Female soccer player is breaking barriers

22-year-old seeks to overcome tradition against athletic performances by women in her country

"It is my dream to become a soccer star and earn honor for my country one day," Massuma Mohammadi, 22, said at the national stadium in Kabul on Monday.

Dressed in training gear and between exercises with her teammates, the ambitious Mohammadi said that Afghan women are talented, and like women in other countries could earn a name for themselves and their countries.

In conservative Afghanistan, where traditions are deeply respected, it is difficult for a woman to play such sports and show her physical abilities.

However, Mohammadi has been crossing traditional barriers to realize her dream and become the first female soccer star in Afghanistan.

"I am exercising hard to realize my dream, and I will spare no effort to achieve this noble goal," Mohammadi said.

Playing as a defender on her team, Mohammadi said that her family, including her father, has been supporting her goal to become a soccer player.

Lauding the talent and hard exercises of Mohammadi, her coach, Amin Amini, said that she has been regularly attending training.

The Afghan National Women's Soccer Team was established 10 years ago and since then has made considerable progress despite limited resources and support, Amini said.

Deep-rooted traditions

Nevertheless, he admitted that the national women's soccer team has only 22 players, adding that he hopes the number will gradually increase.

In Afghanistan, where traditions are deep-rooted in society, Afghan families, especially in the countryside, rarely allow their girls to leave home except when accompanied by close relatives.

However, the situation in big cities like Kabul is different. In post-Taliban Afghanistan, it has changed tremendously over the past decade.

Women and girls in post-Taliban Afghanistan are attending school, working in offices, starting their own businesses and promoting art and music - progress unimaginable during the Taliban reign, which collapsed in late 2001.

"The Afghan National Women's Soccer Team has participated in the South Asian Games several times and earned reasonable results," Amini said at the soccer field, where the girls were training to improve their skill and technique.

The women's team is preparing to attend the South Asian Football Federation Women's Championship 2016, Amini added.

He also said that Afghan female players will probably go to Japan for a friendly match in late September this year.

Patriarchal tribal traditions and cultural issues, however, remain as a barrier to promote the sport among women, the trainer of the female soccer players said, adding that many families don't allow their girls to play soccer or other sports.

However, Amini said that his trainees, 22 women and girls, are training three times a week, for an hour and a half session at the national stadium.