Coaching college basketball in Qatar to young, primarily Arab women with little to no experience may sound like mission impossible, but former Georgetown University in Qatar staffer Clare Malone did it, and lives to tell about the experience.

Malone recently shared with Slate how she whipped her out-of-shape charges into confident competitors. 

Here are some excerpts:

What struck me about my first open practice in Doha was the sheer amount of hair. During school hours, when they were surrounded by men, many of the girls, practicing Muslims, wore hijabs, abayas, and stylish combinations of turtlenecks and flowing fabrics. Here, they’d literally let their hair down…

For many women in the region, exercise—let alone athletic competition—just isn’t a part of everyday life. Most of these waifish girls had the cardiovascular capabilities of hard-living 65-year-old teamsters. Whipping them into shape was going to be more difficult than I’d imagined…

It was an uphill slog throughout the fall and early winter. They would tell me that they couldn’t run because they had their periods, and that they couldn’t make practice because of an impending paper… There were also the family-imposed curfews to contend with, which prevented certain girls from making late practices, or weekend obligations with aunts and uncles that they just couldn’t get out of…

Read the whole amusing but inspiring story here.