When he was eighteen, Gode Katembo founded the Manitoba African Cup of Nations Tournament. These days, it has expanded to become the Canada African Cup of Nations, with programs in five cities across the country involving 2,000 young athletes with roots in 24 African countries and eight other racialized communities. We speak to Gode and to his mentor: coach and community builder Mandela Kuet.
Also, check out the Museum’s Historian blog, Soccer and Belonging: Sport and Adaptation in Canadian Migration:
https://pier21.ca/soccer-and-belonging-sport-and-adaptation-canadian-migration
Countless Journeys, Season 7
Episode #2
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Gode Katembo:
In the neighborhood that I grew up, there was one person with a soccer ball and fifty kids across the block. That was the one thing that we all played with, right? So just one soccer ball.
TP: Soccer is often referred to as the Beautiful Game, a nickname that describes the elegance of the gameplay: the fancy footwork, the nimble way players move around the pitch, the grace of a perfectly executed pass.
But another reason it’s both beautiful, and wildly popular, is its accessibility.
Today on Countless Journeys, we visit Winnipeg, where Gode Katembo has brought hundreds of people together through the beautiful game of soccer to foster community.
GK: 3855 And I reflect back to that, now that I'm an adult, and I said, why it only took one soccer ball to make fifty kids happy? One soccer ball. And at that moment, I understood the power of football.
TP: That story is up next.
FADE MUSIC
TP: Welcome to Countless Journeys from the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. I’m Tina Pittaway.
SFX soccer playing
It’s a bitterly cold December evening in Winnipeg... but the atmosphere at the All-Nations Cup is heating up.
On the schedule tonight: Canada vs Romania, and Italy vs. the Central African Republic.
At the University of Manitoba indoor soccer fields, family, friends and fans turn out to cheer on teams representing eight different countries... with players from around the world.
This annual tournament grew out of another soccer competition founded in Winnipeg... the Canada African Cup of Nations.
It was founded out of a desire to bring together players from
newcomer communities... Africans who loved soccer.
Through the game, they could overcome differences, build bridges between communities... and have fun.
Gode Katembo is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, but spent much of his childhood in a refugee camp in Uganda before arriving in Manitoba. Even when his family had very little, he always had access to a ball to kick around.
And that’s part of the reason why, when Gode was trying to think of a way to make a difference in the lives of youth in his hometown of Winnipeg, his first thoughts were of soccer.
His quest to help local youth eventually led to him founding the Canada African Cup of Nations, a multi-provincial tournament that’s loved by people of all ages.
Producer Anne Theriault joins me with more of Gode’s story. Welcome to Countless Journeys Anne!
AT: Thank you, Tina.
TP: So, we heard in the intro about Gode Katembo’s lightbulb moment about the power of soccer to bring people together.
AT: That’s right! Gode and his family arrived in Canada when he was thirteen, which is a tough age for anyone, let alone someone trying to navigate life in a new country. On top of that, Gode hadn’t yet learned English and was one of only two Black students in his new school, so he felt like even more of an outsider. There was one place, though, where these challenges seemed to evaporate, which was out on the soccer pitch.
Gode Katembo: I always say, soccer is a language that we all can understand. So as long as I could kick the ball, I was able to find friends and be able to integrate in a community.
TP: It’s amazing how sports helps people transcend barriers. They’re almost like a language of their own. So, how did this lead to him founding a tournament?
AT: Well, that takes us to the other element of this story: how life-changing it can be to have a mentor. And to talk about that, we have to travel back in time to the late 1990s. That was when Mandela Kuet arrived in Canada. Like Gode, Mandela’s family had also fled from a war – in his case, they had left South Sudan for Egypt before finally making it here. And like Gode’s family, Mandela’s family settled in Winnipeg’s inner city. His experience there really shaped how he understood the world.
Mandela Kuet: There wasn't a lot of immigrant families, I would say, from my community, but there was other immigrant’s families. So I had friends from, you know, Iraq, Afghanistan, and some of my good friends were from Serbia and Croatia, and like, I had a lot of friends, even some people from South America. So, it was a bit different just seeing that everybody else was going through the same transition of just trying to figure out what life is.
