The Baltimore Times

"Operation Soccer Smiles gives more than soccer balls

Staff Sergeant Rykeshia Haywood (United States Air Force), from Baltimore, Maryland, currently serving in Qalat Afghanistan, recently participated in Operation Soccer Smiles by giving out donated soccer balls to youth in Qalat. Operation Soccer Smiles is an operation that was formed by a group of service men and women serving in Afghanistan with the hope that the sights and sounds of soccer games would replace gunshots and bomb blasts in that war torn country. "