Soccer festival aims to welcome Ukrainian families to Winnipeg

A group of athletes in the city are looking to make Ukrainian families feel welcome over a game of soccer.

The Winnipeg Phoenix FC, a youth soccer club and the affiliate of the pro-team Valour FC, held its Ukrainian Soccer Festival in Anderson Park on Saturday afternoon.

"We've invited the Ukrainian community to come out and have some fun, and get to meet some of the Winnipeggers and players from our club as well," said James Silva, the technical director of the club.

"Some of these families have just come here in the last month or two, and don't know nobody in the city. We wanted to make them feel comfortable and get to meet people."

Yatsuk, a Ukrainian newcomer to Winnipeg, was among those attending the festival.

"This is huge, this is massive for the community, especially because there is a lot Ukrainians arriving here recently," he said.

"What they are doing here is just massive support for the people who is coming here from Ukraine so they can adapt faster, just to be more comfortable, especially for the young kids when they need to feel this kind of support."

Silva said the goal of the festival is to welcome the families and let them know people in Winnipeg care about them.