USL Nashville SC

Section 615: Refugees, Immigrants and Volunteers from Nashville International Center for Empowerment Take in First Nashville SC Match

June 25, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Nashville SC News Release


NASHVILLE - Coming to the United States as an immigrant or a refugee is never easy. Between learning English, finding housing, schooling and other basic needs, it can be a difficult transition.

However, there's one thing that can bring immigrants, refugees and native Nashvillians together: soccer.

On Saturday night, immigrants, refugees and volunteers from the Nashville International Center for Empowerment, an organization dedicated to ensuring refugees and immigrants achieve their full potential in Nashville, got to take in Nashville Soccer Club's match against Ottawa Fury FC. They were the first group to get to sit in "Section 615," a block of seats at First Tennessee Park dedicated to groups that are doing good for others in the Nashville community.

Prior to Saturday's match, Nashville SC's Ropapa Mensah, along with Nashville SC staff, attended NICE's celebration of World Refugee Day and played three-on-three soccer with kids, many of which are refugees. On Saturday night, Mensah scored a key goal in Nashville's 3-3 draw, which drew a few extra cheers from the kids that got to play with him just a few days prior.

"A couple of days ago I was playing with him, 3v3 soccer," said Naseem Abdullah, an immigrant from Malaysia. "Now I see him in real life scoring a real goal for the professional team. It just makes my day better."

Soccer is a large part of the work NICE does with immigrant and refugee children. Every Saturday, NICE plans soccer as part of their volunteering at locations around the city. The game is a way for kids from all over the world to feel a greater connection to one another.

"Soccer is our biggest draw," said Donna Pack, a longtime volunteer with NICE. "That's the thing we do every week, we have some sort of soccer going on. My take is that peace will be found on a soccer field. It's the one time it doesn't matter if we have refugees from two opposing countries, different languages, different skin color, they come out here and play by one set of rules. And that happens every Saturday here."

Nashville Mayor David Briley was in attendance at the World Refugee Day celebration and lauded how soccer, and Nashville SC, can help refugees and immigrants feel more at home in the Music City.

"One of the most important reasons for Nashville to bring soccer at the highest level to our city is because it'll knit us together more as a community," Briley said. "Everybody around the world, no matter where you're from, knows soccer, or football as they call it in the rest of the world."

In addition to planning soccer activities for kids, NICE is involved in every step of helping refugees and immigrants settle in Nashville. The organization helps file the proper paperwork needed to live in the United States, finds housing, schooling, holds English Second Language classes and much more.

To see the kids joining with the rest of the Nashville community in cheering on Nashville SC was delightful for the volunteers that play soccer with them on a weekly basis.

"I think for them it means a lot," said Reyna Varela, a NICE volunteer. "It's something they will never forget and they dream to be one of those players. They have a dream too, and some of them want to play soccer and want to dream to be out there playing soccer professionally."

The kids felt a personal connection to Mensah, who emigrated to the United States from Ghana at 18 years of age to pursue his dream of playing professional soccer. Seeing him excel on the pitch in-person meant a lot to the kids who are trying to pursue their own dreams in the United States.

"It means a lot because I'm trying to be the next professional soccer player," said Abdullah. "Learning from him, it's a big thing for me. I don't know how to explain it, but he's motivating people, the people that love soccer, to chase their dreams wherever they are."

Do you know anyone that's doing good for Nashville? Nominate them to receive tickets in Section 615 at an upcoming Nashville SC match.



United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 25, 2019


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