Refugees find home on a Roanoke soccer field

A tournament was held over the weekend and teams came from Virginia, Tennessee and Ohio.

But all of these guys have something in common; they're refugees who love to play soccer.

The Roanoke Lions have been playing for three years and was formed by their coach Mohammed Madi, who is also a refugee. 

As Loro Makara watches his fellow refugees play soccer, which is a huge part of the Sudan culture, Makara says he's reminded of home. "They have the same mountains, the same view and sometimes it feels like home," said Makara.        

Except, there's one thing missing. "I miss my family,” explained Makara. “My dad and all my sisters are still in Africa and my mom passed away while I was here in the United States.” 

Makara is a refugee from Sudan. 

The Director of the Star City Soccer Foundation, Landon Moore, says it's because of soccer Makara and many other refugees found a commonplace in Roanoke. "They don't know the language, they don't know any of the people but when they step on the field it’s home," said Moore.

The captain of the Roanoke Lions, Hassan Jumale, says his team is made up of eight different countries.            

 

With all the different countries and languages refugees encounter, there's one place they can go to feel at home and that's on the soccer field. 

Due to the lack of money, many of these teams did not have uniforms last year.

But after some bargain shopping, players were able to purchase uniforms in Africa, for a fifth of the price they would have paid in the United States.