Survivor: Africa winner Ethan Zohn speaks to local youth soccer players at Salem car dealershipPosted Jul18, 2008 at 02:06 PM Amidst the quiet new cars in Dave Sarmadi's showroom, soccer players and their parents buzzed with excitement as Ethan Zohn, winner of Survivor: Africa, spoke. The reality television star is a former professional soccer player, having played for Vassar College, the United Soccer Leagues, and in Zimbabwe for the Highlanders Football Club. Zohn was spending time in Wamba, a village in Zimbabwe, during filming for Survivor, when he started playing hacky sack with some of the local kids. "Later I found out that they were all sick," with HIV/AIDS, and that emboldened him to donate his prize money to the cause. Grassroots Soccer has been operating since 2002 to provide African youth "with the knowledge, life skills, and support to live HIV-free," according to the website. The programs use the universal language of soccer to help African children learn the truths about HIV and AIDS.  Zohn will speak later tonight at opening ceremonies for the Coventry Commonwealth Games of Virginia, at the Roanoke Civic Center. Sarmadi's ties to soccer are strong, too. He played for Taj, a professional team in Iran, before he moved to the United States. His two sons each play competitively, too, with 14-year-old Omid on the Roanoke Stars and with sophomore Kayvon on the Roanoke College squad. He hopes the event will "try to plant that seed for them to play soccer in the valley, or to play some other sport -- to stay away from drugs and to stay away from games on the computer." Also, he hopes that having celebrity presence such as Zohn at his breakfast and at the games "would spark the interest in the kids' minds to stick with it and play." Photos: upper, Ethan Zohn speaks to local soccer players, with Dave Sarmadi at his side. lower, Kim Elmore poses for a camera phone pic by friend, Kara Kayrouz. |
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Welcome to The Notebook, the community gathering place for news and tidbits from So Salem, by community journalist Miranda Adkins (that's Miranda on the left). You'll be able to find the most up-to-date news, events and stories in Salem, Glenvar and western Roanoke County here at this blog. And please join in! You can share your comments, stories, links and ideas here, too. This is your community conversation. .....Advertisement.....
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