Atticus Hoffman is a 16-year-old soccer player in Boise. He runs a week-long soccer camp for refugee children in his city, which is a “relocation center”. In his third year of operation, he’s done tremendous good in providing a fun experience for children who’ve seen atrocities in their native countries.

One child explained how in his country, they would take heads of lettuce and fill them with clay, and bake them in the sun to form soccer balls!

I’m linking to a story from 2007 about the project, and also to a video news report from this year’s camp which just finished. I was struck by a phrase in the article that proves to any soccer mom that these refugees are just normal kids:

The kids stood outside their apartment complexes at 7:30 a.m. each day, balls in hand, soccer socks on (if not their shoes), waiting for the YMCA bus to pick them up.

2007 Article: Soccer Camp for Refugees

*** May 2010 Update: Atticus applies for a $10,000 scholarship for his One Wolrd Soccer program.