Clarens Cheridieu looks out across the field and yells encouragement to his friend. “Come on Mohammed!”

Mohammed Mohammed gives the soccer ball two quick touches, tap-tap, the second sending it over to Clarens, who taps it crisply back to Mohammed who has sprinted up the field. That’s the drill: sharp passes and hard running. Clarens, from Haiti, recently graduated from William Fleming High School. Mohammed, who was born in Somalia but grew up in Kenya, will be a Fleming junior next year. Both are soccer players.

Although football and basketball have long dominated the sports landscape at the Northwest Roanoke school, soccer coach Landon Moore has been quietly building a competitive squad with players plucked among refugee and immigrant students. His players come from Haiti, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Liberia, Jamaica, Honduras and Mexico among others.

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