A team of under 13 Afghan refugee soccer players is setting the pitch alight in their first year of playing. They have joined a football club specially designed to help migrants and refugees in Sydney. And their young coach- who is himself a refugee from Afghanistan- has earned a Human Rights award for his work with the team.
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00:00They call them the Rascals.
00:05They love it.
00:06They live and breathe football.
00:07They love, you know, Ronaldo and Messi.
00:09I like to play soccer.
00:12I want to be a good soccer player in the future.
00:18The boys from the under 13s at the Melrose Park Football Club in Sydney play with an
00:23unbridled passion and joy.
00:27They look like any other team, but these boys are different.
00:31Most recently fled Afghanistan after the Taliban took over.
00:36Some have lost one parent, some both.
00:39With here, be ready, OK?
00:41Their coach, Zahra Mujahid, was like these kids.
00:46When he was just three, Zahra's father was killed by a Taliban bomb, leaving a widowed
00:52mother of six children facing an impossible situation.
00:56My mum sent me to orphanage with a bunch of other different kids.
01:02And I grew up at orphanage for like eight years and nine years.
01:06When the Taliban took over, even within a few hours, everyone's lives changed in Afghanistan.
01:11I was very young too.
01:12I was very scared because if the Taliban find out who you are, they might send you to jail.
01:19And when the time came to flee in 2022, Zahra was put in charge of a group of kids.
01:25When we tried to cross the border, I had seven kids with me.
01:29And it was the scariest travel I ever did.
01:32Eyes on the ground.
01:35Soon after he arrived in Australia, Zahra was one of a group of refugees who were invited
01:40to Sunday kick-arounds at the Melrose Park Football Club.
01:44That's it.
01:45When they came to Australia, they came to our club nearly straight away.
01:49And we just threw the football out there.
01:52But playing at Sunday picnics was never going to be enough for Zahra.
01:56Whatever I want to do in Australia, whatever is my dream, I'm going to do it, including
02:01helping the kids.
02:02And so the Rascals were born.
02:05Football, I think, for them, gives them a sense of community.
02:10I also think it goes a long way in healing their trauma.
02:13Nilab Osman is a refugee worker and the team's manager.
02:17They're coming first at the moment on 22 points.
02:20They are undefeated.
02:21For most Australian kids, playing sport is about having some fun on the weekend with
02:25your mates.
02:26And it's the same for these boys.
02:28But it's also given them so much more.
02:30Playing in this team has given these kids a sense of belonging, not just to the club,
02:34but also to the country that's taken them in.
02:37They're coming to soccer with hope.
02:40The same is true for Zahra.
02:42Using sport as a healing tool, Zahra helps young players manage trauma.
02:48Earlier this month, the New South Wales Governor gave him a Human Rights Award for sport for
02:54his work as a coach.
02:56I'm actually very proud of myself and very proud of these kids, and I'm extremely happy.