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PHILADELPHIA -- During Bawitha Tlings tumultuous journey fleeing war and forced labor under Myanmars dictatorship -- first to a Malaysian refugee camp, and eventually to Philadelphia -- one of the few constants in his life was soccer.We played every day in our country at school ... in recess time or after school, Tling said. I came here, and play every day, every weekend. Soccer is my favorite way to relax myself, to escape depression.Tling, 18, now a business major at a community college, is one of around 800 players participating in a newly created soccer tournament for immigrants organized by the city of Philadelphia. The first match, between Vietnam and Mexico, is scheduled for Friday.The 32 teams represent countries from India to Ireland, Cambodia to Congo. In the months running up to the tournament, named the Unity Cup, theyve been practicing several times a week and holding dozens of friendly matches.Interest in the inaugural event was strong. Within five days of opening registration, all the team slots were taken, with captains delivering commitment letters by hand to the citys Office of Immigrant Affairs.There were people waiting outside the office before they opened at 8 oclock in the morning, said Bill Salvatore, Unity Cup organizer with the citys Department of Parks and Recreation. It was pretty intense.Philadelphias foreign-born population has been booming, growing from barely 100,000 in 1990 to over 200,000 this year -- about 13 percent of the population, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Still, the citys professional soccer team, the Union, gets only a fraction of the attention showered on its football and baseball franchises.The Unity Cup championship will be held Nov. 5 at Citizens Bank Park, home of Major League Baseballs Philadelphia Phillies, and city officials expect at least 5,000 people to attend. The winning team will receive a trophy modeled on the National Hockey Leagues Stanley Cup, with names of the victors engraved each year.Organizers are planning an international festival in the stadiums parking lot, with food trucks, craft stalls and performances.The Unity Cup is the brainchild of Mayor Jim Kenney, who says he got his inspiration from the World Cup.Remember, soccer is in every neighborhood, said Kenney, the descendent of Irish immigrants fleeing famine. The trash talking and the competitions already started between Mexico and Italy, between the Irish and the Polish, the Germans are calling out the Senegalese -- I mean its awesome, its going to be fun.The teams arent restricted by nationality, either. The Indian team has players from Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Egypt -- giving Indian players a chance to build comradery with other immigrants, not just play against them.I really enjoy meeting new guys, forming new networks. The game is a really beautiful game for bringing people together, said Thorne Holder, a Trinidadian living in Philadelphia and the goalie for team Germany. Soccer is a team sport. I think thats what gives it its allure -- friends, friendship, common interests.Immigrants have long played soccer through grassroots organizations, but the Unity Cup appears to be the first immigrant soccer tournament organized by a government body in the country, according to city officials and U.S. Soccer, the countrys governing body of soccer.Demand has been so high that plans are already being drawn up for next year, with the potential for knockout preliminary rounds by continent -- Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas -- in order to accommodate more teams. The city envisions the Unity Cup will become a yearly event, Salvatore said.Players are enthusiastic about the chance to chat with people from ethnic enclaves all over Philadelphia whom they never would have met otherwise.Its like family, said Indian team captain Matthew Varughese, an engineer who moved to the U.S. as a child. Were not competing for money ... Were like brothers. Its good, its fun, you know -- its family.Wholesale NCAA Jerseys . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Cheap College Basketball Jerseys . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. http://www.cheapncaaauthenticjerseys.com/ . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros. Cheap NCAA Jerseys China . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. Wholesale College Jerseys Authentic . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.WASHINGTON -- Dont expect a change-the-name movement for Washingtons new Arena Football League team.While there has been questions around the name of Dan Snyders Redskins in the NFL, owners of the expansion AFL franchise went in a very different direction in calling the team the Washington Valor. Ted Leonsis and officials from his Monumental Sports & Entertainment organization unveiled the name, logo and colors on Thursday.Leonsis said the name stands for what the franchise hopes to build when it begins play in the spring of 2017 and holds a mirror up to the community and fan base.It calls out the best in all of us to be brave and strong and celebrate our country but also creates an identity locally, Leonsis said. I think our community in D.C. and Maryland and Virginia will see a lot of themselves in the name and theyll be very, very proud of it.The Valor, who will be the AFLs ninth team, have a V logo that features the head of an eagle and three stars. Predictably red, white and blue are among the teams colors along with graphite, all of which managing partner Roger Mody said had significance.Monumental also owns the NBAs Wizards, NHLs Capitals and WNBAs Mystics, which all have red, white and bluue as their colors.dddddddddddd The Valor will join them at Verizon Center in downtown Washington.Valor represents bravery and courage, and to be courageous one must be strong, committed and truthful, Mody said. It was important that it represented the nations capital, the vibrancy of the city and its sports teams.Coach Dean Cokinos said his team, which still doesnt have any players, will be tough, physical and play fast. Monumental hired outside consultants to help come up with the name, which Leonsis said feels absolutely right.Commissioner Scott Butera said the ownership group was responsible for choosing the name, adding that the league approved it.They know the community better than we do, so its important that we have a name that we think is going to be well-respected by the community, that represents that area, fits the demography of that area, Butera said. The league would only step in if there was something that we felt was inappropriate or didnt represent the city well.Recent AFL team names include the L.A. Kiss, owned by Gene Simmons, and the Portland Steel. ' ' '