September 23, 2013, Ohio (The Columbus Dispatch) — When Tolasa Mosissa came to Kae Avenue Elementary four years ago, he could speak only Oromo, a dialect from his native Ethiopia.
His English skills picked up by the third grade, but he didn’t need any help figuring out what his classmates from Mexico, El Salvador and Africa were doing during recess.
“I understood soccer,” said Tolasa, 10, who is now in the fifth grade. “It didn’t matter what I spoke.”
Nearly a third of the students at the Whitehall elementary speak another language at home. But the daily pickup soccer games during recess have offered them a common language.
“I don’t think this group would be friends without soccer,” said Daveny McGee, who teaches fourth-grade math. “Without soccer, they would probably play with who they know. Here, they blend in with students of different nationalities.”
Soccer has 270 million registered players worldwide, according to the Federation Internationale de Football Association, which governs national teams and sponsors the World Cup tournament.
Nonprofit groups have used soccer to raise international awareness of issues such as homelessness, poverty and HIV. And some schools, including a high school in North Carolina, have used the sport to connect non-native, English-speaking students with their peers and keep them engaged in school.
“Kids in these countries are born with a soccer ball at their feet,” said Chris Singer, who writes for the blog “Can Soccer Save the World?” which features stories about how soccer promotes positive change.
Soccer is the marquee sport at International High School in Columbus, where students come from 47 countries and speak 19 languages. The school doesn’t have a football team, but the boys’ soccer games have the fanfare of Friday-night football.
“In football, it’s all about playing a role,” Principal Ameer Kim El-Mallawany said. “In soccer, it’s about communication and anticipating what your teammates are thinking before you see it.”
Even before the high school opened in 2010, about 18 boys and girls from across the globe lined up to play for the soccer team.
“This team of youngsters knew each other in ways that set the tone for the entire school,” Kim El-Mallawany said. “(Soccer) transcended cultural barriers. It transcended linguistic barriers. It transcended gender barriers. It was a point of pride for all of our students.”
The pickup soccer games at Kae Avenue started two years ago when students met after school. Soon, the students started organizing play during recess to continue those matches.
After two years, the boys have fallen into the same routine: They choose captains during the day. At lunch, they pick their teams, assign positions and talk strategy so when recess starts they can spend the 20 minutes focused on the game.
Recently, about 20 boys spilled onto the school courtyard after lunch, the goalies taking their positions between two sets of trees that serve as goal posts. There were no referees; the kids policed themselves.
Players swarmed around the ball, calling to teammates — sometimes in Spanish — to make passes and shoot. Those who scored ran into the crowd, mimicking the goal celebrations they’ve seen on television.
Kids say anyone is welcome to join them, including those who don’t know English.
“There will be some who knows that language and can help him,” said Yohannes Haile, 10.
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