Canberra Kangaroos refugee football club enters mainstream competition as players connect with new home

 Page Oval is not Canberra's best-known sports arena.

But its fields are home to a football club that, for some new Canberrans, plays a much bigger role than sport does in most lives.

The Canberra Kangaroos was founded nine years ago by a group of Afghan refugees. It entered into the annual refugee tournaments held around Australia.

But this year it's gone mainstream. For the first time, the club is toughing it out in Canberra's state league competitions.

Its secretary, Ali Ekhtyari, said that while the Afghan community began the club, it now had players from Pakistan, Brazil, South Sudan, Iraq and Iran.

Read More: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-07/act-canberra-kangaroos-refugee-football-club/101307712