Athletics around the world
Fatema Mohammadi, an ELI student from Afghanistan, was particularly inspired by the event. Before attending, she knew very little about American football and had confused it with soccer. The most famous sport in Afghanistan, however, is cricket.
“Every year we have a cricket competition between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Our people are very good at it,” Mohammadi said.
Like American athletes, Afghani students hoping to make a high-level team start practicing when they are young.
“There are people who have grown up with cricket since they were children. They watch the games like most people watch football or soccer matches,” she said.
The students were very surprised at the level of commitment expected of the players and the number of hours they dedicate to the sport. Saunders is used to answering questions from Americans about the day-to-day life of a college athlete, but he didn’t expect the international students to be so astonished.