There has been amazing support from communities and individuals around the United States and the world. We are still short of our funding goal, but we are deciding to move forward, and we will continue working on finding support for the team—as we go. The players and all the people they represent, the whole of Darfur, deserve it.

Continue supporting the team!

Watch Darfur United’s new trailer, “Kicking Off”, and share it with all of your friends and family.

Thank you for being a part of the journey. There is so much more ahead to be excited about, and we want you to be with us every step of the way.

GO DARFUR UNITED!

Gabriel

I’ve heard too many stories from friends in the camps, how they lost family and friends, and home, and their place. When they tell me that, with Darfur United, “Now we are a part of the world,” I have a real sense of what this team means to them.

When I see the guys on the field, though, it’s pure joy. They get to play! As we were holding try-outs and then practices, crowds started to come to the field. Men, women, and children of all ages gathered and cheered, laughed, and experienced the joy of having THEIR team. In the 100+ degree weather, I would get chills, knowing that something very special was happening.

Joys and sorrows can exist very near each other. In camp Kounoungo, one of the camps I visited when “scouting” for Darfur United, not far from the dirt soccer field, there exists another field. It has little bumps on it, and some rocks.

It’s a baby cemetery. When the refugees first escaped the violence in their homeland, many of the youngest children died at high rates because of the hardship in their journey towards protection.

At the other field, the survivors get to experience the joy of playing and being a part of another journey. It is a beautiful game.

Peace,
Gabriel

Over the years, one word that keeps coming up during our visits to the Darfuri refugee camps is “forgotten.”  The people in the camps feel forgotten on different levels.  Forgotten by the international community. Forgotten by many individuals and groups that visit them, make promises, and then forget.

Tracy McGrady visited the camps we visit in Eastern Chad in 2007, and so many of our friends there remember and ask us about him.  He promised that he would not forget them. That he would work with them in improving education and sports programs.  T-Mac, as he is known by fans and other NBA players, did not forget.

Tracy McGrady of the Atlanta Hawks has stepped up to the plate along with Adidas and have outfitted our Darfur United Team.

McGrady said, “It’s a true honor to help Darfur United. When I visited the camps and saw what adversities they face everyday, it is a true joy to see the Darfuri people raise together and find hope and meaning from sport. Basketball gave me a way out of the challenges I faced as I was growing up and I know this team, the sport and true competition will bring pride, teamwork, and dedication to the people of Darfur. I’m looking forward to seeing some amazing athletes out there. Proud to call them friends”

The people in the camps think of Tracy as a friend.  They ask me, “How is our friend, Tracy?” They want him to know that they also think about him.  T-Mac was also instrumental in the creation of the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program, which is providing funding for primary education in the camps and connecting students from the United States with students in the refugee camps. We have been involved in this project from its inception, and the relationships and real changes in education will ripple positively in to the future of Darfur.

I cannot wait so see the Darfur United players wearing their brand new adidas soccer gear!  All of the players were kids when they were forced from their homes by violence, losing homes, family, and everything material, as they escaped to the camps.  Their spirit and their game is strong, and to see them on the field will be amazing!

Go Darfur United!

Gabriel

The 15 players and five reserves continue to practice in refugee Camp Djabal for the Viva World Cup!  Here they begin their warm up with a routine taught to them by Coach Mark Hodson during his recent trip the camps in March and April 2012. If you look closely you can see up and coming players, a young girl and boy, also practicing the warm up.

Click here to learn more about individual players and sponsor one of their journey’s to the Viva World Cup in Iraqi Kurdistan.

For Immediate Release
April 13, 2012

U.S. Contact: Katie-Jay Scott
(310) 738-0285
ktj@iactivism.org

Refugee Camp Djabal, Eastern Chad (April 13, 2012) — Darfur United, an all refugee soccer team from Darfur, announced its roster, after a week of try-outs and trainings in a refugee camp close to the Chad-Sudan border. This effort was organized by a small non-profit based in Redondo Beach, CA and coached by Manhattan Beach Sand and Surf Soccer Club Director of Coaching, Mark Hodson.

Sixty-one players from the twelve refugee camps that dot the Chad-Sudan border participated in try-outs for fifteen spots on the team roster. This team will represent Darfur, the embattled region of Sudan, in the 2012 Viva World Cup in June, a soccer tournament for nationless people and other groups not represented by FIFA, the international soccer federation.

Coach Mark Hodson said, “The level of talent was impressive, especially considering the facilities and resources available to the players. Everyone came ready to play, and they didn’t need asking twice to produce their best level of effort.”

i-ACT, the non-profit behind the creation of Darfur United, has been using community engagement, on and off-line, to find support for the team. “This has been all about community,” i-ACT Founder and Director Gabriel Stauring said. “People from around the U.S. have joined in making it happen by fundraising, buying t-shirts, donating gear, and spreading the word. Now, we have to get them to the Viva Cup, and we need even more participation from people everywhere.”

To support the team in its journey to the Viva World Cup, visit www.darfurunited.com/support

In late May, the team will travel from Chad to Iraqi Kurdistan for the tournament. Most players are in their late teens or early twenties, making them approximately ten years old when they escaped the violence in Darfur. They have spent all of their adult lives as refugees. Stauring
says, “They have had nothing positive to celebrate and have been losing hope of any future beyond the confines of the refugee camp. This team means so much more to them than just a game of football. It gives all refugees something to celebrate, and it gives them a connection to the outside world.”

