No jerseys, refs, or fans. Just the fresh air and some grass. There is something to be said for the joy of meeting up in a schoolyard and having the opportunity to touch the ball with your feet, and hopefully make a play to somebody on your team. In those fleeting moments, we build relationships of trust and fellowship. During a few minutes of good old soccer, void of expectations or judgement, we are free.

Todd from the Alberta Health Services Sports Check Program and I started an outdoor soccer program this summer in May, over by Sacred Heart Church in the little elementary school-sized field with a ball and two participants. We had just spent the winter playing a mix of soccer and basketball in the YMCA Welcome Village Gym on Thursdays, and for whatever reason that program just didn’t take off attendance-wise. The beginnings of outdoor soccer weren’t glorious or fantastic either. However, we were outside, playing sports, and in good company.

So, every Thursday, three or four of us would kick the ball around, and take penalty shots on the little six foot by eight foot goals at the far end of the field. We would aim for the bar, either the uprights or the crossbar. If we hit the steel, we would gain a point. The first to reach five would win. It was the easiest and most relaxing test of skill we could do, especially considering we had too few players to play a real game.

We would do this until any other interested person would come along and ask to play or kick the ball. Of course, they were met with an enthusiastic, “Yes! Please join us!” Sometimes, when tenants of the McCauley Apartments and other neighbours would trickle down and through, we would invite them to join in getting some kicks towards the net. If there were enough for a game, it was a great joy to play a little 3 on 3 or if we were lucky, 4 on 4. Sometimes, a bunch of kids would challenge us to a game, and there we were, three grown men, fighting for our lives against a whole half daycare/after school care class (some of those kids were really good!). It was fun and exhilarating, and believe it or not, we started to see different folks stop randomly by to join in the fun.

For several months, we were joined by a very tall and strong man named Sebastian, who originated from Nigeria. He was staying at the Rhema church, as he was displaced from his working home in Fort McMurray during the wildfires. He was so good, that we often were left in awe at the powerful kicks that were passes, but which felt like living thunder as they hit our feet. It was quite a privilege to hear about how he and his wife survived their car being rolled over in an accident coming out of Fort Mac, and to hear him say how he felt good to be able to join us for soccer. I like to think we provided him a little bit of relief from the stress and traumatic recovery he was going through. When he stopped coming, we didn’t talk about it much, but I think we all knew he had gone back home to work and rebuild his life in Fort Mac.

There is something to be said for the joy of meeting up in a schoolyard and having the opportunity to touch the ball with your feet, and hopefully make a play to somebody on your team. In those fleeting moments, we build relationships of trust and fellowship. During a few minutes of good old soccer, void of expectations or judgement, we are free.

As the summer days grew long, folks from the Mustard Seed and Inner City Rec Program caught word that we were playing, and some workers brought over students and community members who had an interest in what was going on. Our attendance grew to an average of six to eight people weekly, and we were playing in the scorching heat and/or among bloodthirsty mosquitos, until we had to run in for water, shade, and bug spray. I think Father Jim and Kyle from Sacred Heart Church took notice of our schedule, and the grass (which Kyle so diligently mows every week) seemed to be freshly cut by Wednesday the day before we played. Even if this was just a coincidence, it was sure good to play on cut grass!

By the end of the summer, new faces were becoming familiar faces, and we grew to be a group of 10 to 12 soccer folks screaming, laughing, cheering, and groaning on a Thursday afternoon. Some people would even gather around and chuckle at our stumbles and crazy moments or watch from their apartments to enjoy the games and fun being had. I know this, because people often mention in passing that they have been watching us play.

As of Thursday, October 27, we returned to the YMCA Welcome Village gym for our weekly games, but this time we have some friends to invite, and we will be together cheering, groaning, falling over, and enjoying the game of soccer in its most basic and raw form. All the while, we will be dreaming of spring and when we can get back out onto the little field behind Sacred Heart Church with the cut grass, little goal posts, gentle breezes, and the company of new and familiar faces.

Taro is the Community Development Officer – McCauley Apartments.