The Long Game: Sports Stories of Courage and Conviction

For as long as she can remember, Iona Rothfeld has loved playing soccer. But in Chile, soccer is considered a “boys” sport. When she was 13 years old, Iona was named to the Chilean Women’s National Soccer Team. She thought she had finally found a place where women’s soccer was respected. Instead, she was issued hand-me-down jerseys and told to shower in locker rooms that didn’t have hot water. But in 2016, at the age of 23, Iona fo...

Honey Thaljieh grew up in a war zone. One day, on the streets of Bethlehem, she passed by a group of boys playing football. By chance, they passed her the ball. Soon, Honey discovered that she was a gifted athlete. But more than that, football became Honey’s path to freedom and dignity. It took her to Europe and the U.S., where she saw young people, far from the tragic backdrop of war, playing on manicured grass fields smooth enoug...

The 1995 Rugby World Cup marked the end of apartheid and South Africa’s return to the international sports stage. The home team -- the Springboks -- weren’t expected to go far. Instead, they won it all. And if that sounds to you like the kind of thing Hollywood would make a movie about, you’re right. It’s the story at the center of Invictus, the 2009 film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. The mo...

Whenever an athlete steps onto a field, court, or fencing strip, they bring with them all that they are: their background, their lived experiences and their religion. But for some athletes, their faith is a bit more visible than it is for others. As a college basketball player, Batouly Camara made three Final Four appearances with the University of Connecticut. She’s the daughter of immigrants, a children’s book author, and she’s t...

There’s an upside to hosting a mega-sized sporting event. Governments plan new roads and train stations and airports. Corporate sponsors and foreign investors pile on. And when you build it, people come. Different people, new people, who may not have visited before. Often, these mega-sized sporting events also bring with them a spotlight on whatever problems plague the host nation. For the 2022 Qatar World Cup, that spotlight has l...

The rivalry between the cricket teams of India and Pakistan is a little like if a billion people tuned into a Red Sox - Yankees game. Add in nationalistic fervor on both sides, and things can get tense. When Pakistan beat India in 1978, the Pakistani captain declared it a victory for all Muslims against Hindus. But until recently, Pakistan had never beaten India in a World Cup match. That changed when the Pakistani team made an une...

Growing up in Afghanistan, Friba Rezayee didn’t always do as she was told. She didn’t enjoy the games the girls were supposed to play. So she played outside with the boys, even though it wasn’t allowed. As a teenager, Friba was introduced to the sport of judo, and she immediately knew that this would be how she would fight for her freedom. Friba qualified for the Olympics in 2004 and became the first woman to compete for Afghanista...