But the Newcomers Football Club, an impromptu team made up of asylum-seekers, has helped provide him with a joy that erases his stress.
And they were looking for a place to play soccer – an almost universal cornerstone of their daily routines back home.
Leonard had never worked with refugees or asylum-seekers before, and he had never played soccer.
In the months since, the ad-hoc project has ballooned from an informal pick-up game to an organized club that competes with other New York teams, joining forces with another similar project started by co-organizer Avram Kline.
The mixed practices help Newcomers FC members meet new people and practice their English, Leonard says.
Persons:
Lukaku, he’s, ”, ” Boubacar, Julian Rigg, Mars Leonard, Leonard, Avram Kline, ” Leonard, “, CNN Lukaku, Eric Adams ’, Bushwick Ayuda, Ibrahima Lô, Andreas, Eric Adams, ” Andreas, CNN Andreas, meanwhile, Andreas said, Helen, Adams, CNN’s, I
Organizations:
New York CNN, Football, CNN, Stockton House, New, Newcomers FC, United Nations, Amnesty International, Leonard ., FC, Guinean, Senegalese, Mauritanian, Central America, Soccer, Bushwick, ”, Autonomous Football League, Cop
Locations:
Brooklyn, New York, United States, Guinea, Guinnea, Bissau, Sierra Leone, Bushwick, Stockton, West, Mauritania, Senegal, Morocco, West Africa, Latin America, Williamsburg, Lukaku, Africa, Conakry, Guinea’s, Mali, Burkina Faso, Arizona, Mexico, New, New York City, Jefferson, “, American, South, York, Bushwick Ayuda Mutua, Queens