In Kanata on Monday, nearly 70 children, some of them newcomers to Canada, were brought together to take part in a sport that can be understood no matter where you call home or what language you speak.
They were playing in the Our New Canucks soccer festival at the OZ Dome, organized by Kevin Nelson, the director of the Kevin Nelson Soccer Academy.
Soccer can be one of the cheapest sports to play in the world, Nelson explained. However in Ottawa, a family will often pay about $300 for one child to play on a recreational soccer team, he said.
“Settling in a new country, the families can feel displaced,” Nelson said on the sidelines of the indoor arena. “Today is for kids who can’t afford to play sports. It’s a good opportunity to do something about it.”
The goal of the festival, according to Nelson, is to welcome the diverse pockets of refugees, not just Syrians, to Ottawa. Sixty-six young soccer players were playing in Monday’s tournament, 25 of whom were sponsored children from low-income households and refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Iraq.
“At the end of the day, kids just want to play soccer, and it’s one of the only sports where kids from all over the world can be in an arena, have a ball and a net, and know how to play,” Nelson said.
One participant was eight-year-old Obai Altalli, a Syrian refugee who came to Canada six weeks ago. Though Obai doesn’t speak any English, it was hard to miss his ear-to-ear smile while he was running around, dribbling and kicking the ball.
“When I gave him the care package Sports Ottawa put together, he waved at me. You could tell he was trying to say thank you,” Nelson said.
As a refugee himself — from Trinidad and Tobago — Nelson said he felt a personal connection to this soccer tournament. “It comes back to my life where my family didn’t have much … it’s about the right people taking the initiative to make their life better and easier and give them a hand.”
Nelson said he hopes that this tournament catches on and becomes the first of many.
“The goal is to do it every year and get the sponsors involved,” Nelson said. “These Syrians, we don’t want to label them Syrians, or Mexicans — they are Canadians, we are Canucks. We live in Canada and we’re Canadians.”