Support 'Football for Peace' in Wardak Province

In today's Afghanistan, life prospects for youth are very limited. Lack of resources on the one hand and scarce employment opportunities on the other make it difficult for them to find their place in society, a situation which is especially frustrating for young men who need goals and orientation points to spend their energy. Often, due to the lack of constructive activities, young people become involved in strife and conflict. As is frequently the case in the US, promoting sports is one of the most promising ways to channel competitive energy into positive activities. Army personnel in Afghanistan in cooperation with many local groups and officials have a wide-reaching plan to establish formalized soccer and volley ball leagues to improve the opportunities for at risk Afghan youth. With your support of this project, Spirit of America will work with Captain Greg Schaefer to provide uniforms and equipment for up to 83 teams.

US Troops hand out soccer balls in Afghanistan

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Original Request

"My name is CPT Michael Tiongco and I am the Civil Military Operations officer for 2-508th PIR here in Afghanistan. I lead our Task Force's reconstruction efforts for Ghazni and Wardak Provinces. This past year, my counterpart CPT Gregory Mendez requested and later received a donation of sporting equipment from your organization which was then given to the Director of Sports in Ghazni which he distributed to winning teams of children at a large sporting shura held last summer. I am writing to ask if a similar request can be made for the children of Warkdak Province? We officially began reconstruction efforts/assistance for Wardak late last year. This district has for the most part been passed over for assistance and aid in the past, and if a similar request was compiled and sent here for them, it would go a long way." Spirit of America has supported many projects in Ghanzi Province, Afghanistan including sports equipment to Army Captain Gregory Mendez. However, we haven't yet received a request specifically for Wardak Province which borders Ghanzi directly to the Northeast. That changed with Cpt. Mendez' replacement, Captain Michael Tiongco, who emailed us a request to provide sports equipment to the youth in the area. Cpt. Tiongco has now rotated out of the area but we are pleased that his replacement, Cpt. Greg Schaefer is interested and eager to continue the work of many of his predecessors in improving the lives of the local community.

The potential for this effort is great and so is the need. The goal is to supply uniforms including shoes along with equipment for 83 soccer and volley ball teams. The specific list includes 160 soccer and volley balls with pumps, 11 uniforms per soccer team, and 6 uniforms per volley ball team. In addition, the local officials can benefit greatly from installation of 10 desktop computers to manage this project and others in the area.