Hillcrest Junior High ninth-grader Mojtaba Ahmadi has witnessed more than many people do.

As a youth in the Qatar refugee camp, he escaped the reality of it by playing soccer.

“There was no professional equipment,” he said with English he learned at the camp and with the assistance of a translator and his older brother. “We used a round rubber ball.”

Even so, he played midfield for a team before he came to the United States almost two years ago.

“In Afghanistan, it was most professional training and the practices were harder. Here, after school, it’s casual. I’d like to get better. I’d like to play with a high school or club team, but I don’t know how. I don’t have shorts, cleats and shin guards. I don’t have any information,” Mojtaba said.

Providing that assistance is part of the goal behind adding a soccer component to Hillcrest Junior High’s after-school program, said Principal Claustina Reynolds.

“For many refugees, some right here at Hillcrest, they had to flee their homelands to camps where they had to make balls or kick around cartons as balls to play soccer,” she said. “Soccer is something that unites us. It has a universal language and helps build our community. But what we’ve learned is many of our students aren’t making the high school team because they’re not playing at an elite level in a club and don’t know what to do or where to get the information.”

That’s when Murray District ALS & Refugee Coordinator Cris Westerfield reached out to Adam Miles, Refugee Soccer founder and executive director.

“I’d be in meetings with the Department of Workforce Services or Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the different agencies that hold meetings for those in school districts and in other areas who work with refugee families, and he would always say, ‘hey, just a reminder, I have this program, refugee soccer. Please reach out to me if you’ve got kids who want to play,’” she said. “I knew we wanted to give the kids an activity where they can connect, and soccer does that. They’re learning skills that will roll over into their life down the line like teamwork, tenacity, how to be kind and still be driven, and how to work hard. Plus, soccer is a sport you can communicate through and still come together as a team, even when you’re not speaking the same language.”

Soccer was added last spring to Hillcrest’s after-school program which serves about 120 students. 

Miles comes for an hour on Mondays to lead warm-ups, do small group drills, teach new skills and end with a scrimmage to practice what they learned. The school PE teacher helps another day and Westerfield and others lead it on other days.

“I’d love for more volunteers with higher level skills and experience to come help us for an hour another day after school,” she said. “These kids have such raw skill and are phenomenal players, but they need practice from someone who really knows the sport so they’ll be prepared to try out for the high school team or a club.”

Miles said with the support of Assistant Principal Sam Salinas, they outlined the program, including how to prepare newcomers to America for high school soccer.

“It’s complicated if you’re a refugee, especially if you’re new to the area, new to the country,” Miles said. “Understanding the process to get on a team, to get a physical, to go to open gym, all the routine that most non-refugee kids might understand or have easy access to, but the refugee kids don’t. We’re trying to level the playing field from an opportunity standpoint, so these kids can have their best shot at playing on the team with their non-refugee peers. These kids want to play high school or club soccer so we’re helping them starting while they’re at the junior high. Once they’re done with their homework, and it’s always after the homework, then they get to come and play with the after-school program.”

Salinas said adding sports to the after-school program has been a goal.

“Some of our students have the access issue of being able to get on a high school team and they don’t have the option of paying thousands of dollars to be part of a club,” he said. “We have kids with raw talent who need space to get better and at the same time, we can build a pathway for them to play high school soccer.”

He estimates one-third of the students who play soccer after school are newcomers to America.

In Murray School District, there are 383 students who are refugees or immigrants who speak 32 different languages. Within Hillcrest, there are 11 different languages spoken, Westerfield said.

She and a team of refugee liaisons support newcomer families, not only helping them understand how schools work in the United States, but also connecting families to resources such as food, clothing, housing, jobs, transportation, English classes and community services to help these families thrive in their new home.

Soccer is another way to connect students to their school and classmates, she said.

Through grant money, the school provides soccer balls and equipment for students. Plus with a $10,000 Ron McBride Foundation grant, administrators want to get uniforms for students and provide equipment — cleats, shin guards, goalkeeper gloves — for those who are trying out for a high school team, Salinas said.

Miles, who has refugee soccer programs in four Salt Lake Valley schools, teaches “offense, defense, goalkeeping, ball skills, dribbling, passing to prepare them for tryouts. I want to make sure they’re set up for success not just on the field, but from knowing to go to school on time, be at practice on time, being respectful. These students are becoming leaders and mentors on the field and that translates to class. It becomes valuable to everybody.”

 The soccer program is for non-refugees as well.

“Usually, we have a good mix of kids from Central America and Afghanistan who are playing alongside our non-refugee kids as well. They all get along playing the game; there’s inclusion and belonging and it’s fun to watch them light up and have a good time with one another,” Miles said.

Seventh-grader Liam Butler plays in the after-school soccer program.

“I found this opportunity to play for what is pretty much a team with the after-school program,” he said. “It’s a little bit different from other teams I’ve been on, but I speak a little bit of Spanish, so I’m able to communicate with my teammates, but we’re really talking soccer. It’s fun to see how everyone plays and when I take the bus with some of the friends I made, we practice speaking English and Spanish with each other, and that’s fun.”

Salinas said the program has bonded students.

“There’s camaraderie; if they’re willing to learn to play or already do play, it’s a great way for them to enjoy each other’s company by doing something they love. About 30% of our student population speaks Spanish, but with our Afghani students is where we really can see the difference because they are connected now with their soccer cohorts,” he said.

That inclusion and bonding is the idea behind She Belongs soccer, which Miles heads in Utah. 

In July 2023, he led a team of 22 refugee and non-refugee girls to watch the World Cup in New Zealand, playing teams during their San Francisco and Tokyo layovers as well as in New Zealand. They spoke to U.S. and Japanese high-ranking officials and even caught the eye of the U.S. national team.

The team also learned to embrace one another, give encouragement and support, learn patience and confidence to become an inclusive team, he said. 

“They learned they can connect with others and through that, they can impact change,” he said supporting the belief, “every girl, every opportunity, everywhere.”

The premiere of the “She Belongs” documentary showing highlights of that experience was shown to Hillcrest students and the community. 

It also tied in with the book, “When Stars are Scattered” by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed that students, faculty and staff are reading. The graphic novel focuses on two brothers who are living in a refugee camp in Kenya.

“We picked the book last May and now with our soccer program up and going, it’s a match made in heaven right now, just a wonderful coincidence,” Salinas said. “Every student and every adult in the school gets a copy of the book and we read it together. We have discussions and guiding questions such as ‘What would it be like living in a refugee camp?’ or ‘What did you get out of reading this chapter?’ It’s a great opportunity to promote literacy and empathy throughout the school.”

Westerfield said it’s a great tie into inviting students to the after-school program.

“We just say, ‘Hey, this is happening in our school. Come be a part of it,’” she said.

Miles said the after-school program, like Refugee Soccer, gives opportunity to the 120 million displaced people around the world.

“Those refugees who are among us are legally immigrated refugees who had to leave their home, so we could exclude and ignore them, or we can embrace them. We have the opportunity — where we don’t have to go 8,000 miles away — to have a relationship with someone from Afghanistan. We can do it right here and learn some things that will enrich our lives when we do that,” he said.

Mojtaba can relate to the graphic novel.

“The book the school is reading is very useful. It’s been an affirmation of the changes in my life,” he said. “The best thing about playing soccer is more goals. I want to be a professional soccer player when I’m older. I want to play for the United States.”