America's best sportswriter, Gary Smith, offers a tale of a soccer team in Georgia unlike any other in this week's Sports Illustrated.
It's made up of young war refugees from 24 different nations, some of whom have witnessed horrific calamities in their home countries. The woman who started the team is the daughter of a Jordanian steel magnate and grew up in a mansion. Luma Mufleh was a homesick immigrant working waitress jobs, estranged from her privileged upbringing and her homeland. But after missing a turn heading back to her apartment, she found her way home:
And the name of their team? The Fugees.
I won't waste any more words: Gary Smith's are far superior.
Also, please see their website here, and donate.
It's made up of young war refugees from 24 different nations, some of whom have witnessed horrific calamities in their home countries. The woman who started the team is the daughter of a Jordanian steel magnate and grew up in a mansion. Luma Mufleh was a homesick immigrant working waitress jobs, estranged from her privileged upbringing and her homeland. But after missing a turn heading back to her apartment, she found her way home:
She took a left into an apartment complex, The Lakes, to turn around, and noticed 10 children, all foreign-looking, playing soccer in the parking lot. Bare feet on asphalt, tattered ball bouncing off cars, two rocks for a goal, no adults in sight.
It was as if she were seeing exactly what her heart yearned for but her stubborn, lonely quest had forbidden her: home. All those days of playing pickup soccer with her siblings, cousins and neighbors back in Jordan, laughing and arguing over every shot that hissed near their two-rock goal. She watched those ragtag kids from her yellow Volkswagen Beetle for an hour, then departed with a pang. She returned at the same time a few days later with a lovely white ball, stepped out of her car and asked a bunch of kids, roughly a third her age, if she could play too.
They stared at her ball. That's what they really wanted. They conferred and turned to Luma. O.K. She was in.
And the name of their team? The Fugees.
I won't waste any more words: Gary Smith's are far superior. Also, please see their website here, and donate.
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