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Teenage refugees now living in America and New Zealand will play a friendly match in Auckland ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
#SheBelongs – a team that pairs girls from Utah with refugees from places including Rwanda, Iraq, and Afghanistan – will face a squad of Auckland-based refugee teens at Waitematā Football Club on Wednesday afternoon.
The Utah team was formed in April with the goal of taking the girls to the FIFA Women’s World Cup games.
Anne Lee, manager of Auckland-based charity supporting refugee families The Umma Trust, says the main purpose of Wednesday’s game is to “give refugee girls opportunities in the mainstream”.
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”We want them to see other people who look like them, and who come from a similar background – despite settling in a different country – play this sport and excel at it,” she said of her 20-strong squad.
Wednesday’s game will last for roughly an hour followed by a dinner and presentation of medals.
RICKY WILSON/STUFF
#SheBelongs is a Utah-based football team that includes teenage refugee girls.
Adam Miles, founder of Utah-based nonprofit organisation Bridges To America, formed #SheBelongs.
His team is made up of 11 refugees and 11 non-refugee girls, and they’re here to share their message of “inclusion, belonging and hope,” he said.
“We’re super excited to be here and to support the US women’s team, and we wanted to make sure it was a trip of purpose.”
Miles said the team are lobbying for “gender equity and belonging” for women and refugees by playing friendly matches and working with local refugee communities.
“It’s also a safe space for girls locally to start playing football. I noticed that in the US, young girls wanted to play, but weren’t sure how to get involved in a team,” he said.
RICKY WILSON/STUFF
#SheBelongs vs The Umma Trust player Priya Robinson.
“And if they came from a refugee background, there were usually some cultural barriers.”
Some of these barriers included the sport being seen by family members as being “too masculine”, and the costs associated with being part of local teams.
“Football is an expensive sport to play. In the US a good competitive club is at least $3000-$4000 a year.
“A lot of these families have fled their homeland and are just seeking a new start – they don’t have that kind of money lying around.”
Jon Jeswald/Supplied
The #SheBelongs team are in New Zealand to watch as the US team face Vietnam on Saturday at Eden Park.
Miles said this had created a system in which the football community was inadvertently preventing girls from playing.
“This is why we felt it was important to bring the girls to New Zealand. We hope this trip acts as a catalyst for change.”
He said the team are “super excited” to not only watch the World Cup games, but to also play the Umma Trust team.
“I don’t care if we win or lose the game. I’m just looking forward to seeing the organic interactions and the creation of belonging between the two groups,” Miles said.
The Umma Trust refugee girls football programme is funded through the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 leverage and legacy programme which aims to, “support the delivery of positive youth development opportunities, with a focus on skills, leadership, and community development”.
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