Lewiston High School beat Scarborough High School this fall for the Maine State Class A schoolboy soccer title. Scarborough is a perennial powerhouse. Lewiston is not. Lewiston this year, however, benefited from having a number of immigrants who have moved to Maine, playing for the team. Whether from Somalia, Sudan or Uganda, the new arrivals in Maine play the game of soccer well, and have been very successful at different Maine high schools.
I am an SHS alum. I played soccer. I don’t like to see the Red Storm (nee Redskins) lose to anyone in a big game. But this game, and occasion, was different.
Were I to write a letter to the Lewiston High soccer coach. Here is what it would have said:
“Dear Coach: Congratulations on your victory over the SHS boys in the state championship game.
I know many of your players are new to this country. I know many of them have black skin. I know the mayor of your city has made many public statements that leave people, at best, confused about whether he welcomes immigrants to this country.
Many people just don’t like people who are different from them.
That is just how the world works.
Different colors. Different smells. Different dialects. Different clothing. Etc. etc.
We are seeing this now in the immigration debate in the U.S. Presidential race. Donald Trump is the leader of the pack in statements that I bet your players do not appreciate hearing.
The purpose of my letter to you today is to tell you how impressed I was with your players on the day they played SHS. They were physically skilled soccer players who seemed to play unselfishly together as one unit, but they also seemed to have a genuine love for the game, your team, and their teammates.
As an American citizen (who was born on the Fourth of July, BTW…), I was very proud to see a high school athletic contest that featured kids who had made a very difficult journey from faraway lands to come to my home state of Maine.
Anybody who loves sports should have taken great pride and enjoyment at the game that day in Portland at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Anybody who loves kids should be glad to see the joy involved on the part of your players in that big moment in their young lives.
I am sure it was controversial in my hometown of Scarborough. We like our soccer. We also like winning. Having ridden in the parades down Route 1 in the l970s as we won our first five of what would one day become 10 state titles, I know that losing that day to your team was not something people like to do around here.
That’s OK.
Youth sports, at its best, are not just games. It is life lessons. Some are hard. Some are easy.
Some are temporary. Some are made for a lifetime.
There is a saying I love: “A giant never stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.” The game of soccer in Maine is big. Sports in Maine are popular. Schoolboy playoffs are like the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk.
Congratulations on making your mark in the game that day. Congratulations to your players.
Welcome to America.
Dan Warren is a trial lawyer in Scarborough. He can be reached either through private Facebook message at the Jones & Warren Attorneys at Law page, or by email at jonesandwarren@gmail.com.
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