Winnipeg immigrants hope to kick off 'newcomers' soccer league

A group thatsupportsimmigrants and refugees in Winnipeg is hopinga new soccer league will helpyoung peopleadjust to life in Canada.

"Soccer is the first sport for our kids," says Jean Pierre Venegasof Welcome Place, whichprovides assistance tonewcomers inthe city. "Whenever we come to Canada, from all over the world —whatever background you are —soccer is a common ground place to go," he said.

"The idea is to create this alternative league to bring everybody togetherto practise sport."

Welcome Place is trying to capitalize onsoccer'spopularity by creating Sport for Manitoba, a new soccer league for low-income newcomers and immigrant families in their teens and early 20s.

From Siberia to Sierra Leone, soccer isone of theworld's most popular sports. At its most pared-down,itrequires only an object to kick—something thatmakes it especially popularwith the young, the poor and people living in places like refugee camps.

Alternative to gangs

Muuxi Adams, a Somali refugee who is helping to organize the league, says soccer could provide welcome relief to the pressures of living in a strange land— and an alternative to gangs.

"One of the things is, we lost a lot of immigrant youth in the street," Adams says. "It is our own responsibility to prevent that."

The league's first big challenge won't come on the pitch. Beforea game can be played, money will have to be found to make the league an official one.

That's an expensive proposition: registration and insurance can cost more than $2,000 a team– and that doesn't include field costs, equipment costs and referee fees.

'"The idea is to create this alternative league to bring everybody together' —Jean Pierre Venegas

But other Winnipeggers are stepping up to help the new league get off the ground.

"We'll open our arms to them, we'll provide whatever resources we can possibly give to them," says Rocky Moudgill, who runs the Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association and its 1,000 registered teams.

Last year, the association completely funded an inner citykids' league, and they say they now want to help the newcomers' league.

"We will do whatever we can to help these kids have an opportunity to play soccer, because soccer is the world's greatest game," Moudgill says.

"It's a game that's touched my life and I will do anything that I can to help make sure every child has an opportunity to have soccer touch them, as well."

The league has met with the association and officials are optimisticthe newcomers'teams will hit the turf by the fall.