When 8-year-old Mathias Bastó arrived at Skinner Park on the West Side on a recent afternoon, he looked excitedly toward the field where about 15 children were just beginning soccer practice. A volunteer greeted him, pointing to a box full of shoes and shin guards.
Mathias followed her instructions while his father helped him choose the right size and his mother grabbed a clipboard to sign him in.
“Mathias is a very active boy,” says Irene Santos, Mathias’ mother, in Spanish. “We brought him here because he likes to run and activities like this help him develop better while doing something he enjoys.”
Mathias and his parents live in a city-run shelter on Ogden Avenue nearby. Like many migrant parents, they know the journey has been grueling for their son, who has had to traverse treacherous jungles and dangerous border towns. And free programs for migrant children aren’t always easy to find. Many migrant parents don’t know about the Chicago Park District’s summer programs, which are always in high demand and for which the registration process can seem complicated. Getting to them can also be a problem. And private programs are often expensive.
That’s not a problem with this soccer program – Amigos Unidos FC, or “United Friends” in English – which attracts mostly migrant children from Colombia and Venezuela. The program – which began in June and recently ended for the summer – is not run by any agency or nonprofit organization. Two friends from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign started it to reach soccer-loving migrant children.
Volunteers from Amigos Unidos FC help children put on shin guards and soccer cleats during a free soccer camp at Skinner Park.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun Times
“These kids have had such a hard journey to get here,” says Hannah McGee, a medical student. “They’re the ones who need some support and opportunities to let out their energy and just some consistency.”
McGee, who played soccer as a child, says she closely followed the development of the refugee crisis in Chicago and thought about how she could turn her love of the sport into something that immigrant children could enjoy.
“I hear about all these resources for families, but nothing for children,” she says.
So McGee and her friend Sofia Castro printed flyers and distributed them along with other volunteers in parks and migrant shelters.
Castro, a dental student, says they raised $1,000 through family and friends.
Soccer organizations such as the Chicago Edge Soccer Club, which runs a competitive youth program, and the Chicago Red Stars National Women’s Soccer League team donated soccer shoes, jerseys, socks and shin guards.
During training, the children do warm-up exercises and team-building exercises as well as training games. After about 30 minutes of training and playing, Mathias, who is quiet and shy at first, is clearly into it.
“What I like most about Chicago is soccer training here,” he says in Spanish during a water break.
Other children agree.
“I can play my favorite sport, I am here with my friends and we can all win,” says ten-year-old Yilber Benavides from Venezuela.
Some parents say it is difficult for their children to play in the shelters because there are strict rules that do not allow children to run around or be loud, for example.
Irene Santos and her husband watch Mathias play. In addition to trying to find a permanent job and an apartment, they also want to find activities like this for Mathias.
“It was hard to adapt to a new world,” says Santos. “The idea is to support what he enjoys as well.”
