Marine works to get Afghan polo team an Olympic splash

By Jaedda Armstrong

NORFOLK

Marine reservist Jeremy Piasecki went to Afghanistan to teach Afghan officers how to handle personnel tasks. He came back with a very different mission: coach of the newly created Afghanistan Olympic water polo team.

In January 2008, Piasecki, who coaches water polo at home in California, headed to Camp Pol-e-Charki, about 15 miles east of Kabul, to assist the Afghan army's 201st Commando Battalion.

After a few weeks on base, he spotted a swimming pool on the other side of a steep hill, surrounded by bombed-out buildings. Farther out, beautiful purple mountains towered above the pool deck, he said. Inside the pool: mud, broken glass, scraps of metal and something that looked like a dead animal.

Soldiers rarely swam in the pool - instead, it was used for bathing, washing clothes and dishes, even for drinking.

One day, the camp held its annual swimming competition. The pool was cleaned and opened for swimming for the first time in almost a year.

Hundreds of soldiers watched, and many participated in races. Most had experienced swimming only in lakes and rivers, if at all. Afghanistan has little history of competitive water sports - it is estimated that the country has fewer than 20 pools, and only one in five Afghans can swim.

The swimmers were hardly experts, but Piasecki was touched. "It was so exciting just to see their desire to compete and do something other than trying to find out how they're going to support their families," he said.

The base sports officer approached Piasecki at the competition, having heard he coached water sports. The officer wanted to start a team and asked Piasecki to coach it.

Tryouts began in August at the base pool. About 500 people came to watch and about 70 men participated. Piasecki chose 26.

They range in age from 18 to 30. About half are Afghan soldiers - the others include a store clerk, a goat herder and a linguist at the British Embassy. Most have no more than a third-grade education.

Piasecki gained official sanctioning for the national team from the Afghanistan Olympic Committee, which named him head coach.

Now back in the States, Piasecki said he wants to bring the team to America where plenty of pools and opportunities for competition await them.

He and his wife, Leilani, decided to give up their full-time jobs to pursue fund raising for the team. Their goal: $1 million to bring the team to Southern California for a year. He hopes the team will be ready for the 2016 Olympics.

The Piaseckis started a non profit organization called The Dream of Afghanistan Athletics, drafted a plan and created a Web site, www.afghanistanwaterpolo.com, to spread the word.

So far, raising money has been tough, but some companies are offering in-kind services such as lodging, food, clothing, and facilities.

Now he has to get them here.

Piasecki has written to President Barack Obama, congressmen, and even Oprah Winfrey. While in Norfolk this month on reserve duty with the Marines, he spoke with a representative for Sen. Jim Webb.

He hopes to work out a deal with an airline or arrange for a military airlift.

He hasn't heard much other than that he's on waiting lists to get calls back.

"I know some people might say 'It's just a sports team,' " he said. "But that's just the unifying factor.

"I gave my promise to them that I would do it. If I didn't do it, I'd just be like every other Westerner or American with great intentions, but they end up leaving Afghanistan and not following through."

Ultimately, he hopes his players will return home to start sports and educational programs and share what they've learned abroad.

"That's the ultimate goal - water polo is just the vehicle," he said.

Jaedda Armstrong, (757) 222-5846, jaedda.armstrong@pilotonline.com