Basketball a tool for integration among young immigrants in New Brunswick

A basketball coach in New Brunswick wants to use the universality of sport to help young immigrants better integrate into their school.

The initiative Ben Morrison was born in September at Claudette primary school-Bradshaw in Moncton.

He said he noticed that many of the students were newcomers when he started his new job as a physical education teacher.

Former employee at Immigration New Brunswick, Ben Morrison says he knows the importance of the feeling of belonging for successful integration.

When a child arrives at school without having learned the language, for example, it can be more difficult for them to integrate.

According to Ben Morrisonthe universality of sport can then become like a language in itself. So he decided to start a basketball club made up of students from third to eighth grade who already have basic knowledge of the sport.

It’s something that’s really simple. It’s not just the students, but the parents are here too, they can chat together and find new friendshe said. It’s also an opportunity for me to get to know the parents.

We’re going to leave all our differences [de côté] and it’s an opportunity to just put the spotlight on basketball.

The teacher was responsible for the retention of students of foreign origin when he worked at Immigration New Brunswick.

He notes that when adult newcomers leave the province to settle in large centers like Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal, it is often when they feel isolated and want to be part of a community.

We need to work on this [au] New Brunswickhe said. It’s really simple, we just need [les aider à bâtir] true and unique relationships in their communities.

A promising project

So far, his initiative has been very successful. Ben Morrison initially hoped to have around twenty registrations, but it ended up having double that number.

One of the players, Anis Dories, is in fifth grade and this is his first interest in basketball. It’s going well for now. The most important thing is to have fun and play as a teamhe said.

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Many parents watched their children bond during a training session this week. Several told Radio-Canada that they viewed the initiative very favorably.

It really makes integration easier for children or for us even as adults.explains Chaouki Brues. Sport or any other activity really helps people integrate.

The season of the Claudette-Bradshaw school basketball club ends in mid-December, but if the enthusiasm is to be believed, the experience will be repeated.

Ben Morrison plans to extend these activities to kindergarten and create older teams this winter in the Odyssée and Mascaret schools.

Ben Morrison dream of one day seeing these young players evolve in professional leagues.

He is today the coach of an athlete of Senegalese origin, Chris Joff, who should join a professional team in Saint-Jean next spring.

Based on a report by Jimena Vergara