Refugees Play for the World Cup

Shao Po Thaw received the soccer ball from one of his teammates, reared back, and kicked it far down the field in one of the World Refugee Cup games.

Not long after, another member of the Karen United Football Club, Po Thaw’s team, caught up with the ball and took a shot on goal. The goalie batted the ball away.

But another player got the rebound and sent the ball flying into the net. Po Thaw and his teammates raised their arms and cheered loudly.

That was the first goal in one of the opening matches on Saturday, June 18, in the soccer tournament organized by Bethany Christian Services to raise awareness about the refugee community in Grand Rapids, Mich., and to celebrate World Refugee Day weekend.

Held at the Gainey Athletic Complex connected to Calvin College, the tournament brought together 12 teams and more than 245 players from all over West Michigan to compete against one another.

Representing at least 15 nationalities, the teams were composed of new Americans, refugees, immigrants, and those who have grown up in the area. These included players from the Middle East, Asia, Indonesia, Central America, and parts of Africa.

“Often we focus on the stories of need and of what brings refugees here,” said Kristine Van Noord, program manager for Bethany’s Adult and Family Programs.

The CRC’s Office of Social Justice works through Bethany to resettle refugees and immigrants in the U.S.

“But we see the tournament as one way to showcase the skills of refugees and immigrants and to highlight what they offer our community,” said Van Noord.

This was the third year that Bethany held the soccer tournament in connection with World Refugee Day, which the United Nations designates every June 20 to draw attention to the plight of the millions of people who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, famine, and other disastrous situations.

“This is a wonderful event,” said Janet Borgdorff, a member of Shawnee Park CRC. “People come together not just to play soccer but to test one another’s food and to mingle.”

Shawnee Park had one of three ethnic food booths at the tournament. The church’s booth also displayed items sewn by Karen refugees who attend Shawnee Park.

Shao Po Thaw, a graduate of East Kentwood High School in West Michigan, grew up in Myanmar. In an interview before the game, he explained that war forced his family—members of the Karen ethnic group—to move to a refugee camp in Thailand in December 2001.

“We lived there for many years without freedom because rules are strict, but we were blessed and freed from living in the camp,” he said, when Shawnee Park sponsored the family to come to the U.S. in July 2010.

Making the adjustment to a new language, culture, and life was not easy. But, said Po Thaw, he had soccer to help him with the transition.

“I love playing soccer and watching the games,” he said. “It is the only sport I'm good at. Soccer always changes my bad mood to a good mood because I worry about nothing when I play soccer. I enjoy it with happiness.”

In that first game, the Karen United Football Club played the Transitional Living Center, or TLC, a living facility for refugees located in Grand Rapids. Players from TLC come from the Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Thailand, and elsewhere.

Watching his TLC team score its first goal, 17-year-old Say raised his arms and cheered from the bench, where he was taking a breather. Like Po Thaw, he too likes playing soccer.

“I play for fun,” said Say, a junior at Middleville High School in West Michigan. He came to this country from Thailand. “Other players are more experienced. But I like to play and be with my friends.”

As it turned out, TLC lost 4-2 to the Karen United Football Club in the first match.

Each of the teams went on to play other teams, and both were eventually eliminated as the sun beat down and morning turned to afternoon at the soccer complex.

Late in the day, the only two teams remaining were Trillium and the Thundercats.

People packed the bleachers to watch the teams in a see-saw battle, which went into the last couple minutes tied 2-2. But then the Thundercats, a team of Burmese, Bhutanese, Nepali, and Vietnamese refugees and other immigrants now based in Grand Rapids, scored the winning goal and took home the Refugee World Cup.

“It was a great game. The whole day was great. It was beautiful. That soccer field was probably the most ethnically and culturally diverse place in all of the area” on Saturday, said Van Noord.