MOHAMED

Mohamed Haroun knows what it’s like to be stuck working a job that leaves you feeling unfulfilled. To work so hard only to get very little back in terms of satisfaction, a personal connection to the job being done.

“You're there to work. That's it,” Mohamed says. “You're gonna do your job, and go home at the end of the day.”

Mohamed prefers when the work he’s doing is a job that is meaningful to him and the community around him. While this wasn’t the case in some of his past jobs, that is the case with his current one: working with Free Play For Kids as a junior coach.

“I wasn't doing anything that important,” he says about his previous jobs, “but now I'm working and I'm helping people do a lot of things, staying around kids, enjoying myself.”

Born in Khartoum, Sudan, Mohamed would come to Canada for vacations before his family moved to Edmonton full-time when he was 11, for the sake of their child’s education. Growing up, Mohamed has enjoyed playing soccer, a sport he’s loved since he was very little. 

“Most of the time I use it to get away from people,” Mohamed says. “It helps me a lot with stress. I like [playing] it with my friends or alone.”

“Sports are definitely one of the most important things in people's lives. I can speak for myself, soccer has helped me so much.  Sports are very important because they're good for your mental health, your physical health. You can make new friends while you're playing sports. You can make new connections.”

Mohamed was a natural fit for Free Play, which he was introduced to through his school. His coach, Jihad Saleh, who was with Free Play at the time, let Mohamed and his friends know about the program, and it wasn’t long before Mohamed and not only his friends, but the friends of their friends had signed up.

Almost three and a half years later, Mohamed was selected to start working as a junior coach. He and the other junior coaches assist the senior coaches on the field during practices, games, and activities, while still carrying the same expectations as those senior coaches. Under the coaches and technical directors, junior coaches like Mohamed learn how to be leaders and mentors to those whose positions they were in not long ago. 

“I’ve been enjoying every moment,” Mohamed says.

Being a junior coach is a job Mohamed both greatly enjoys and takes very seriously. He knows that even just saying “hi” to the kids and starting to build those connections with them can be an invaluable experience for those children.

“A lot of kids don't have many friends,” Mohamed says, “but if you can get closer to them, You can learn more about them, help them when they're in need. So when they need something, they don't have to be worried about asking somebody for help, they can just come directly to you.”

With Free Play, Mohamed now knows what it’s like to work in an environment that’s fulfilling for both him and his community. And he’s excited to keep working with Free Play going forward. 

“In the summers before I knew Free Play,” Mohamed says, “I would just sit at home, play video games, go out with my friends, waste my time. But now it's helped me make a schedule for my life, and given me a chance to play and to work. It gave me new connections."

“I've made people happy. I’ve given more people access to a lot of new things which is a really cool thing to think about: That I’ve accomplished something in my life.”

Written by Stefan Salegio