Their English isn't perfect yet, but players are fluent in the language of soccer (11 photos)

Syrian refugee youths overcame language and cultural barriers on Saturday when they accepted an invitation to play indoor soccer with Algoma University’s team, the Thunderbirds.

“This is going to sound funny. You know how a lot of Canadians say, 'eh'? If you don’t know this cultural thing, when someone says it, you’re probably going to feel lost thinking you don’t know what they said. You might even feel shy or ashamed that you don’t know. But it’s okay, you’re not supposed to know stuff like this, you learn about it. This (soccer meetup) a great place to learn about things like that,” said Farah Ayaad, a Jordanian-Canadian who works with many of the Syrian refugees as a settlement case manager at the Sault Community Career Centre.

Ayaad attended Saturday’s game and spoke about how meaningful it was for the refugee community.

“You can see girls and boys playing together, no big deal - that’s a cultural thing. Where we come from… generally speaking… it’s rare to find girls and boys playing together,” she said. “I like the fact that everybody is just wearing whatever they want to wear. Girls are wearing shorts and it’s totally fine… That’s a part of the Canadian culture — you get to be whoever you want to be as long as you are respectful.”

One refugee who came out to Saturday’s meetup was Ezzedin Baida, 20, who is from Syria but spent the last three years in Egypt before coming to Canada with his family in the spring.

Ezzedin has been attending White Pines Collegiate and Vocational School since September and is focusing heavily on learning the language and preparing himself for his future.

“I’m trying to work on two things; get a certificate in cooking and work on my marketing and social media skills. I am hoping in the future I will open up my own shop and use these skills together,” said Baida, through a translator.

Baida really took to soccer and enjoyed playing the Thunderbirds.

“We had a really good time. It was lovely. I got to meets lots of new people and socialize,” he said. “I’d like these soccer meetups to carry on — I will definitely be back next week. If they put it on it on three times a week I would.”

But, perhaps the star of the day was Mohamed Al Salamat, a seven-year-old Syrian-born boy who spent most of his life as a refugee in Lebanon before coming to Canada this spring.

Everyone was amused when the much-younger player blocked a shot by an Algoma University athlete.

Al Salamat grinned the whole game and didn't want to stop playing at the end.

“The cool thing is you can see the kids… they gave them t-shirts. It’s awesome. It’s a part of belonging and getting them into, the environment,” said Ayaad.

The event was organized by Sonny Spina of the Northern Heights Soccer League and attended by female players of the VPower Energy team, which he coaches.

Spina, a local police officer, met the Syrian Refugee youth through some of the many communities programs he’s involved with

“A few of (these kids) communicated to me that they absolutely loved soccer, they absolutely love to play (however) some of them told me that they had difficulties signing up for soccer because they were worried about the language barrier. They were worried that maybe their coach wouldn’t understand them and they didn’t want to sign up for organized leagues. So, I really wanted to give them the opportunity to experience this because they don’t get it on a regular basis,” said Spina.

The Saturday meetups are expected to continue.