Take a look at this letter from Jess Markt to our Kickstarter supporters about exciting developments in the Afghan wheelchair basketball program. For more updates, you can read his blog and follow him on Twitter @JessMarkt.

 

 

 

Hello supporters and fans of Afghan wheelchair basketball,

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m writing to give an update on some exciting recent developments and my plans to continue building the momentum of wheelchair basketball in Afghanistan and in other parts of the developing world over the course of the coming year.

Afghanistan
This year I will be spending a total of three months in Afghanistan with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – two months in April/May and another month in the fall. In the spring, I’ll be working with the nearly 150 existing men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball players across five provinces as well as establishing new teams in one or two more. I’ll be conducting 3-4 day clinics in each province, teaching players, coaches and referees with the goal of seeing the league’s development take another giant step forward.

 

At the conclusion of the two months, I’ll work with the ICRC to stage the country’s first 5-on-5 men’s national tournament and – we hope – the first ever women’s national tournament as well. We’ll also be working with the Afghan Paralympic Committee to select Afghanistan’s first men’s national wheelchair basketball team!

The Documentary
I’ve been in touch with the filmmaking team – Michael Glowacki, Aaron Cooley and Danny Alpert – who are making the League of Afghanistan documentary, and they asked me to pass along the following: Michael, the film’s director, is in the process of having 30-plus hours of player interviews translated into English while working his way through well over 100 hours of total footage from our last trip as he continues to create the story thread for the film. He’ll be joining me again this spring to capture more player stories, film the tournaments and cover the national team selection. The production team would like to extend their gratitude again to everyone who contributed to and/or helped to promote the League of Afghanistan Kickstarter campaign and made this film project a reality.

Expanding Beyond Afghanistan
In my last update, I mentioned that I would be making a trip to London during the Paralympic Games in September to participate in its Global Inclusion Summit focused on enabling people with disabilities through sports. It was a very educational experience, and included conversations with both the ICRC and Motivation UK (the organization that designs and builds the basketball wheelchairs all the athletes in Afghanistan use) that led to expanding the model we’ve created in Afghanistan to a couple new countries in the coming year. In July, I’ll be heading to Cambodia for two weeks to work with the ICRC and a locally-based organization called Stand Up Cambodia to implement women’s and men’s wheelchair basketball leagues and national team programs. I’m also working with Motivation to create a similar program in Ethiopia, hopefully to kick off by the end of this year or in early 2014. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to take the invaluable experience I’ve developed over the past three years in Afghanistan to other parts of the world.

Odds and Ends
I was recently informed of a terrific video montage ICRC Films created from still photos taken by David Constantine of Motivation during last June’s 3-on-3 men’s national tournament in Kabul. There are a couple interviews with players that, even in their very understated way of speaking, will give you a great sense of what they’re getting out of the basketball experience. You can see the video here.

Once I get to Afghanistan, I’ll be writing the blog I’ve kept on my previous trips, so feel free to subscribe (click “Follow” on the bottom right of the screen) to follow along with my continuing adventures. I’ll also be using Twitter (@JessMarkt) to make quick updates here and there, so fans of brevity can keep up that way as well.

 

I’d like to thank the ICRC, Motivation UK and Tahi Teamwear (which has generously volunteered to design and produce custom uniforms for all the Afghan players) for their ongoing commitment to bringing the joy of sports to disabled individuals in the developing world. Sincere thanks to everyone reading this update as well for all your support in this on going endeavor. More to come soon!

All the best,
Jess