“I am so happy this will be truth. It will be exactly Darfur United,” said Sulieman, a refugee from camp Goz Amer that tried out for the team. “It cannot only be on a shirt. It must be in the country, with Darfur united. I hope we will be united. I am very excited. I cannot express my feelings. We heard about this team six months ago, and today it’s truth.”
Here is the official Darfur United roster:

1. Musa Aarun Sulieman:   Central Midfield
2. Youssef Mohammed Abdala:    Center Back
3. Mubarak Haggar Duogom:    Striker
4. Abdulbassit Omer Soulyman:    Central Midfield/Right Back
5. Sadam Hissen Dine:   Left Midfield
6. Nouradin Abdalah Mussa:    Striker
7. Mohamed Omer Inagy:    Central Midfield
8. Abobaker Zakaria Ali:    Midfield
9. Mohamed Adam Abdalah:    Midfield
10. Mohamed Mahmoud Anour:    Left Back
11. Abdulhamid Mohamed Gum:    Goalkeeper
12. Mubarek Khamis Ahmed:    Central Defender/Holding Midfield
13. Mubarag Abdelah Ahmed:    Right Midfield/Right Forward
14. Abdelah Sulieman Mohamed:    Left Back/Left Midfield
15. Issa Ahmed Abdelah:    Defender/Holding Midfield

To see picture and coachʼs note for each player, please visit www.darfurunited.com/team

Darfur Unitedʼs journey can be followed at:
www.darfurunited.com
www.facebook.com/darfurunited
www.twitter.com/darfurunited

Coach Hodson:
“For me the greatest prize from this mission will be to see the team step out onto the field wearing their Darfur United uniform. To get 20 refugees from 12 different camps to one location is a feat that those not in the know, will never understand how difficult this is to accomplish. From that, the selection and training process has provided moments of joy and euphoria that the team and volunteers will forever share. This group of players has suffered incredible sadness and hardship. There is no sign that their situation is going to improve any time soon….but they still carry a tremendous pride and sense of responsibility and a hope, that what they are doing will create a new path and joy for the people of Darfur, and it is an honor to be involved!”

Download Press Release Here

I very easily could have shrugged off the opportunity to join Gabriel, Mark and James in Eastern Chad. They had months to plan their trips and mentally prepare. I had three days to decide, and two weeks to prepare myself. Even after the night I spoke with Gabriel for the first time, I woke up thinking, “what am I, crazy?” In that moment, all of this was on the line. Luckily, if you know me at all, I tend to be quite spontaneous. I knew that in just a blink of an eye I could have wished away what could have been some of my life’s most memorable moments. Some of life’s most important decisions are made this way. Even when you list pros and cons, isn’t it what feels right that you end up doing? Well, I felt like this was meant to be.

So, when I responded to Rahma, who seemed to have some tears in his eyes, I said, “Rahma, don’t be sad that we’re leaving, but be happy that we came.” In the moment, I knew I meant what I was saying, but I knew how he felt. Sitting in a hotel room now in N’Djamena, I’m back to that feeling many of you have, that the only way to help is by being there. I’d like you all to know that our friends at Camp Djabal including the Darfur United players, expressed how grateful they were for there friends back home, even the ones they haven’t met. Somehow, some way, they understand that they have people miles away supporting them in ways that are just as important as physically traveling and interacting with them.

As I prepare for our departure, I again find myself thankful. I’m sure reality will hit me later on when I’m sitting in my home in Connecticut, that it will be tough to get back out here the way I did, to see my new friends again. And as Rahma said, it will be a sad day. But, as an optimist, I must look at this as just the beginning. The beginning of something incredible.

We must get this team to Iraq.

Brian Cleveland
Darfur United Assistant Coach

آﻮیﺲ (kwayes) is Arabic for good. The word was heard with greater frequency as training progressed. Here’s a short video of one of the dozens of drills run over the past week. Within each one, I could see the players improve and gain confidence in real time. It was incredible.

They also had a lot of fun.

A drawing by our friend Ali.

Coach Mark Hodson walks the field during a scrimmage on the last day of training. Both he and the players have learned a lot this week and have grown close to one another in the process.

The next time they’ll take the field together will be in Iraqi Kurdistan for the 2012 Viva World Cup.

1. When surrounded by a crowd of hundreds of kids, if you take the time to look into the eyes of one, everything appears to calm down.

2. Sometimes you have to take one for the team and lead from behind. (Issa)

3. Humbleness and pride can go well together. (Musa)

4. A tough, “I don’t give a s**t because I know how good I am,” exterior can hide a thoughtful and creative interior. (Nouradin)

5. Dust, heat, thirst, and exhaustion can all disappear with a well timed display of humor and joy. (Ali)

6. Rahma is a star.

7. True, selfless, and active leadership is essential for any team. (Sulieman)

8. Change will come, at times pushed to happen a little faster by someone that can’t and shouldn’t wait. (Busseina)

9. There are players that you just know can PLAY, even if they’re just standing there. (Mubarag)

10. Ismail had to escape Darfur with his mother and siblings after his father was killed by Janjaweed when their village was attacked. He is polite, positive, and kind.