From the San Francisco Chronicle: 

Women boxers challenge Afghan culture
By Nick Meo, Chronicle Foreign Service

“Kabul, Afghanistan—Concord resident Tareq Shawl Azim says he always knew he would one day return to his parents’ country to make it a better place.

Azim, whose parents left Afghanistan in 1979 after the Soviet invasion, boxed as a heavyweight at Fresno State, and has represented Afghanistan at the Asian Games, South Asian Games and Pan American Games. Azim believes he is an agent of reform by training females to box.

“I wanted to show the world that Afghanistan is ready for positive change through sports and the most male-dominated activity - boxing,” he said. “There needs to be belief in all humanity in order for a country like Afghanistan to stand on its two feet. One foot being male and the other being female.”

The sight of some 30 determined girls, many clad in head scarves, sparring and shadowboxing, is an extraordinary spectacle in a country where women are routinely harassed for taking part in sports and where some Islamic clerics have spoken out against any female performing in public as an athlete or entertainer.

The idea for the program occurred last year after several female soccer players expressed interest in the sport after watching American women box on television. Later that year, sports officials formed the Afghan Women’s Boxing Federation, whose directors say their major obstacle is not conservative males but a shortage of cash. The girls, who train in the cavernous, dingy gymnasium of Kabul’s National Stadium that was once the site of Taliban executions, has only four punching bags, three of which are homemade.”

We’ve told you previously about Awista Ayub and her Afghan Youth Sports Exchange.  Awista has been one of the main players in empowering young Afghan women through sport, specifically soccer.  She likely worked with and undoubtedly influenced the “female soccer players” who expressed an interest in the sport of boxing. The great importance of her work as a “sport for social change agent” is clear: she helps remove the psychological glass ceiling within people living in an oppressive culture.  While others say “why,” her work insists, “why not?” Sport and unlimited possibility go hand-in-glove.

What’s your Red Rubber Ball?!