Building Community Through Athletic Activities

Utah has a significant population of immigrants and refugees, which is constantly increasing. With the Cache Refugee and Immigrant Center recently recognized as an official resettlement agency, the refugee and immigrant populations are projected to grow, especially from Somalia and Syria. These families have a variety of physical, mental, emotional, and social needs. In Europe, formal athletic groups help migrant background families integrate into their communities through sport. Although research has been completed in the United States on informal soccer pickup games, no research has been done on formal groups and their ability to build community in the U.S. like in Europe. This study seeks to fill this gap by investigating the impact of an organization in Northern Utah dedicated to using "sport to provide a supportive environment for new American families to integrate with local communities for personal, physical and social growth." To protect the confidentiality and privacy of the study participants, the organization name has been omitted and will be referred to as simply "the organization." To this point, the organization lacks meaningful research to measure its progress in meeting its mission statement. In order to qualify and quantify the organization's impact, this project investigates the question: "Does the organization help families integrate into local communities and how?" During the summer and fall of 2023, I interviewed ten families participating in the organization. I recruited a mix of American and new American families using recommendations and information from the organization's head coaches to contact them. Five interviewees required an interpreter. Interviews were qualitatively analyzed using NVivo. The interview data suggests that The Organization integrates families into the community by providing a space to build friendships, expand one's worldview, and access community resources. The friendships have proven to be both homogenous and diverse, helping families build community with those of both similar and different cultural backgrounds to themselves. Parents deeply valued the opportunity their children had to expand their worldview by meeting and associating with individuals of different cultures, thus socializing them to unique ideas. Many resettled families lack the time, funds, and knowledge of activities to take advantage of resources offered for their children. The organization helps families overcome those barriers. The experiences of participants in this organization reflect those in similar organizations in Europe. The themes found suggest that while athletic activities have substantial benefits for health and community, they are not the only way to build community for those of migrant backgrounds. Similar organizations with a focus on different meaningful activities may have potential to build community for immigrant and refugee families as well. Future research on U.S. athletic organizations and other groups is needed.