Soccer – “Next to Family It’s Everything”
If you are spending any time at all with immigrant kids, you’re going to end up at a soccer game. They play organized matches in parks, and pickup games in the spaces between buildings, in parking lots and just about anywhere else. A teen-aged boy who grew up in a refugee camp in Africa said the big difference playing here is that they play with shoes. Still, you will often see kids playing in bare feet, even on a hot asphalt parking lot.
We did some filming for the Homeland documentary series at one of the regular matches you will find going on in Tower Grove Park. The kids from the African nation of Eritrea were playing the kids from Nepal. Sam DiLorenzo, who teaches English to many of the players, came to watch the game and talks about how important soccer is in their lives. Although the players come from all over the world, the game unites them, and troubled pasts and uncertain futures are left on the sidelines.
Category: Refugees
