Soccer smiles continue in Afghanistan

Air Force Staff Sgt. Amber Doll of Bethleham, Pa., left, and Army Spc. Joseph Reilly of Chicago Il., are pictured with an Afghani child who received a soccer ball from Operation Soccer Smiles near Qalat, Afghanistan.

By: Julia LeDoux | Inside NoVA
Published: March 12, 2009

Even more children in Afghanistan are playing soccer, thanks to the efforts of a group of local soldiers who are serving there.
“[Operation Soccer Smiles] recently received our first shipment of donated soccer balls from the Passback Program, located in Hillsborough, North Carolina,” wrote Lt. Col. James Overbye in an e-mail to the News & Messenger.
The Passback program, in partnership with Eurosport and with the support of Major League Soccer players, is an initiative of the U.S. Soccer Federation that seeks to help meet the soccer uniform and equipment needs of all communities, regardless of income, gender or location.
Overbye, of Gainesville, is assigned as a team leader of a 14-man brigade embedded transition team that deployed to Afghanistan in November. The unit is headquartered at Forward Operating Base Apache, near the city of Qalat in Zabul Province in southern Afghanistan.
One of the members of Overbye’s team earlier received some soccer balls from someone here in the United States and they were a big hit when Afghan National Army soldiers passed them out to children who live in the remote area. Shortly after that, Texas resident Susie Junek sent the soldiers care packages through the anysoldier.com program. In a note to Overbye, Junek asked if there was anything else she could do to help. Overbye told her about the unit’s desire to obtain more soccer balls. That led Junek to dub the effort Operation Soccer Smiles. She also approached her alma mater, Texas A & M, whose soccer team has donated 50 soccer balls to the effort.
A volunteer has also established a Web site for the effort at operationsoccersmiles.org. Other volunteers have stepped forward to keep the Web site updated.
If you would like to donate to Operation Soccer Smiles or for more information e-mail operationsoccersmiles@gmail.com or visit operationsoccersmiles.org.

Soccer smiles continue in Afghanistan

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