The Nash Cup – Where Ability Breaks all Boundaries & Hard Work, Not Gender, Makes Heroes
The Nash Cup is excited to announce that, for the first time, our tournament will be featuring a draw from the Women’s Squash Association. This feature has attracted many interesting hopefuls, but there is one young lady in particular whose story we would like to share. Maria Toor Pakay is a distinguished Nash Cup attendee, not only because of her superior squash abilities, but also due to her heroic determination to overcome adversity.
Maria was born in Waziristan, Pakistan a region that borders Afghanistan and has been deemed by the American government as, “the most dangerous place on earth.” One of the many elements of this region that makes it so precarious is the cultural oppression of women. In Maria’s home town, women are denied basic human rights. They cannot receive education or health care. They cannot stand out or speak up. Largely, women are forbidden from even going outside. Most devastatingly to Maria, women in her community cannot play, sports or any other kind of recreational activity. However, despite the imminent threat from regional terrorists, Maria could not deny her love of athletics.
At the age of four, Maria burnt all of her “girly” clothes and forswore her womanhood in order to live more freely. Her father gave her the new name Changez Khan to provide her with the basic freedoms that only come with being a boy when living in Pakistan. Taking on a masculine alter ego allowed Maria to play outside and to get a taste for weight lifting and sports. After excelling at weight lifting, Maria redirected her attention to her first love – squash. She played furiously in secret and decreed that, one day, she would become a world champion. In order to reach this seemingly impossible goal, Maria needed to join an official squash academy. This required the submission of a birth certificate; therefore, Maria had to throw off her boyish cloak and expose herself as a woman interested in pursuing an athletic career.
Once Maria’s community recognized her as a rebel against extremist Islamic culture, her and her family’s lives became endangered. However, this could not deter Maria. Instead, she locked herself in the squash court and played constantly. Each night after practicing, Maria would be broken and bleeding, but she did not care. She could not give up if she wanted to fulfill her self-proclaimed destiny of being a world champion. With much hard work Maria became the best squash player in Pakistan and won third at the World Junior Championships. Unfortunately, the Taliban were determined to stifle her success. Increasingly violent threats against Maria and her family became so frequent that she knew she needed to leave the country.
With the support of her father, Maria began to pursue North American colleges. For three years her pleas to play went unanswered. However, one day, Maria received an email from none other than the first North American squash player to ever reach World No. 1 – Jonathan Power. Since then, Jonathan has trained Maria at the National Squash Academy in Toronto. Together Maria and Jonathan are achieving her goal of becoming a world champion one swing at a time. Maria is, not only a champion squash player, but also she is a heroic champion for women’s rights. We can bet that even her toughest opponents on the court will support her winning this gendered battle against oppression.
The Nash Cup would like to leave all of its players with one lesson from Maria’s story. Throughout Maria’s struggles, her father compared her to an eagle. He constantly reminds her that an eagle knows no limits; it can fly atop the highest mountain and across the raging seas. However, humans limit the heights that the eagle can reach because they only know what they can see. Do not let anyone tell you which limits you cannot or will not surpass. If you are determined, and work passionately toward your goals, you can exceed every expectation. Best of luck to our brave competitors this September at the Nash Cup. We look forward to learning your stories and witnessing your triumphs this year.
For More information see
Maria’s Website — http://mariatoorpakai.org
Ted Talk — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe9DfC8mt14
HBO Sports – Feb 2013–http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gZixO5Zpyc