A one-night competition in Kunduz underscores how local initiatives are sustaining public life amid weakened national sports infrastructure.
Kunduz | By Sara Amiri
Main News:
A nighttime volleyball tournament in Imam Sahib district brought together ten local teams this week, marking another instance in which community-level sports initiatives have filled the void left by Afghanistan’s diminished national recreational programming.
Organised through cooperation between the Kunduz Directorate of Physical Education and Sports, the Volleyball Federation’s provincial representatives, and district authorities, the event drew players and spectators to the Eski area, where the Mojh-e-Amo team secured a 25–18 victory over Haji Abad in the final match.
The competition, held over a single evening, was described by local officials as part of a broader effort to keep youth engaged and to maintain public gatherings in a district where formal opportunities for organised recreation have become increasingly rare. The event’s modest scale and collaborative organisation reflect a pattern seen across northern Afghanistan, where local structures, rather than national institutions, have become the primary organisers of sports activity.
Since 2021, public sports programming in Afghanistan has operated under tighter administrative limits, reduced budgets, and uneven national coordination. In many provinces, district officials and community networks have taken on responsibilities once managed by higher-level ministries, creating a patchwork sports landscape sustained largely through local initiative.
Kunduz, a province marked by years of border-zone instability and shifting governance, has seen a rapid rise in community-driven tournaments, often staged at night to accommodate security concerns and limited daytime availability of facilities. Events like the Imam Sahib tournament demonstrate how small-scale competitions continue to serve as one of the few remaining public spaces for youth engagement and social cohesion in the region.