LEWISTON — As young boys and girls took a break from homework by playing soccer Thursday, high school players walked into the room at the B Street Community Center.

Eyes of little ones grew large; smiles lit up their faces as they began cheering.

“Heeeyyy! State champions!” one man shouted.

In a Blue Devils shirt, Maulid Abdow, 17, ran header drills with the children. Other high school soccer players — Muktar Ali, Abdirizak Ali, Maslah Hassan, Mwesa Mulonda, Benjamin Musese, Abdiaziz Shaleh and Abdi Shariff — joined in as children laughed with delight.

Since Lewiston High School defeated Scarborough 1-0 on Nov. 7 to claim Lewiston’s first state soccer championship, there’s been a lot of celebration in the city’s Somali community. Much of the team is made up of African-born players.

Abdow’s parents, Hassan Matan and his wife, Shafea Omar, talked about the game. Their son scored the only goal.

“It was an unforgettable moment. The excitement has been extraordinary,” Matan said through a translator. Since the victory, he’s spent $500 on food hosting gatherings with friends to celebrate, Matan said. The win is bigger than a wedding, he said with a smile. “This is history!”

It will also mean the high school students will become good role models for younger children, his wife said. And, the father said, the win will increase attention for soccer.

As the team met on the field Saturday, the stands were full of Lewiston fans, white and black, said Somali Bantu Youth Association co-founder and youth soccer coach Abdikadir Negeye. When the game got going, “every time there was a shot on goal, we jumped up. It was a very tight game.”

He got emotional as he remembered 2008, when some of the players were on his youth teams.

Winning the state title is bigger than a championship, said Rilwan Osman, who with Negeye co-founded and leads the Somali Bantu Youth Association. “I hope people in Maine who think negative about us think that we bring something positive to the state,” he said. Immigrants helped Lewiston get its first soccer title, he said. “To me, that means a lot.”

Any high school championship “is a big source of pride” for a community, said former Androscoggin Chamber of Commerce President Chip Morrison. “It says to some people they’re part of the community. They’re a major force on the team.”

Luke Livingston, president of Lewiston’s Baxter Brewing Co., was at a brewing festival in Portland on Saturday as the soccer game ended. He ran into jubilant players and coaches posing for pictures.

“It’s awesome for Lewistgon-Auburn as a whole,” Livingston said. A championship transcends race and brings people together, he said.

On Wednesday, Osman, Negeye and Jama Warsame looked over dozens of photographs spread out on a table of boys playing soccer in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The three chuckled as they talked about how the players grew so fast. How some used to be short, skinny or shy. Back then, they could see some had talent. The key was providing guidance. Several came from war-torn Somalia and/or Kenyan refugee camps, where life was hard and schooling was limited.

In 2008, Osman and Negeye invited youths to a big meeting and asked whether they wanted to belong to a Somali organization. They said yes. The Somali Bantu Youth Association was formed, providing students with tutoring in schoolwork and social skills.

Soccer was the carrot. “They love soccer. That’s the only sport we have back home,” Negeye said.

Students who worked hard, were respectful and good leaders were given the privilege of playing for a youth association team. By 2010, SBYA was more organized. Osman and Negeye no longer operated out of a van. They had an office and volunteers. People like Osman Bashir gave time to help. They had support from local leaders, including Lewiston community policing officers who praised what the association was doing.

The organization expanded offerings to include adult language and citizenship classes. The number of boys playing soccer has grown from 150 in 2010 to nearly 300. Fifty girls play soccer and compete in track. Osman said they’re working to increase the number of girls in sports.

For many girls and boys, including Anita Yonis, 9, and Ibrahim Yakub, 10, their goal is to play for Lewiston High School. With a state title, more will be even hungrier.

“A lot of kids are saying, ‘I want to be like Abdi,’ ‘I want to be like Maulid,’ ‘I want to be like Zakariya,’” Osman said. At the high school level, only athletes who do well academically are eligible to play sports.

What’s next, he said, are more state soccer championships.

“We want to see this happen every year,” Osman said. “We want to make sure before the kids go to high school, they’re ready. We have something now we can tell the kids to look up to.”

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Winning the state title is bigger than a championship. “I hope people in Maine who think negative about us think that we bring something positive to the state.” Immigrants helped Lewiston get its first soccer title. “To me that means a lot.” — Rilwan Osman.

Members of Lewiston High School’s first state championship soccer team

Seniors: Abdirizak Ali, Dek Hassan, Hassan Qeyle, Zakariya Abdulle, Mohamed Khalid, Maslah Hassan, Abdi Shariff, Mohamed Abdisalan, Ben Doyle, Abdulkarim Abdulle, Austin Wing.

Juniors: Abdiaziz Shaleh, Maulid Abdow, Joseph Kalilwa, Hassan Hassan, Mwesa Mulonda, Ian Hussey, Benjamin Musese.

Sophomores: Noralddin Othman, