Young people are encouraged to dream, to set limitless goals before the reality of adult life has a chance to tether them.
For 17 year-old Ajak Jongkuch-Ayuen football has long been the bedrock of those dreams.
"As long as I can remember, I used to play soccer all the time," he says.
In 2017, Ajak made the long journey with his family from a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya, to Australia, settling in Goodna, west of Brisbane.
His younger brother Maler sums up the difference in how the world game is played at their football club in Darra compared to Kakuma.
"When I was back in Africa it was just a free-for-all."
Older brother David, who was 22 when the family moved to Australia, says resources in Kakuma were limited.
"I used to have a pair of boots, but they weren't even my boots," he says.
David, who is studying social work, has now started his own charity that sends boots back to Kakuma.
He says sport can be "crucial" to feeling a part of the Australian social fabric.
"For us who have come from overseas and left family and friends, we have to kind of rebuild again," he says.
"It's very important because back in Africa the kids kind of just go outside and play, but here in Australia it is different."
While there are more opportunities for development and training in Australia, they come at a cost.
'A user-pays system' emerging
Tracy Tucker is the founder and CEO of Pushing Barriers, a program doing its best to help kids with refugee backgrounds to access organised sports in Brisbane.
"We started five years ago when we realised kids with a refugee background weren't getting the opportunity to play at clubs," she says.
"Many of the kids didn't have the capacity to play at clubs because their parents didn't have the money to pay the club fees and transport was also quite a big issue.
"Many of the families didn't have cars or didn't have the capacity to take them to training and games."
The work done by the program is designed to take the load off parents as much as possible. Club fees are covered and players are driven to and from training and games by volunteer drivers.
Pushing Barriers supports 81 players.
Just over half of them play at Darra Centenary Stormers.
Club president Belinda Fisher says the Stormers reduce the cost for Pushing Barriers players to "the bare minimum to cover costs".
She sees a worrying trend in football towards prioritising fees over pure talent at representative levels.
"I feel really sad that it is coming to that, it becomes a user-pays system, particularly for some of the more elite levels," Ms Fisher says.
"The more you can pay, it seems to be the higher you can play."
Club fees often cost as much as $500 per player for junior club play, but David says cost is not the only barrier for kids with a refugee background, many of whom come from large families trying to find their feet.
"It's very hard — I can speak from my position — basically I get up and go to [university], in the afternoons I go to work. Mum just the other day had to get her licence," he says.
"So it was really hard to get the boys to soccer and stuff like that."
Both Ajak and Maler are supported by Pushing Barriers.
"It feels really amazing. I'm scoring goals, winning — that feels really good," Maler says.
"They gave me this opportunity to do what I love. I'm really thankful for that," Ajak says.
"Shout out to Ms Tracy."
Calls for government and clubs to step up
Pushing Barriers relies on volunteers, and Ms Tucker is volunteer-in-chief, working between 20 and 30 hours a week without pay.
She feels comfortable doing this — she loves her work — but knows it isn't sustainable long-term, especially if the program is to be expanded.
While Pushing Barriers is currently limited to the Greater Brisbane area, next year they will expand south to Logan.
"There is a big demand for our program … We've had a waitlist this year," Ms Tucker says.
"We have been approached to start our program interstate.
"For Pushing Barriers to grow and go interstate, we would absolutely need more funding in order to pay people.
"We should be paying people in our operational team because they are putting in a huge amount of hours. Funding would be crucial."
While those at Pushing Barriers relish the opportunity to help where they can, Ms Tucker says there should be "an overarching policy around making sport accessible to all", that ensures clubs are doing their part to support families who cannot afford exorbitant fees.
"I think there should be a way that all clubs should be providing discounted fees to those families … I don't believe it should just be the odd club in Brisbane," she says.
Ms Fisher says being that "odd club" makes Darra Centenary Stormers a special place.
"It's an amazing experience. At the end of the day, I want to see kids on the ground, I want to see them kicking soccer balls, I want to see the joy on their faces," she says.
"It brings no greater joy than to provide that opportunity for them."
