Beach Soccer helps migrants forget their sorrows

Three men rescued by the Aquarius in the Mediterranean take part in a competition in Valencia to try leaving the nightmares they have experienced behind

Beach Soccer, and sports in general, have been always praised for the capacity they have to help people integrate within their community. This past weekend we had a new instance of that, with three men that had been rescued from drowning offshore by the Aquarius vessel taking part in a beach soccer tournament in Valencia. 

After weeks of fear, uncertainty and having undergone terrible conditions in the sea after being pulled from the waters of the Mediterranean when trying to reach the coast of Italy, the Aquarius could dock in Valencia’s harbour with the 629 migrants rescued.

Heartbreaking stories hide behind these human beings who desperately  offshore in Lybia to scape a cruel reality involving torture camps and miserable conditions. Now, in Valencia, all them dream of a new life, a new opportunity.  

The Red Cross (Cruz Roja in Spain) thought that a very good way to make these days a bit happier, and help them forget the true hell they have been put through in the last weeks, was to take part in the beach soccer competition held this past weekend in Valencia. And three of those three migrants loved the idea. They made part of the Boza FC (organized by the Spanish Red Cross), and really enjoyed competing on the sand. 

The team did not manage to get into semi-finals, but the most important match had been already won: the one that got them one step closer to integration, one step closer to their new lives.