APL

Aimal Gerowal was born in Kabul and has spent most of his life in Afghanistan. Like many Afghans, his family moved to Pakistan during the Taliban era and returned after the United States and NATO forces launched Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001. "My family and I had a good life in Islamabad and Peshawar, but we couldn't wait to return to Afghanistan. There really is no place like home."
Gerowal fell in love with football during the early formative years of his life, much of which he spent following his father, Ustad Mohammad Saber Gerowal, around football pitches. As a boy, Aimal marveled at stories of his father's achievements as a player and coach. During his twenties Gerowal Senior was an army officer and football player and later went on to coach the Afghanistan Under 16 Boys team to a regional championship in Iran. Currently he coaches football at the Ministry of Defense's National Army sports facility in Kabul as the head trainer and coach of the Afghan National Army team. Aimal is one of the 150 young footballers receiving tutelage there from his father.
Throughout his life Aimal has learned many important life lessons from his father, most importantly, the significance of repetition. He believes in the motto, "practice makes perfect," and has been working at the craft of goalkeeping since he was a boy. As he's matured, his training has become more  and more rigorous, which led him to become the Captain of Oqaban Hindukosh, who finished in second place during the 2014 RAPL main event. "If you practice sports you will always be active in everything you do, and being active leads to success. I believe in sports because it strengthens the mind and body. If you want to be a great footballer you should practice, practice, practice."
Aimal's Oqaban Hindukosh surprised the football world as they finished the regular season undefeated, handing Shaheen Asmayee their only loss of the year along the way. Unlike their championship game counterparts, who have seven National team players, Oqaban Hindukosh did not have a single player on their roster from the Afghanistan National team. Despite this disadvantage, Oqaban finished the season with one win and a loss against the champs, barely losing the championship 3-2 in extra time. "Our team is the polar opposite of Shaheen Asmayee. Theirs is built on the strength of great individual player performances, whereas ours is built on the strength of playing as a team. Each person must take care of their responsibilities and think of the team first, for us to be successful." 
As team captain, Aimal was third in command behind Oqaban Hindukosh's Afghan coach Ustad Mooen and the teams visiting coach from Tajikistan Ustad Ahledeen. He gives all of the credit for the team's success in 2014 to these two men. "My coaches mean everything to me, and they are the reason for Oqaban Hindukosh's appearance in the 2014 RAPL championship. Ustad Ahledeen and Ustad Mooen taught us how to play as a team. They kept us active during training sessions and showed us effective offensive and defensive systems. They taught us how to cope with the psychology of the game-not getting to high when we won or to low when we lost. With their help and God willing, we will return to the championship in 2015 and become Roshan Afghan Premier League champions."