When Clarkston, Georgia, became a favorite for refugee relocation organizations, it started a chain of events that would change the town irrevocably. It’s one thing when a refugee population originates from the same country; but in Clarkston’s case, most of the refugees had little in common with each other, much less with Clarkston’s American citizens. Seeing the many children in need of safe recreation choices, Luma Mufleh, a passionate soccer coach and an immigrant herself, decides to organize several soccer teams just for refugee kids. In addition to providing instruction in the game, Luma also requires that her players spend a portion of practice time getting tutored with schoolwork. Her biggest challenge, however, is breaking through the Clarkston red tape and suspicion just to find fields for her kids to practice on.

I’m not really a soccer fan, but this is more than just a story about kids playing soccer. It’s inspiring to see the kids bonding despite having vastly different cultural, linguistic and ethnic backgrounds. However, the seeming lack of overall support these kids and their families receive, as well as the cold reception, as they are just plopped down into an American town is also disheartening.