TRANSCRIPT:
Ameerah Silo is carefully packing her bag before hockey training.
She's one of the many Yazidi refugees in Toowoomba who are part of a program hoping to give migrants a taste of the sport.
The 21-year-old moved to Australia in 2023 and says playing the sport has helped her build English skills and meet new people.
“I don’t know the speaking, I don’t know anybody, difficult, first time living in a different country. Like when I go to hockey, like we make a friend and trying together and talking together and we are running together, everything is together."
Toowoomba has the largest Yazidi population in Australia, according to data from the last census.
Many now call the regional centre their home, after fleeing Islamic State in northern Iraq and Syria.
This hockey initiative is aiming to build language skills and a sense of belonging for a community with complex needs.
18-year-old Asmhan Kankah is also one of the program's participants.
"Hockey Australia has helped us to forget what we've endured before coming to Australia. It has helped us Yazidis to be happier, and that's what I like about it most."
Helping to run the program every Friday is Toowoomba Hockey Association manager Jessie McCartney.
He says improving self esteem has helped some Yazidis to find employment.
"We knew that when they first came that they would be nervous and their English language was still developing and they had never played the sport before, so it was really important that we had a very nurturing environment that was just about building connections with people. What we've learnt through the Belong Hockey program is that we actually have to create an environment where people feel like they belong and then that integration happens automatically."
A big part of making the program accessible is through providing transport to training.
Locals like Geoff and Karen Murdoch are some of the many retirees that volunteer each week.
They drive Ameerah to practice and also help out on the field.
Karen says she's made many new young friends, which makes her feel younger too.
"We felt these kids deserve to have people welcome them into their circle and it took a little while but I think they have come out here and they have found their group. We have been welcomed into their homes at different times for cups of tea or meals and I think they have looked upon us as mentors and almost grandparents and we have just lapped it up and loved it."
Geoff says bringing together locals and the refugee community has also helped breakdown misconceptions about refugees.
"I had no understanding of their plight, when we first started. I hadn't heard of Yazidis and where they came from and we have done quite a bit of research on it and you get a much better understanding of what they've been through and what they are trying to deal with and it makes you a lot more caring and understanding of people."
Some of these players like Ameerah have also joined local hockey clubs.
Jessie again.
"We are really lucky in Australia that a lot of our regional centres have the ability to take in refugees I think the shift that has to happen in our thinking is diversity helps improve the health of our sport associations."
