By, Jacob Tucker
Mika Sayfurahman still drives past the field in Union City where she first fell in love with soccer. The memory has never left her; the grass, her father beside her, and her older brothers and sisters nearby. “It felt like home,” she said. Years later, Sayfurahman has traveled farther through soccer than that little girl on the Union City field could have imagined: from representing Afghanistan internationally as a 13-year-old, to becoming one of the greatest players in Cal State East Bay history, to leading Stockton Cargo SC to the club’s best season-to-date – becoming the first player in franchise history to win the USL W NorCal Division Player of the Year award.
But her story does not unfold in a straight line. It stretches across continents, political collapse, family sacrifice, devastating injury, and the quiet persistence required of players who spend years proving themselves before anyone notices. After everything, she proudly dons the title of ‘underdog’. Born in Moscow, Russia, to Afghan parents Mohammad Sayfurahman and Shakera Rahman after they fled Afghanistan, Mika moved to Fremont when she was just one year old. She grew up in a large family with brothers Maysam and Sohayl and sisters Mila and Selsela, the youngest child in a deeply soccer-oriented household. The game entered her life almost immediately. She was already playing with her family by the age of four.
Today, her life is consumed by soccer in nearly every form. Beyond training and matches, she coaches youth teams and conducts private training sessions. Free time is rare. When she gets it, she gravitates toward small comforts: trying new coffee shops, shopping, spending time with family and friends. Soccer, though, has always remained at the center.
At Livermore High School, where she graduated in 2021, Sayfurahman quickly established herself as one of the area’s top talents. She finished her freshman season with 12 goals and 18 assists, later earning All-East Bay Athletic League honors and helping lead Livermore to two North Coast Section playoff finals during four varsity seasons. At the same time, she spent four years playing club soccer for San Ramon FC. It was there – during a Bay Area tournament organized by Afghan communities in the United States – that her life changed. An Afghanistan Women’s National Team scout happened to be watching.
By 2016, at just 13 years old, Sayfurahman was representing Afghanistan internationally. She played in friendlies in India against Jordan, then ranked 50th in the world, helping Afghanistan earn emphatic 5-0 and 6-0 victories. Two years later, she competed again in the South Asian Football Federation Championship, this time in Jordan.
For a young Afghan American girl, wearing the national team jersey carried a significance beyond sport. “Playing for the national team has been such an honor,” she said. “Getting to wear that jersey means the world to me. When I was little, there’s a video of me saying I wanted to play for the national team. It was just a dream that came true, especially at such a young age.” FIFA later profiled her as a “new hope” for Afghan women’s soccer.
But Afghan women’s soccer itself was entering turmoil. The Afghanistan women’s national team, originally formed in 2007, became engulfed in scandal after allegations surfaced that administrators within the Afghanistan Football Federation had sexually assaulted players during international trips. “We had no idea,” Sayfurahman said. “Then when we found out, none of us wanted to play for the national team.” She and other teammates bravely sacrificed possible opportunities in their sport for solidarity through national sisterhood to fight the injustice.
The aftermath fractured the program for years. FIFA intervened and competition stalled. Then, in 2021, the Taliban captured Kabul. Women’s athletics became effectively illegal under Taliban rule. Players went into hiding, with many fleeing the country entirely. Several of Sayfurahman’s teammates relocated to Australia as part of emergency evacuations with the national team’s future now appearing uncertain. “Finally, it’s been better now,” she said. “We just had meetings with FIFA, and they finally approved the national team again.” That team is now set to resume competition this September.
Even as geopolitical collapse unfolded around the program, Sayfurahman was simultaneously confronting another crisis of her own. A diagnosis of Compartment Syndrome – a severe condition involving dangerous pressure buildup within muscles – threatened to end her career before it had truly begun. “It was supposed to be a career-ending injury,” she said. It sparked a genetic fear for the family, as her older brother had the same diagnosis that ended his career. “My college coaches were already counting me out,” she said. “I honestly didn’t think I was ever going to be able to play again.” Then came the recovery. “I came back, and everything was gone – all of the pain.” The experience reshaped her understanding of herself. When asked if her younger self saw her life today, what would surprise her the most, she responded, “Just how far I’ve come with everything I had to go through. Like a career-ending injury. I think she would be proud.”
After beginning her collegiate career at UC Davis, where she redshirted while preserving eligibility, Sayfurahman transferred to Cal State East Bay. What followed became one of the most decorated careers in Pioneer women’s soccer history. As a technically classified freshman in 2022, she immediately started all 17 matches for East Bay, logging 1,246 minutes while earning CCAA All-Academic honors. She scored twice, including an equalizer against Stanislaus State, and recorded an assist in her collegiate debut against Northwest Nazarene. Then came the breakout – in 2023, Sayfurahman captured CCAA Midfielder of the Year honors while emerging as one of Division II’s premier midfielders. She led the conference in regular-season goals with eight, added three assists, and scored in five of East Bay’s final six matches. Her game-winning goal against Cal Poly Humboldt became one of the defining moments of the season. The accolades piled up rapidly: United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II All-West Region First Team, D2 CCA All-West Region First Team, All-CCAA First Team, Academic All-District Team, CCAA All-Academic Team, D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award, and the CCAA Fall Academic Honor Roll.
