WINNIPEG — Soccer: it’s a sport being used as a tool to bring together the Syrian refugee community.
Organizers of the first ever Summer Soccer Series at the University of Winnipeg’s Axworthy Health and Recplex said the day of soccer was about so much more than just the sport. It was about building friendships and a foundation in their new home.
“It’s really hard when you come to Canada, you come to Winnipeg, you don’t have any friends. Through soccer you make many many good friends and they will last a lifetime,” said Omar Rahimi, a former refugee, and the Co-Founder of the soccer camp.
The Summer Soccer Series is a chance for the kids to take a sport they already love and learn the skills that it takes to perfect it.
Greg Nordman is the co-ordinator at the camp and one of the coaches. He said soccer is a language in itself for the Syrian kids. It’s a universal sport that they all know, and it gives them a sense of confidence and familiarity when playing it in their new unfamiliar territory in Winnipeg.
The kids said the soccer camp was fun and gave them a chance to come out and play with their friends and learn the rules behind the sport they already love.
East African Immigrants and refugees also joined in with the Syrians to learn how the camp was put together and see if they could introduce their two groups to one another in order to build a community within a community all through the sport of soccer.
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