Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town
by Warren St. John
Book Summary Information
Author: Warren St. JohnEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2009-04-21
ISBN: 0385522037
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780385522038
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Book Reviews of Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town
Book Review: Behind the curtain: the life of young refugees playing soccer in Georgia
Summary: 4 Stars
There are millions of people removed from their homelands because of war, hunger, and pestilence, and they are often forced to live in massive refugee camps. Refugees who cannot return home because their life is in danger are sometimes resettled in other countries. This is the tale of refugees resettled near Atlanta, Georgia.
A headstrong young Jordanian woman, Luma Mufleh, gets her degree from Smith College and decides to make the US her home. She settles in Atlanta, and one day chances upon the town of Clarkston, about 10 miles away. She is struck by the number of international people, and learns that Clarkston is a place where refugees from numerous countries are, well, dumped (my word, not author Warren St. John's). She had always been interested in coaching soccer, and she observed a number of boys playing. She reluctantly was allowed to join in, and proved her mettle. Luma decided to develop a soccer team, and this expanded to a 13 and under, 15 and under, and a 17 and under soccer team. In the meantime, every player had to adjust to US cultural norms, the uprooting from their extended families, and whatever personal demons (some quite tragic) that followed them from Somalia, or Sudan, or Albania.
They also had to deal with a very strict coach, Luma, and a town government and police force that was featured in the New York Times for their insensitive, racist attitude toward these refugees.
Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference, by Warren St. John, is their story.
St. John is allowed to be the fly on the wall as he travels with the "Fugees" team to practice and the matches. He meets with the players and their families, and tells their tales. He watches Luma demand loyalty and commitment from the players; to cross Luma and her rules is to be banished from the team, the Fugees Family. And St. John lets the mayor of Clarkston trip on his own tongue as he tries to justify keeping the refugees off Clarkston's sport fields.
In this volume, you quickly become acquainted with St. John's style. You'll read about soccer matches in great detail. You'll learn the personal histories of the players. You travel with Luma as she tries to keep the Fugees together.
I don't know how she is in real life, but St. John doesn't make Luma sound like a likable person. A drill sergeant is not a likable person either. Luma's "system" of coaching is not "the system," and St. John makes it sound like every other soccer team in the greater Atlanta area, and perhaps the US, never has to deal with complex relationships and backgrounds. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad Luma is successful. But she is a tyrant coach.
One last thing. As St. John meets with the players and their families, you will note that refugee girls are invisible in this story. Does it seem strange that a Smith College graduate would not even try to put a girls team together?
That must be another story...
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