Anne Theriault: And while there were kids from all over in Mandela’s new neighbourhood, he says that the residents were primarily Indigenous, and he quickly saw the similarities between his community and theirs.
Mandela Kuet: You know, we got a chance to learn a lot of things about their culture. And one of the things that I connected with right away was, you know, the concept of family taking care of each other, you know, so my older sister was like, looking after us most of the time, and some of the friends that I had, their grandparents were looking after them. So, I could relate to that, because I grew up around my grandparents, and I could see that a lot of their parents were trying and, you know, just like my parents.
Tina Pittaway: It sounds like Mandela really benefited from this early exposure to all these different cultures. Was there ever any tension in the neighbourhood between different groups of people?
AT: Yeah, definitely.
Mandela Kuet: One of the issues was that the Indigenous community felt that newcomers were coming in and taking up the resources that were meant for them, and then the newcomers families felt that the Indigenous people were given everything, and they didn't really fight for it, and I don't think they understood the historical context of what Indigenous people – even me I didn’t know at that time until I got the chance to learn more about why the Indigenous communities were going through these things, the colonial history that they were going through. And this was one of those examples that both communities felt like they were pitted against each other, and that they had to fight for the limited resources that are there.
TP: That sounds like a really complex landscape to grow up in.
AT: For sure. And there was also the problem of gangs in the neighbourhood, which Mandela was drawn into as a young man. He believes that many parents who arrive here as refugees view Canada as a place where gang violence doesn’t happen, which leaves their kids uniquely vulnerable to recruitment.
Mandela Kuet: I think a lot of people come here, from my experience, saying that Canada was a paradise, that there's no danger and none of that. And you get a shock to see that, and I think parents were not equipped to deal with that.
AT: Mandela’s uncle, his mother’s youngest brother, actually lost his life to gang violence.
TP: That’s really heartbreaking. So, Mandela was being drawn into this life, which is really hard to escape once you’re in it. How did he eventually get out?
AT: Well, the answer is partly mentorship through sports. Mandela loved basketball, still loves it. And he and some of the kids in his community were invited to join a youth basketball club. And Mandela’s experience with this team was really transformative, and a lot of that had to do with the coach who’s son was also on the team.
Mandela Kuet: My basketball coach, was like somebody that was really important because he took the time to just talk to us about other things that we were not having chance to have that conversation like, you know, being a father figure and giving us the discipline, but also giving us room to make mistakes and fail, you know.
AT: And it was because of people like that coach that Mandela was able to stop himself from going down the same path his uncle did. They also inspired him to become that kind of mentor to kids in his neighbourhood, and he became involved in a lot of local initiatives. He’s especially passionate about building bridges between newcomer and Indigenous communities, and helping kids who are at risk of becoming involved with gangs – he actually started a podcast called Real Talk Winnipeg with Indigenous activist Michael Redhead Champagne, and founded an anti-gang organization called Hood Fams. It was through one of these many community roles that he met Gode.
TP: I was wondering how these two stories were going to intersect!
AT: Right! We’re finally coming full circle here. So, at this point, Gode was in his third year of playing soccer at the college level, and wanted to find a way to make a difference in the Congolese community in Winnipeg. And then he had another lightbulb moment.
Gode Katembo : So then I started coaching within my own community, on Saturdays, then I came to realize I'm like, Okay, well, I'm coaching in my own community, but they don't have a league, or tournament, or sense of it where they can be competing with other maybe communities or in other leagues. So that's kind of where the whole idea came.
Mandela Kuet: I met Gode when I was in an organization called African Communities of Manitoba, or ACOMI, and one day he showed up and said that, hey, you know, I got this idea, I'm trying to do this tournament. And, you know, sounded like, really great. I was like, wow, you know, you really thought about this. I was like he’s got a vision and that was one of the things I was looking for.
AT: Mandela was Vice President of ACOMI at the time, and asked Gode to come in and present his idea to the board. But they weren’t able to give the support that Gode needed.
Mandela Kuet : But I was like, I gotta help this person. Because of what he was looking to do. And I think Gode would have done it without me, or, you know, either way, because he was so determined.
AT: They started brainstorming about what a tournament might look like.
