long minutes, good referees etc. Valuable minutes have been taken away during last few tournaments from the youth and girls’ team due to lack of time and resources that were allocated to open and 40+ teams. Time to get organize and invite all adults into a big meeting and come up with a permanent solution and again not take away from your youth.

Tournament Schedules/Lottery: This is major weakness for many. It is time to announce schedules and hold the lottery for a minimum one-week prior to tournaments. All across US tournament times and brackets get posted on web sites well in advance. While we can’t expect to manage as other US competitive teams due to lack of organization and resources we can at least manage this a week before tournaments. We need to instill a sense of discipline in our communities. We should no longer blame the word “Afghan” for everything. This as you know has and becoming a cliché “Oh Ma Afghana” I am so sorry to say but I hear it all the time and simply put the blame on this statement at all times. Isn’t it time to change this unacceptable mentality? I honestly don’t see anything to be proud of anymore when we use such statements. Instead it is time to change our mindsets and establish the right mindset and expectations for our children. It is time to put the blame away and instead do something about it.

Why not establish a set date for accepting team applications? This exists in theory but no one except for Virginia Cup organizers has implemented this. After a decision to take our Itifaq open team to Virginia I was informed right away by their leadership to submit a check for $1,000.00 and team register in order to secure a spot by certain date. I was at bank line first thing the next day to cut an official and send with application to them. I loved that mindset and expectation and it is time for all of to expect the same and set a clear standard. Quite frankly if our tournament organizers don’t wait for the last minute and establish clear rules and dates well in advance this problem will go away. Simply say NO to non-applicants but don’t give people too much time. Afghan communities lead our leadership and a sense of urgency.

AFSO did a great job in holding the lottery on national TV in advance of tournaments on a Monday night by bring local team representatives and having children to draw a name where team representatives from far do not have to be present. They can all see and find out about their brackets and preliminary games.

In most other cases teams will have to wait till late at night to find out about schedules. Teams at times travel long and often times taking connecting flights to make to east or west coast and they are tired already but asked to wait till late at night to find out if they have a game at 8 a.m. in the morning. In reality all participating teams and players must stay awake to find out about their games the next day. Some players did not get even 3-4 hour sleep time before their first big games. I know we can change this and is long overdue.

Venues, hotels and directions: Why not search and negotiate venues now for next year? Let’s not wait and find locations and talk to each other if we can help too.

Why not talk to hotels months in advance and find convenient locations around playing fields. Hotels will love our business if we talk to them in advance. We have many Afghans who work for big chain hotels and can help.

Common Rules: Why not establish common rules such as FIFA rules and not have to make too many exceptions in each tournament. Put them on your Web sites and avoid paper completely. All teams should read and understand what is at stake. There should be no need for handing out pamphlets and stacks of paper that no one reads at the last minute. Let’s use technology to our advantage and actually save money.

Field Marshals: This is again a northern CA problem where we all lose complete control of games, schedules and referees. I am quite sure you all agree and know what I am talking about. One coach from Tracy had a very good suggestion:

Why not assign and put a table for field marshals right next to the playing field. In this case one or two people are in charge of that particular field and control the flow, timing and rules of the game throughout the day. This way the marshal and referees are responsible for check INS, time management etc.

It is also time for all tournament organizers to spend a little money and provide first aid kid and ice on the sideline. Very, very simple!

Referees, despite having numerous licensed referees there seems to be total chaos during each tournament. We have walked and talked our ways all over the place to find out who will be referring particular games.

Why not publish the names of referees right on schedule and calendar so that everyone knows their assignments?

And how about Referees with proper uniforms! Sorry to say but is quite embarrassing to see people in civil clothing ref our games. A ref or two even wore player color jerseys in one tournament. Let’s bring some discipline friends. To my knowledge, one of the requirements and rules for obtaining referee license is purchasing and being equipped with referee standard uniforms. Worst case we should be able to buy and put on cheap yellow or other color Vests.

Lack of Referee discipline, referees and sideline crew should be instructed to enforce rules properly and not lose control. Tons of players parents sit too close to the fields and even right on field lines with many roaming around the goal area and often time providing instructions to teams and goalies. It is time for all organizations to take control. Again, why hold tournaments if we can’t manage the process well. Another reason to limit the number of teams and age groups in our tournaments. Let’s not get too excited or competitive about including too many and calling tournaments “BIG” Big may not be a good idea for us yet until we can manage things properly. Let’s focus on Quality.

Game Delays: This is another huge weakness. We continue to blame this on same statement “Afghana.” Sorry to hear the beautiful Afghan word gets blamed for everything. We are the ones to blame as leaders and people in charge and must take responsibility. It is time to bring true discipline.

Why not start games right on time? Give them a maximum of 10 minutes or allow teams to start with minimum of 8 players and then call it Game with giving points to the team that is ready to play.

We have had delays up to six hours starting with last few tournaments. Completely unacceptable to traveling families and kids who get forced to spend the entire day on the fields. One parent told me he is refusing to allow his daughters participate in late tournament games from here on. This is the kind of impression and impact we are creating by losing discipline and structure.

Kids first: Our youth should be our priority, we continue to talk this but not show much in real action.

Why schedule very young age groups games at 8 a.m. Teams from far cities will have to wake up at least at five a.m. to make it to the game while over 40+ games get schedule for mostly in the afternoon. Why not ask the 40+ years to wake up and play their game? Again, we are not thinking! Game scheduling is a challenge because we manage this process at the end and only few hours before tournaments. This will not be an issue if we organize things well in advance and consider age groups and acceptable timing.

Fees: It is time to talk and agree on standard tournaments fees for all. It is also time to teach all families about the cost or tournaments and bring a sense of discipline. I know this is an issue for all clubs and teams and it is because we are providing excuses in the name of being poor, out of work etc. We see things all good and upfront where families have monies for phones, games and gadgets of all sorts but when it comes to paying for league and tournaments they back off. We have established a NO PAY, NO PLAY rule, which is working very well as players and parents, do not want to see their kids not play. We are not asking for much any way! Let them become a member of competitive team to find out how much it cost them to play. The world of exceptions hurt our communities!

Tournament Balls: It is time for all of us to take this responsibility and provide balls during tournaments. All hosting clubs should provide game balls.

The easy solution is to hand the two or three balls to Marshals and Referees. Referees simply pick them up at the side Marshal Table and become responsible for returning them at the end of each game. End of Story! It is often times a disaster to not have a ball. In both of last two major tournaments we witnessed long delays where balls will go out of bounds and behind trees and no ball available to play with. Often time’s refs would be calling sidelines to provide balls that are not standard and majority without enough air. It was actually quite funny as no one had a pump even to put some air in the ball during a major tournament. This is not good!

Some soccer shops and vendors will be happy to help and provide game balls of color to even be marked for tournaments and cups in their names so there are ways to do it but we must start to explore these common sense practices and stop being stubborn.

Smaller teams, several clubs struggle to find enough eleven players with at least few backups! It may be a good idea to start thinking of 8x8 especially for 40+ ages and even younger boys and girls. I have witnessed big struggles by teams often time asking to borrow players in order to land an eleven member team. So there are ways to do things better and more efficiently.

Leagues: It is time for all clubs in northern Ca to get together and start the process of creating regular leagues where teams can play during seasons rather than waiting for major tournaments where we again jam all activities. We have to just meet and start the process. At best we can create a twice or once a month competition between teams. Creating a league will earn respect and attention of businesses, local and state government and open the door to Grants and contributions.

Arguments: Last but not least, this is the most embarrassing and damaging aspect that none of us can be proud of. This is again a major northern Ca challenge where kids, parents and all spectators continue to witness ongoing arguments between coaches, players and referees. This again as direct result and lack of Firm Rules, too many exceptions, game delays, referee assignments/ responsibilities and field marshals

We need to look at this issue more seriously and accept the fact that our children, parents and spectators carefully watch our interaction. I have personally been forced and feel very guilty about our heated conversations in front of our children and parents due to very same reasons explained above. I have decided to simply walk away in case of these situations arise. I am tired and so are our children and parents. Let’s set the rules and simply play the game without making exceptions and breaking rules. We owe it everyone if we are to continue with our roles as managers, coaches and people in charge of our organizations.