“Soccer gives me more than a workout. It gives me joy, purpose, and community.”
Humanities Truck affiliate Dr. Bashir Mobasher is no stranger to the impact soccer plays on the lives of its players, both professional and recreational. It’s not only seen as a sport but something spiritual and communal. This love for the game translates into his work with soccer groups throughout the DMV hoping to unite communities of immigrants who find themselves a long way from home. In his project, No One Scores Alone, Dr. Mobasher worked with multiple soccer groups, including Itehad FC, a predominately Afghan team based in Northern Virginia and Soccer Without Borders, a nationwide organization that caters to Afghan youth and gives them an outlet to find community.
Journeying into a new country is a very daunting experience. You move away from family, friends, and the only place you’ve ever called home. You now stand in this new place where you have no connection, no familiarity, and little to no understanding of the language. This can be an immensely isolating experience. No One Scores Alone focuses on these individuals who previously had no place in their new home. Using their love for soccer as a benchmark, these players were able to meet other people who shared similar experiences, spoke the same language, and could also do a knee catch with ease. For many, the soccer field is the first place they felt welcomed in the United States.
The players on Itehad FC serve not only as a team but also as a family. Pick-up games quickly turn into organized hangouts and group dinners. Players are able to spend holidays together when traveling back home is not an option. Though a predominately Afghan team, Itehad FC makes space for anyone in search of a new field to play on. These new players hail from Palestine to Nigeria, inviting new perspectives on the game and creating larger relationships that transcend cultures.
Organizations like Soccer Without Borders cater to a different demographic yet still invoke the same ideas and sentiments. Not just a way for youth to have hobbies outside of school, it also creates a wide network in which displaced youth can connect with others that share the same life experiences as them, similar to Itehad FC. SWB also provides English classes for newly immigrated youth and makes sure to expose them to experiences they had never done before. This is essential as it pulls them away from technology and places an emphasis on building and maintaining friendships and becoming comfortable with their new home. The organization is an integral space that allows young girls and boys to boost their confidence and pride.
Resettlement is never a simple process. It can often lead to phases of self-isolation and loneliness. Through this project, Dr. Mobasher makes sure to put an emphasis on the organizations that have become great outlets for people who are experiencing those feelings. This introduction to a new community makes way for a period of healing, joy, and acceptance.
Dr. Bashir Mobasher teaches in the Department of Sociology at American University and at New York University–Washington, D.C. He is an affiliate with Humanities Truck and a Fellow at the Afghanistan Policy Lab at Princeton University. He also serves as President of the Afghanistan Law and Political Science Association in Exile, a network of Afghan scholars that advances research, publishing, and women’s education inside Afghanistan.