Gode Katembo : Based on what Mandela mentioned, there was a lot of, like, gang involvement that was going on, where you see the Eritrean gang did not like the South Sudanese gang or this gang, so it became these community gangs, again going against each other. So I was ok, well. Maybe we’re not gonna compete for territories and drugs and all of those things. Why don’t we compete for something that is more meaningful? A game of soccer. And many of these people who are already involved in gang culture they were looking for something that they can belong to. A sense of identity, like many of us as we come here to Canada as newcomer youth just were looking for that sense of identity. It’s just maybe you and your parents you don’t have no uncle no auntie no nothing. You are in a new country, you barely speak the language, you are trying to integrate, to find yourself again in those adolescent years, between those teenager years, 14 to 21, you don’t know who you are and you are trying to fit in and there’s peer pressure from school, peer pressure from the community, peer pressure from your own community trying to say ok you gonna make it. And you don’t know.
You are trying to figure out these things yourself. So that leads a lot of them to gang involvement because they are looking for identify, a sense of meaning, a sense of purpose.
AT: But what if youths could channel the things that drew them to these gangs – the search for identity and a place to belong – in a different way? Say, representing the countries they or their families came from on the soccer pitch?
Gode Katembo: So, I was like, okay, you know what? We'll introduce what we call the Manitoba African Cup of Nations. Back then I was just thinking for Manitoba thought the issue that was only going on in Manitoba, but did not understand this is a national issue that was going on even in other provinces. So that's the reason why we call it Manitoba African Cup of Nations.
AT: The inspiration of course was the Africa Cup of Nations, a huge biannual event that has been running since 1957. Gode’s grass roots version of that tournament was first held in 2019, and it was pretty small, with just four countries being represented: Congo, Eritrea, Ghana, and Senegal. Spectator-wise, Gode says they would get maybe fifty people coming to each game, at most. And then, of course, the next year…
Gode Katembo: 2020, COVID hit, which was, I would, I’d say it was tough, right for everyone, for people who are in sports, people who are in events management space, just for everyone. But one thing that we came to understand again, COVID exposed a lot of issues that was going on in a lot of the newcomer communities, low income families, they did not have the privilege to say, I'm going to have a basement where I can stay and kick the ball around or to exercise and all of the thing, mental health was rising up higher than ever.
And in our communities, people were looking for something, because where we come from, we live in a community at large, seeing people, connecting people. So, when that was taken away, when those restrictions kicked in, we saw a lot of mental health rising in our community. Domestic violence went up between wife and husband, or just relationship, children too, as well. So, there was a lot of issues was going on.
TP: And I would think, like a lot of community events, Covid kind of threw it for a loop.
AT: Yeah, but in a way it wound up being positive. Because after COVID restrictions were lifted, but there were still social distancing restrictions, there was a huge increase in interest in the tournament. People were craving connection, and since the tournament was held outdoors, it was a relatively safe way to gather, and spectators could practice social distancing. Attendance went from fifty people at each match to five hundred people. Since then, they’ve only continued to grow. This past year there were twelve teams participating, and the organization has expanded into Ontario, which is why it’s now known as the Canada African Cup of Nations. Gode says people from other provinces, like Alberta, have asked for a tournament there too.
TP: So, what’s it like to attend a match for the Canada African Cup of Nations?
AT: Oh yeah, it’s like a huge party.
Gode Katembo: When you come at the Manitoba African Cup of Nations event, of course, what you're expecting is a lot of football, and fans, people who are passionate, core fans of football. But not only that, we came to understand is a sense of also to celebrate our heritage, our culture, because football has a culture around it.
Mandela Katembo: The fan base was crazy, like just going there and seeing how all the people came out, all the families, all the kids, and then the players, like, so much talent. And some of the people that Gode coached are playing at a high level. And just the memories that he’s creating.
Gode Katembo There's music. There is food, because food and music is part of culture. There is what we call even what people wear to these games, right? Fashion is a part of the football culture too, as well.
Mandela Kuet: You know, sometimes I go there and I'll see people I haven't seen for years, and I'm like, yo, where you been, you know, like, now I'm seeing you only here at the tournament.
