This 2015-2016 Nike Pitch Premier League soccer ball may just be an old ball to you, but to me and my family, it is so much more. This soccer ball has been very important in our family because it helps bring us together. It used to be a bright red ball made out of synthetic leather. In 2015, my uncle came from Bangladesh to visit my family here in America. After a couple of days, he learned that I loved soccer but I was playing with a ball that was about to fall apart. So he bought me a new soccer ball because he wanted me to accomplish my dreams of becoming a soccer player. After he left, I started taking soccer seriously and surprisingly, my family supported me. My brother in law helped me learn more about soccer. I asked him how he thinks he influenced me to take soccer seriously and he responded, “By playing with you, watching matches, basically putting the sport more in your life.” One thing he said that stuck with me is, “...after playing for a long time you start to feel a connection to the small things in the game.” I knew most of my relatives in Bangladesh played soccer so in a way I was still somehow connected to them even though I rarely saw them.

– SI

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant