Oakland Refugee Community Soccer Camp

Campers and Coach, 2007Every year, Soccer Without Borders partners with the San Francisco—Oakland chapter of the International Rescue Committee, Refugee Transitions and the Oakland Unified School District Transitional Families Unit to create a week-long soccer day camp for 50 refugee youth in Oakland. Using the field at Oakland International High School, Soccer Without Borders staff work with students of Nepali, Karen, Meskhetian Turk, Liberian, Congolese and Somali descent. With the theme of "Celebrate Ourselves, Celebrate Each Other," the camp focuses on community-building, teamwork, and positive communication. In past years, more than 25 languages were spoken by people involved in the camp. 

Project Objectives

The summer is traditionally a difficult time for newly-arrived refugee youth, as there is little for them to do. They find themselves in a new place and without the social, cultural, and linguistic infrastructure provided by school. In response to this, the soccer camp's primary objective was to create a structured and fun recreational environment for the youth to engage with themselves and one another. Recognizing the diversity of the refugee populations in Oakland, California, this camp also sought to support students to transcend perceived racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic and geographic divides amongst one another. Soccer, with its universal language, provides a perfect platform upon which to build this international community.

Successes

The volunteer staff at the 2008 campIn addition to soccer drills, stretching sessions and tournament-style games, the camp features class-style sessions in dance, gardening and nutrition. In past years, the soccer camp has served as some of the participants first organized educational experience in the U.S. Though only a week long, the camp manages to build a small community where students of different national, religious, ethnic and regional backgrounds forge friendships across perceived divides in the spirit of teamwork and play. By the end of the camp, students pleaded for a second week and all asked, "Can we do this again next year?" 

Project Vision

Our hope is to build upon the camp that we created this year, including more students and incorporating more activities such as drama, health education, and formalized conflict-resolution sessions.