Over 60 players from four Ottawa Community Housing neighbourhoods came together for the second-annual Community House Soccer Festival on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Hillcrest High School.
The young participants wore wide smiles along with T-shirts from lead coach Raz El-Asmar’s Ottawa TFC Soccer Club, pizza from the OCH Foundation, and went home with soccer balls from the host Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club.
The event provided a fantastic finish to the season for the teams from the Blair Court, Russell Heights, Confederation Court and Banff Avenue Ottawa Community Housing neighbourhoods, which had hosted weekly sessions throughout the summer in their own communities prior to the festival.
Organized collaboratively by Ottawa TFC, the Ottawa Internationals, the OCH Foundation’s recLINK program, the participating Community Houses, and the Ottawa Sports Pages, the partners offer the soccer sessions free of charge to the participants from low-income communities.
OCH Foundation programs & operations manager Lindsey Ziebell said leaders’ dedication to “creating such a positive and fun atmosphere has been truly inspiring.”
“Thank you for making this summer such a memorable one,” she added. “We appreciate all the hard work you all put into making this possible.”
Check out photos by the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Dan Plouffe below:
This article is part of the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Inclusion in Sport series. Read more about local sport inclusion initiatives at: OttawaSportsPages.ca/Ottawa-Sports-Pages-Inclusion-In-Sport-Series/.