Inspiring athlete to meet Pope

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This article was published 18/10/2022 (1107 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipegger Vivek Bhagria has worked to inspire others in the dwarf community for much of his athletics career. Now it’s time for the Pope to inspire him.

Bhagria, 27, and the rest of the Canada/U.S national dwarf soccer team will fly to Vatican City to visit Pope Francis on Oct. 26. The pontiff reached out to the club personally following their qualifying for the first Dwarf Copa America World Cup in Argentina next summer.

The squad secured its spot in the inaugural global tournament — which is set to be the largest ever for those of smaller stature — after sweeping the Mexican national team in a best-of-three series in Mexico last month.

The multi-national team will travel to Rome with the Argentinian national team, which will represent the Pope’s home country in the event.

“I was like, ‘What? Are you kidding me?’ Because, you know, it’s like the Pope and the whole world wants to go see him,” said Bhagria of the news being broken to him by his coach.

“It was just an honour. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.”

The group will visit for two-hours, during a time in which Pope Francis is expected to recognize both squads for their accomplishments in soccer and offer some words of encouragement ahead of their big tournament next year.

“It’s just a huge inspiration. For me, being the size that I am, born with dwarfism, I just want to be a leader and show people that everything is possible, and show other people growing up with dwarfism that if you try your best, you can do anything in life and you’ll be rewarded at the end of the day,” Bhagria said.

The opportunity to represent the country on the global stage isn’t lost on Bhagria, who has donned the Red and White and won Gold in multiple international tournaments since 2013.

Soccer was one of Bhagria’s favourite sports while growing up, but he was bullied for size. The harassment became too much for the young player, pushing him away from the game for many years. Now, as one of the faces of Canadian athletics for those born with dwarfism, Bhagria has become a leader for those who are going through similar challenges he faced.

“We’re playing for the country and living up to the dream,” Bhagria said. “When I was younger, I wanted to win some medals in life and the thing was, I didn’t get the opportunity when I was younger, but now it’s medals, medals, medals coming in and I am proud of it.”

“I feel like this is a thank you, this is the recognition for all the hard work, playing for the country, it’s a huge honour.”

Jameel Kassam, the other Canadian visiting Pope Francis, plans to make the trip across the pond on Friday to catch a local soccer tournament in Spain before jumping to Rome.

The Toronto native, like Bhagria, has represented Canada in international competition since 2013.

“I was surprised that the Pope knew about the community and the little people and what we’ve kind of built over the last five, six years here. We’re a small community and we’re pretty new… so we’re so happy and it’s an honour to be invited there,” Kassam said.

“I think it’ll be a great stepping stone for our community and gonna just bring everything together. And hopefully, we can raise more awareness and it should legitimize the whole organization.”

That organization is the Dwarf Athletic Association of Canada, which is working to have its soccer branch included under FIFA’s umbrella. Should that come to fruition, it would allow the community to grow exponentially and receive funding to further athletics for people with dwarfism.

“These changes are happening for us,” Bhagria said. “People with dwarfism are able to come out and show their skills and tell people, ‘We’re not different. We’re just like anyone else.’”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam