Looking back when it was acceptable to embrace our neighbors who came to America to escape war, persecution and economic insecurity. I think how nice it was to participate in a soccer game of refugees in the south side of Milwaukee on the referee team.
On this date in 2016. I was AR2 for a very special soccer game in Milwaukee’s South Stadium.
The 2016 MKE Refugee Soccer Tournament, final was played under the lights at the new South Stadium between One World and United Kings. One World was a mixture of many different ethnic groups. The United Kings is a team composed of primarily young Karen refugees of Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand. Milwaukee Soccer Development Group (MSDG) had spent several years organizing various soccer events withing the city. With the help of the City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin, they have worked to build a community around the sport of football. Milwaukee had been a very special place for many decades of refugees to resettle in the United States.
My referee partner for the day was a refugee from Burma 20 years earlier.
The tournament started on June 4th and included players from over a dozen countries who spoke more than two dozen languages! Countries included Myanmar (Burma), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Thailand, Congo, Laos, Malaysia, Somalia, and even Mexico to name a few. Some of the languages overheard included Karen, Chin (a few different dialects), Karenni, Tigrinya, Hmong, Maay May, Somali, Burmese, Spanish and a lot of English.
We are one world. We are on this same planet, breathing the same air and surrounded by the same seas.