In a unique fundraising event this Sunday, the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition will be hosting a soccer game between the Vanderbilt Men's Club team and Nile Hawk, a Nashville team composed of Sudanese refugees. The proceeds from the charity game will be given to the Lost Boys Foundation of Nashville and the Sudanese Community Center.
'Kick it with STAND' will bring together two diverse communities in Nashville - Vanderbilt and the Sudanese refugee population - in an effort to further integrate the Sudanese into American society.
"We hope to foster relationships between the two soccer teams, build lasting friendships and ultimately have fun, while raising money for a very worthy cause," said STAND President Jennifer Hirsch.
The players on the Nile Hawk soccer team have suffered terrible trials throughout their lives. They are all Lost Boys of Sudan, the survivors of a Sudanese civil war, which drove thousands of young boys from their families, friends and homes. Aged between four and 15, these boys wandered for years, walking over a thousand miles to reach a Kenyan refugee camp. Many died along the way from starvation, disease and rebel gunfire. There are around 150 Lost Boys living in Nashville today.
However STAND does not intend for this event to focus on the Lost Boys' horrific past. Instead, they will focus on their much brighter future in Nashville.
"Although it is important for us to know their history and trials, we wanted to serve them in a way that would create new life in a place that is their new home," said STAND Events Coordinator Ian Rountree. "We still want to learn from them, but the focus of the game is fun and friendship rather than recalling their difficult past."
STAND urges all students to come out to the soccer practice fields near Blair at 2 p.m. Sunday for an intense, fast-paced soccer game.
"It's going to be a great game," Rountree said. "The Vandy team is a group of great players but Nile Hawk is a wild card. Some of these men grew up as boys with no toy in their village but a soccer ball. Nile Hawk will be fast."
Kick it with STAND will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. this Sunday on the Sports Club Field near Blair. Tickets cost $5and are available in Sarratt Promenade and The Commons.
