A local soccer club based in Garland is building trust between first responders and members of the Vietnamese American community, one game at a time.
On Saturday, VN United Football Club in Garland hosted its third annual First Responders Tournament, during which a dozen teams representing North Texas law enforcement and fire departments competed. Medical City Healthcare also participated in the tournament, held at the Winters Park Soccer Complex in Garland.
Jennifer Nguyen, a board member of VN United, left Vietnam five decades ago and has been a longtime advocate for the Asian American community in Garland. She and her husband, Thomas Nguyen, helped establish the Vietnamese Community Activities Center in the late 1990s.
Some in her community may be afraid of police because of the language barrier, Nguyen said. There are also those who have had bad experiences with law enforcement while they were refugees, she said.
“Especially for the older generations, police were the people who threw you in jail or beat you up in the street,” Nguyen said.
As a mother of a Garland police officer, however, Nguyen said she has a deep respect for first responders and their families. The tournament is a way to break down some of the distrust her community may have of law enforcement and other first responders, she said.
“We’re bringing the community together with first responders, and we let them know that they’re human beings,” Nguyen said.
The top three winners of this year’s tournament were awarded money to benefit charities of their choosing.
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department won the tournament, with teams from Dallas police and the Garland Fire Department taking second and third place.
Michael Clark, a Garland Fire Department captain, said the tournament also gives officers, firefighters and medical crew a chance to interact outside of their capacities as emergency responders.
“It’s fun to get out here and do something different than making runs with them when something bad is happening,” Clark said.
Contestants and the beneficiaries of the Saturday tournament are listed below:
- Arlington Police Department. – Arlington Police Foundation
- Garland Fire Department – Garland Fire Fighters Cancer Fund
- Garland Police Department – Garland Police Never Walk Alone Foundation
- Grand Prairie Police Department – Special Olympics Texas
- Dallas County Sheriff’s Department – Mercy Street
- Dallas Police Department (two teams) – Brotherhood for the Fallen
- Duncanville Police Department – Duncanville Citizen Police Academy
- Fort Worth Police Department – Cowtown Friends of FWACC
- Irving Police Department – Irving Police Athletic League
- Lewisville Police Department – Lewisville Police Foundation
- Medical City Healthcare – Medical City Foundation