Reflective of Australian society, our national sporting landscape is built on diversity and inclusion - this is no more prevalent than within football. Many famous Clubs in Victoria were founded by migrants and refugees, who decades ago made the journey down under and found a sense of belonging and connection through the world game.
To celebrate Refugee Week, Football Victoria (FV) spoke with some of the key figures involved with the Afghan Women's National Team, who's players risked it all to flee their homes and create a new life in Australia.
Last August, as the Taliban reclaimed Kabul by force, Afghanistan's highest profile women’s sporting team joined thousands of others who flooded Kabul Airport in a desperate attempt to flee. After two days hiding outside the airport and another two of anxiously waiting within it, the players finally managed to board a plane.
The gravity of the situation can not be understated - only two days after the players managed to escape, a suicide bomber struck at the airport, killing almost 200 innocent people.
Fast forward 10 months and the player's lives have dramatically changed. The team have re-established themselves as a competitive footballing outfit and the women have immersed themselves into their new home of Melbourne.
Goalkeeper Montaha proudly spoke to FV about the warmth of the Australian people.
“I don’t feel like a refugee, when I was in Kabul I didn’t have the opportunities I do here. I can do whatever I want in Australia and I can make real choices about my future,” she said.
"Back in Afghanistan, women are banned from attending school or playing any sort of sport. Now in Australia, the team is beginning to envision playing the game we love together for many years to come.
It has been a change of fortunes the team could have only dreamed of last year, but how has that dream turned into reality?
Along the way they have been helped by some of the most influential figures in Australian football. Human rights advocate and national football icon Craig Foster was able to facilitate the team's partnership with Melbourne Victory. The team is now proudly playing in State League 4 under the banner of the Melbourne Victory Afghan Women’s Team.
Speaking to the ABC in May, Foster spoke about the importance of this team as a beacon of hope for other refugees around the world.
“Teams like this wonderful team from Afghanistan are incredibly important because they represent tens of thousands of refugees who don’t have a voice,” Foster said.
Melbourne Victory Managing Director Caroline Carnegie spoke about how the relationship began.
“I think after the girls had settled for a period of time, they reached out to Craig and said, look, we want to play football again. We want to play as a team and ideally we want to play in our colours,” Carnegie said.
Playing in their national colours is of great personal importance to the players, as it helps them to maintain their identity as well as the ambition of one day returning to international competition.
Carnegie added that Melbourne Victory offering assistance was an easy decision, as it aligns with the Club's values and willingness to use football as a vehicle for positive change.
“What we want to do is support them in every aspect of their life and help them settle here, but also to be back on the world stage and to show exactly what they stand for in such a difficult set of circumstances,” she said.
“It certainly fits within our strategy of what we want to do at Melbourne Victory, which is to lead unite, connect and inspire people through football.”
The Victory ethos perfectly encapsulates what Refugee Week means for football in a broader sense. Our game has the power to unite, inspire and connect people from all walks of life.
Montaha hopes the story of the Afghan Women’s Team is one of many uplifting tales of refugees in Australia.
“I think it must be an inspiration for other refugees to come here. Australia is a multicultural nation, you can find almost every nationality here and you can see it in the way people respect each other's differences and religions,” she said.
Another key figure helping the team realise their footballing dreams has been Melbourne Victory Women’s Head Coach Jeff Hopkins. Hopkins was initially slated to help out with just a few training sessions, but has since been inspired to commit to being the team's head coach.
“They turn up with a smile on their face every session, which is great. They’re there because they want to be there and that’s always really nice for me as a coach,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins maintains that while the team strives for success, the real achievement is that the team is here in Melbourne playing together.
“I think the main thing is that we’ve got a group of young women that have been stopped being allowed to do what they want to do and there’s no way that should ever happen," he said.
“I must say the first few weeks has been more of a kind of celebration of them being able to play and play together as a team.”
Montaha echoed this sentiment when, highlighting her most memorable moment of the season so far.
“The highlight is that we are back together and now I feel that we are unbreakable.”
“What we have been through is very hard, and anyone else might have given up, but we didn’t give up and we believe in each other,” she said.
Hopkins added that the story of this team is a testament to the magic of football and how much impact it can have on people's lives.
“I think what it does show is this strength and the power of sport and of football, and more specifically through the medium of football you can help people and you can make a big difference in their lives.”
While the story of the Afghan Women’s Team paints a much bigger picture than what happens on the pitch, their performances have given the women and their fans even more to smile about.
The team is nearing the halfway point of its first season in Melbourne, having scored an incredible 40 goals in seven games so far, winning five of them.
While the ultimate goal remains to play on the world stage, the players have also found a newfound purpose. Similar to many Clubs who continue to pass down cultural traditions, Montaha says the women are excited to showcase the Afghan culture to the people of Victoria.
“This city is so diverse. We know there is already a strong Afghan community here and we are hoping to proudly represent them, but also showcase our culture to the rest the great people in Melbourne."