Gode Katembo: Now, as much as many of them are from the African descent or African continent, we all still have our differences. Some are Muslim, some are Christian, some from the north, some are from the east, some are francophone, some are anglophone. So, there's still the differences, but what brings us together is that beautiful game of football.
TP: Wow! It sounds like it’s truly an event for the whole community.
AT: Totally. And it’s led Gode to start two new initiatives.
Gode Katembo: Now for me, I'm on a personal mission and a personal statement this, after working with hundreds, maybe thousands, of newcomer men in recent years, mental health, it is a serious crisis that is affecting many of them and in many of our communities, mental health is like a taboo. You don't talk about it, but it's something that is killing them in silence.
TP: That makes so much sense, because he saw that positive connection between mental health and being able to gather for soccer tournaments after COVID restrictions were lifted.
AT: Right, and he’s also seen how men, particularly men of colour, really struggle to talk about mental health. A lot of times they don’t even know how to articulate what they’re dealing with.
Gode Katembo: This past Saturday, we are at the men's group, and I told everybody the newcomer men group, I said, in your language, if you can give me or translate me the word depression or depress in your language, I'll give you $5 and nobody was able to find that word, because where we come from, we don't have these terminologies. So, when they say depressed, they don't even know what that means.
AT: That men’s group he mentioned is Play for Mental Health. He also runs a program for teens called Beyond Sports that covers all kinds of issues they might deal with off the field. Both initiatives aim to use sports to help men and boys open up about their feelings, among other things.
Gode Katembo: Toxic masculinity believes that men, you're supposed to be strong, you're not supposed to show weakness, you know, you can't cry. So, I'm challenging that. So, it's like I'm dealing with mental health, toxic masculinity. How do we become better men? How do we show up better in our relationships, at the workplace, and all of the other areas of our lives? Again, because we have so many layers. So, what I try to do again, I'm using sports, really, to deal or to handle difficult conversations that normally they will not want to speak up.
TP: And to think this all began with an earnest but sort of vague idea that he wanted to help youth in his community.
AT: Yes, it’s like, every step of the way, he kept seeing new problems and thinking up new ways to address them. He’s always willing to put in the work to try to solve something.
Gode Katembo: I always make this joke, it’s like, I started as a soccer coach in a community, but I end up as a social worker right, because now they trust you, and they bring you all of these burdens and understanding, when you start building those relationships with these men, you come to understand they are going through a lot of things. And our goal, again, because we're soccer organization, or sports organization, we are not experts in those spaces. Our goal is to work with other agencies that are, that have the expertise in this space, mental health, gender-based violence, and all of the things, and connect them to the resources that they need so they can integrate better in society.
TP: What a journey from where this started! So, what comes next for Gode?
AT: Well, they’ve started hosting some non-African teams, like a Ukrainian team and an Indigenous team. And they’re hoping that with all the excitement around the World Cup happening in Canada, the US, and Mexico this year, they’ll be able to encourage more teams representing other countries to join. And his next big goal is to establish a league for women, particularly newcomer women. He says a lot of them don’t grow up playing soccer like he did, and by the time they come to Canada, they might feel like they’re too old to start, but he’d like to see that change.
TP: It sounds like he’s really committed to using soccer as a way to break down barriers, in the same way that it broke down barriers for him when he first came to Canada.
AT: Absolutely. His core belief is that soccer should be accessible to everyone – again, going back to that idea that all you need is one ball and a field. He says that too often we rely on a pay-to-play model for sports in North America, but that leaves a lot of people out.
TP: The way he approaches soccer, it really is the beautiful game. Thank you for bringing us Gode’s story, Anne.
AT: Thank you!
TP: And if you want to learn more about how soccer has helped to strengthened migrant communities across Canada, there is a terrific article on our website called Soccer and Belonging: Sport and Adaptation in Canadian Migration.
It explores how the beautiful game can help foster friendships and connections, not just for the players, but for the volunteers and fans as well.
You can find a link to the piece in our show notes, or head to pier21.ca and search for Soccer and Belonging.
And if you aren’t already following us on your favourite podcast app, be sure to hit follow and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
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Thanks for listening to Countless Journeys, brought to you by the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 at the Halifax Seaport. This season of Countless Journeys is presented by Air Canada, Canada's airline for welcoming newcomers home.