Soccer camp brings refugee and immigrant youths together

At the Lincoln International Football Club, there are three ground rules: Respect each other, respect each other and respect each other.

The July 23 soccer match and celebration marked the end of a free four-month camp for immigrant and refugee youth and nearly 40 non-immigrant kids.

It wasn’t the first year that Hasan Khalil, the founder of Lincoln International, held the free soccer camp. But it was the first year that they partnered with Catholic Social Services to make a formal competition out of the end-of-camp celebration.

The blazing sun and a heat advisory didn’t seem to tamp down on turnout. Baz Pashaie, 12, came to Lincoln from Afghanistan about four years ago. He said he’s grateful for the opportunity to go to school – and to play soccer.

“I’m feeling great today,” he said. “I mean, I love this club. I love to be here and playing soccer.”

The idea for a youth world cup came from Katie Patrick, the executive director of Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska – who, admittedly, didn’t know anything about soccer. But she had previously worked with Khalil’s organization and saw an opportunity to put on a competition that could double as an opportunity for local organizations to connect with parents and families.

“I love the idea right away,” Khalil said. “And I love to work with people like Katie. So, you know, I didn’t think twice about it.”

Founded in 2021, Khalil created Lincoln International as a way to help kids with experiences like his own. Khalil was born in Iraq as the Iraq-Iran war raged on before his family fled to a refugee camp in Syria and came to the U.S. when he was 15 years old. Later, he graduated college with a degree in criminal justice, and worked as a translator for hospitals, courts and schools.

Upon arriving in Lincoln, Khalil connected with Luis Genis, who came to the U.S. from Mexico about 15 years ago. Genis, who once played soccer professionally, now serves as the organization’s sport director.

Both Khalil and Genis say they draw from their own experiences – Khalil’s as a refugee who came to America as a teenager, and Genis’ as a child who grew up without his parents – to establish relationships with the kids.

But they both said the most rewarding part is watching the kids and their families build relationships with each other.

“You will see some kids that, in their countries, they are fighting,” Genis said. “But here with us, they are together, friends.”

“One of the most beautiful things that we’ve been seeing is the families connecting,” Khalil added. “(They) do not know each other. They do not know each other’s culture. But now they’re sitting together, talking to each other, learning about each other.”

That mission was on full display at the youth world cup event. Coaches yelled to the players in English, Spanish and Arabic. Khalil said the participants spoke 17 different languages.

According to a 2022 report from the City of Lincoln, about 25,600 immigrants and 7,300 refugees call the city home. Most of the city’s refugee population hails from Vietnam, Iraq and Sudan. In 2019, about 15% of all students in the county’s K-12 schools were the children of immigrants.

Though Patrick said there’s an air of fear in immigrant communities due to recent political developments, she’s hopeful that programs like Lincoln International can help build a stronger and more welcoming community in Lincoln.

“This event is so important because we’re recognizing the gift that refugees and immigrants bring to our communities, and how they unite us and make us stronger,” she said. “(We’re) really focusing on those opportunities that allow us as neighbors and as communities to define what refugee resettlement and immigration can look like.”