Syrian teens find refuge on Calgary soccer pitch
Team's coach Abdullah Chybli says his role morphed from 'coach Abdullah' to 'uncle Abdullah'
Ayman Aswad says it is a relief to be able to tell his dad that he's going to play soccer, and his dad doesn't have to worry about whether or not he'll ever come home.
Before he came to Canada, that wasn't the case.
"If you go out, you don't know what will happen outside," the 15-year-old Iraqi said. "[It's] even not safe to play soccer."
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"I played soccer with my friends, they killed my friend because of their name," Aswad said. "We are in my country, saying 'brothers', but there are people that killed everyone."
The story is chilling, and Aswad tells it so easily, as if it is normal. Seeing him run across the soccer pitch in Calgary's northeast, you would never know of the horrors he has seen, but that is par for the course on this team.
The team, Syrian Soccer Sons, is made up exclusively of refugees that have come to Canada in the past couple of years — all but Aswad are from Syria. The team isn't a part of any formal league, they try to find exhibition games to play after practicing three times a week.
Listen as The Calgary Eyeopener heads down to the soccer pitch with the Syrian Soccer Sons
Coach Abdullah Chybli says the boys keep him on his toes.
"It kind of morphed into 'uncle Abdullah' versus 'coach Abdullah'. A lot of them have different personal issues and when I got to know them personally, their history, it melted my heart," Chybli said.
"What some of them went through and saw, it's horrible. And when I felt that, that pain that they were going through, it created a different kind of bond that I hadn't had with other kids on other teams."
"These kids truly went through hell," Chybli said.
An extended family
Connecting with these kids has given Chybli a new appreciation for the blessings in his life, and it makes him want to help these boys all the more. While each of the boys will always carry their past with them, soccer helps them to forget, at least for a little while, he said.
"You're in the zone when you're playing the game," Chybli said. "When they're playing soccer, that's what they're doing, they're playing soccer. They're not thinking about anything else."
The team has also formed a brotherhood, an extended family of sorts, Chybli said. This helps to fill the void in the kids' lives left by their families being scattered around the world in search of safety.
Ismail Yones, 15, came to Calgary five months ago from southern Syria. Yones heard about the team from Syrian Refugee Support Group co-founder Sam Nammoura.
Both Yones and Aswad agree that having the team of refugees makes home feel a little bit closer.
"I really miss my country," Aswad said.
"It feels so good to have a team like that," Yones said. "Like home."
Nowhere to play
The players range in age from 13 to 17 and because of that, the team's future is uncertain. They couldn't play in a U17 league, Chybli explains, with the younger players' skill and size, it just wouldn't make sense.
The other question is: Where would they play? The kids are spread far and wide across the city, so no location is easy to get to for the whole team. As fall approaches, a decision will be made, about whether the Syrian Soccer Sons will call it quits, but in the mean time, Chybli and his team will keep practicing.
See the team's cheer in 360º
The Syrian Soccer Sons are playing an exhibition game against the Calgary police before the force's tournament starts.
The game goes Sept. 5 at 10 a.m.at Forest Lawn High School.
"Just in case anyone wants to come out and support the Syrian team," Chybli said.
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With files from The Calgary Eyeopener
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