Kalenga Found Solace in Sports
by ACAC Sports Writer Curtis J. Phillips
For the first few years of his life, Yusuph Kalenga was just like any other kid.
His favourite pastime was to be outside in the fresh air, playing soccer with friends.
Outside, where communicable diseases thrived and the dangers of stepping on a concealed landmine was only a short distance away.
Kalenga was born in Kigoma, Tanzania at a refugee camp.
A refugee camp to which his parents had escaped from the Rwandan genocide of 1994, where up to 800,000 people were brutally killed.
By 1994 more than 430,000 refugees from Burundi had settled in the Kigoma region while Tanzania itself hosted more than 550,000 from Rwanda
"I grew up in a refugee camp and it wasn't the best but it was the only thing we knew about living," recalls Kalenga, who is currently a student/athlete at Keyano College, playing soccer and futsal for the Huskies.
"They didn't teach us about other places in the world. We thought this is what the rest of the world was like."
With no modern facilities and living in third-world conditions, Kalenga found his sanctuary by falling in love with the sport of soccer.
"For the soccer ball we had a balloon which we would put Paper Mache on and let it sit out in the sun until it was hard and then we would play with that," said Kalenga, who relocated to Edmonton, Alberta at the age of seven along with his mother and three sisters.
His father had died while in Tanzania while two brothers were displaced in Africa.
Fluent in three languages Swahili, French and English; Kalenga was also fluent in the language of soccer and quickly rose up the ranks of Canadian soccer.
He would go on to play for the Edmonton club team Inter with stints at the National Training Centre Prairies and eventually a spot with FC Edmonton Academy.
Signing with FC Edmonton professional franchise, he would be part of the reserve squad, playing in several exhibition games.
Of the transition from soccer to futsal, Kalenga said, "Outdoor you have the freedom and a large space to work and to run. Indoor you have a tight area and you have to move the ball quicker. I prefer outdoor but indoor helps me with my footwork."
With several post-secondary institutions knocking at the door for his talents, Kalenga selected to head north to the oilsands city.
"I selected Keyano because it was a new challenge for me and I wanted to come to a new environment and work on my independence skills,"
A 5-foot-8 midfielder, Kalenga is enrolled in College Preparation.
The 2017 ACAC Futsal Championships are scheduled for March 2 - 5, 2017 in Calgary, Alberta and hosted by the Ambrose University Lions.
Keyano Huskies are four-times defending champions in men's futsal.