As delicious as a meal may be, it probably isn’t going to be a life-changer unless you’ve dined like Guevara Al-Sheikh.
It was the summer of 2023 and the Orland Park resident had just turned 19 and was visiting her father’s homeland of Palestine and her mother’s in Lebanon when it happened. She bumped into some players from the Palestinian National Soccer Team while in a restaurant in Palestine.
Around breakfast time the next morning she was training with the team.
“This is still a pretty big shock,” she said. “One of my family members knew one of the coaches and introduced me. The next day I had a little tryout in the morning and then they invited me to go to the national team’s practice. They said I was catching on quickly and would fit onto the team perfectly. They asked if I could play on that Friday but I had a flight back to Chicago, but we kept in touch.”
Al-Sheikh returned home and played her second and final season at Moraine Valley Community College last fall. She split time as a midfielder and goalkeeper at the school in Palos Hills while helping the Cyclones go 7-4-2. Meanwhile, she didn’t lose contact with the Palestinian National Soccer Team some 6,000 miles away.
She also remained aware of world happenings, specifically the armed conflict that began last October between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups. It ultimately pushed the West Asian Women’s Football Championship from November to February. It was also relocated from Qatar to Saudi Arabia.
“I stayed in touch, and then we were supposed to go to Qatar last October, but that got (postponed) and had to be rescheduled,” she said. “That kind of bummed me out. So much was happening that I kind of didn’t know how to think. I felt like I was in a movie. (I wondered) does it usually move this fast?”
Her so-called-life movie’s next scenes took place in Jordan, an Arab country known for its ancient history and culture. It was there where she rejoined her teammates on the Palestinian National team to prepare for the Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s West Asian Women’s Football Championship.
“It was very hard for some people to travel so we had to meet in Jordan and then fly together to Saudi Arabia,” she said. “We have people from all over the world on the team. There’s two from Germany, one from Sweden, three from the USA, one from Canada, one from Jordan and others from different parts of Palestine.”
Flying from Jordan to Saudi Arabia was truly a surreal experience.
“When we landed, all the people there welcomed us. They gave us flower necklaces with real flowers and took pictures,” she said. “It was pretty amazing. We had a real coach bus with our flag and name on it. I was pretty excited to be there representing our country.”
Unfortunately, a pair of untimely injuries kept her out of game action — first, a concussion, then a hand injury.
“Before the first game I got hurt and had to go to the hospital,” she said. “They had to open up my finger. I don’t know how it happened, but it kept getting swollen under my skin. I ended up getting moved to the reserve team. I was bummed I couldn’t play, but didn’t mind since I was still representing my country. Just being there with the flag on my chest and representing Palestine meant a lot, not just to me, but for people all over.”
Relegated to cheering on her teammates due to her latest injury, Al-Sheikh rooted them on in a 3-0 win against Iraq. The team would then blank Syria 1-0 before coming up short against Nepal and Jordan to finish in third place.
“There were a lot of people against Palestine, which was low-key kind of sad,” she said. “It had more to do with the government, but countries like Iraq and Guam didn’t want to shake hands. In America people shake hands no matter what. It just took an emotional toll on us, especially me. I wasn’t used to that.”
Meanwhile, war violence surged in her father’s homeland.
“Before reaching the game, we’d look at videos of what was happening and this is what we were fighting for and working for,” she said. “We found out the girls in Israeli territories couldn’t take any pictures with us. I had two teammates that lost their college opportunities and lost jobs. We were getting press reports of some teammates being arrested when they landed in Palestine.”
When she herself returned home, she found herself crying for her teammates yet at the same time overcome with gratitude for the blessings she has in America.
“I came home and when I saw my mom I broke down in tears and I could not go a week straight without crying,” she said. “I was used to seeing videos (of the war) but now witnessing all this and meeting all of these people, and not being able to do anything about it. And all they were doing was playing soccer and representing their country for us.”
She’s truly blessed.
“Coming back to America, coming home safe with no checkpoint, no death threats and no one coming to take me and arrest me for representing my country, made me so grateful,” she said. “I never realized how grateful I am to live here and the opportunities I have.”
One such opportunity is studying nursing at the University of St. Francis which is what Al-Sheikh is doing this fall.
On the field, she’s training privately and plans to play in college next year as well as pursue a semi-pro opportunity. Most recently she’s started a girls soccer team with the Orland Park-based Kora Football Club.
Chris Walker is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.