Her 2024 junior campaign brought more dominance. She led the Pioneers in goals, assists, points, and shots while helping secure a conference tournament berth. One of her signature moments came September 28 against Cal State San Marcos, when she scored twice, including a dramatic equalizer in the final two minutes. By 2025, she had cemented herself among the greatest players in program history. A second CCAA Midfielder of the Year award followed. She finished second in the conference in points per game, scored seven more goals, added four assists, and recorded a hat trick against San Francisco State. She scored in East Bay’s final three matches and delivered another game-winner in the regular-season finale to clinch a conference tournament berth. When her collegiate career ended, Sayfurahman ranked sixth in program history in goals and fifth in career points. Still, confidence had not always come naturally. “I feel like it was hard for me to see it myself,” she said when asked when she realized soccer could become a career. “But my coaches really pushed me and made me feel like I could do it. My teammates and my family. I feel like my junior year of college was when I knew it.”
If there is one place where that belief has fully flourished, it may be Stockton. Sayfurahman has been with Stockton Cargo SC since the club’s founding under owner Lee Neves, making the three-hour roundtrip drive from Livermore year after year to compete in the USL W League. This summer became the culmination of everything the club had been building toward. The Cargo finished the regular season undefeated at 10-0-2, captured the NorCal Division title, and reached the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Sayfurahman started every regular season match and both playoff games, leading the team in goals, assists, and minutes played. After Stockton defeated Santa Clarita Blue Heat FC in the opening round, the Cargo’s only loss of the season came against eventual national champion Utah United.
For her role in the breakthrough campaign, Sayfurahman was named NorCal Division Player of the Year and earned All-USL W First Team honors – both firsts in club history. “I love it,” she said of Stockton. “It’s like a family. I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else for summer.” She believes the club’s identity is rooted in something larger than winning. “We have all underdogs,” she said. “These other teams have these big players from big schools. But our team… we have a bunch of girls who maybe didn’t get the chance to show themselves.” That identity resonates deeply with her. “I’m an underdog,” she said. “So, it’s a bunch of us together.”
The Cargo she first joined barely resembles the one that now competes among the USL W’s elite. “I wasn’t able to play because I wasn’t cleared,” she said. “Then my second year, I had to come in and fight for my spot. I didn’t think I was going to play at all.” The transformation of the club accelerated with the arrivals of general manager Hannah Diaz and head coach Marek Albert, whose professional backgrounds in Japan, France, the United States, and Europe helped reshape the team’s culture. Coach Albert spoke highly of Sayfurahman’s skill from day one. He recanted one of the first conversations the two shared was approaching Mika’s teary-eyed demeanor after a practice. Inquiring why she was upset; her response was solely that she wanted to play. Marek reminded her of the amount of skill her dribbling and attacking commanded, and how the system she was coming from in Cal State East Bay thrived a bit more with that style of play. With the roster cultivated, Marek helped show Mika the value in her moving off the ball and becoming one flowing machine with the skilled athletes around her. “Love Mika,” said Albert. “I’ve always told her she’s a very good player, she just needs to get the ball of her foot a bit more.”
Toward the second half of the season, Mika had found her stride and had gradually earned playing time, leading into her dominant senior season at CSEB. Albert spoke of how even her mindset had seemingly sharpened, “Having that success that season, she came back to Cargo like ‘I really like this. I want to keep getting better’”. Opting not to play for her college coach (who coaches the Oakland Soul), Mika graduated and returned to the Cargo – evolved and ready to dominate another league. “It was really great to see Mika win all of the awards last year, and how the thought process unfolded,” said Albert. “I think Hannah and Marek have helped the Cargo so much,” Sayfurahman said. “They put everything into the club. They care so much.” Her bond with Diaz extends far beyond soccer. “I love Hannah,” she said. “She’s like an older sister to me. She’s helped me a lot – on the field, off the field. She’s amazing.” Recently, Diaz even accompanied her to France for a professional trial opportunity.
Sayfurahman can look with hindsight at her journey thus far with optimistic humility, despite her prestigious accolades. When asked if she believes she is inspiring a new generation of Afghan girls who love the game, Mika responded, “I know a lot of families aren’t as open-minded as mine were. I feel like there really isn’t a lot of female Afghan representation in soccer. I hope I inspire them to go out and do what they love.” Ask Sayfurahman what she hopes a scout notices first when watching her play, and her answer comes instantly. “My vision.” It is an appropriate answer for a player whose career requires seeing beyond immediate obstacles. Somewhere in Union City, there is still a field she passes regularly. The first field: the place where soccer first felt like home. The journey from there to this moment has crossed countries, generations, political upheaval, surgeries, and setbacks. Despite everything she has already accomplished, Mika Sayfurahman and many others believe the most important part of her story is still ahead.
