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Thursday, May 1, 2008
From Kuwait to the States
Western Arkansas, AR
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Photo(s) By: Kyle Danztler/MyActionPortraits.com
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Coach Samir Haj brought his soccer knowledge from the Middle East to North Texas in the early 1970s before coming to Arkansas and building a dynasty at Fayetteville High, where the Lady Bulldogs have won four state titles and played in the state championship game seven times in the past decade.
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“I was able to get through classes and learn the language and culture as I went along because there was a support system there that I probably would not have had if I wasn’t playing soccer.” — Fayetteville soccer coach Samir Haj
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HSSTM: Where were you born?
Fayetteville girls soccer coach Samir Haj: I was born in Kuwait.
HSSTM: I understand you played soccer for the Kuwait National Team, what was that like?
Haj: It was definitely wonderful. You play for a great team and you get to travel all over to play other great teams in front of 100,000 people. It was definitely an exciting time in my life and a wonderful experience.
HSSTM: Is there a lot of pride that comes with playing for your country?
Haj: It’s an enormous source of pride and joy because you are trying to represent your native country the best way possible.
HSSTM: Do you get back to Kuwait very often?
Haj: I actually haven’t been back since the war back in ‘91. We got all of our people out and our family out in the late 80s, so there’s really been no reason to go back. Basically, Fayetteville is now my home.
HSSTM: How did it come about for you yourself to leave Kuwait?
Haj: I came here to go to school here in the states. I went to college at North Texas, the Mean Green. And I played soccer for the University of North Texas.
HSSTM: What was the difference between collegiate soccer here and soccer at the International level?
Haj: The level of competition is different. When you play at that level and then play in college, it’s so much different. It’s like playing neighborhood soccer, really. The speed of play is a lot different. But it was a wonderful experience because it gave me a source of connection that I really didn’t have when I came here.
HSSTM: Did you speak much English when you came?
Haj: I spoke very little. Just enough to get by, but really not very well. That’s where the source of connection came in. I was able to get through classes and learn the language and culture as I went along because there was a support system there that I probably would not have had if I wasn’t playing soccer.
HSSTM: So after college, how did you end up in Arkansas, where you’ve been instrumental in the growth of soccer?
Haj: When I was in college, I was always involved with youth programs at North Texas and I was coaching some youth teams. So when I came to Arkansas at the end of 1977 or early ’78, there was no soccer here. So I started working on soccer from town to town like Fayetteville and then up to Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville and over to Harrison. Me and a gentleman named Joe Clark started the Arkansas State Soccer Association and it just grew from around 100 kids when we started to over 25,000 kids now playing soccer in the state of Arkansas.
HSSTM: What were some of the biggest hurdles to getting soccer into the mainstream in those early years?
Haj: It was all about education and exposure because I think once people try the sport, they love it. There wasn’t enough people who knew enough about it, so it was about spreading out that exposure. Once your children play, you get hooked. More people are playing and the reason for that great participation is exposure to the game. Soccer has always been popular with the younger kids, 7-, 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds, but when the AAA added soccer in 1998 as a sport, the number of schools participating went from about 15 or 20 schools playing in one classification to 60 schools participating in four different classifications and that’s a huge increase.
HSSTM: What do you think has to happen over the next eight to 10 years to keep soccer growing at that rate at the high school level?
Haj: I think more and more schools are realizing that soccer is popular among their students and they are realizing that it’s fairly inexpensive to operate. And more of their students are demanding it and so every season, more schools are getting involved and it’s making it very exciting.
HSSTM: In general, what’s your coaching philosophy on soccer?
Haj: The main thing for me is player development. If you play the game the right way, the winning will come. We try to get the kids to play soccer the right way and have a positive soccer experience. If they have a positive experience, you keep players longer and you get more out of them because they’re having more fun playing the game. So that’s something I try to instill in the kids every year.
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