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Jefferson Award Winner Organizes Afghan-American Soccer Club

CONCORD (KPIX) Community. Friendship. Sportsmanship. They're what a this week's Jefferson Award winner brings to the Afghan American community on the soccer field.

Hafiz Hasani thought something was missing among Afghan American young people in Concord, so he helped organize a club around his favorite childhood pastime. Now on Sunday afternoons, there's no place he'd rather be than at soccer practice at Ygnacio Valley Park.

"I've been involved in soccer and also the community," he said, shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun. "This is kind of my life."

Before he came to the Bay Area in 1994, Hasani played on the all-star soccer team for Kabul University in Afghanistan. He wanted Concord area kids to learn sportsmanship and teamwork as he did. So he co-founded the Aria Sports Club in Concord six years ago.

"It was to keep the kids involved in sports, to get away from the other things like drugs," he remembered.

Today, the club has 200 members on 17 teams with ages ranging from under 4 to over 35.

Seventeen-year-old Ali Hasani has played soccer with the Aria Sports Club since it started. He wants to make it all the way to Afghanistan's national team, just like some of the club's volunteer coaches.

"It was basically like a second family," Ali Hasani explained. "I grew up without a father, so this basically is everything to me."

And the club means everything to Hafiz Hasani too. His official title is tournament director and vice president, but he does much more. He fills in as coach or player, drives carpools, and pays equipment and registration costs for those who can't afford them.

Fourteen-year-old Hannah Nuri says he's like everyone's favorite uncle.

"He's kind and generous, he always puts himself behind everyone," she explained. "He cares about everyone."

Over the years, Aria players young and old have won a number of regional championships.  But Hasani feels they've already won because they've gained a sense of community -- just like he remembers from his youth.

"I become ten years younger every Sunday when I come here," he said with a smile.

So for his tireless commitment to Afghan American sports in the East Bay, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Hafiz Hasani.

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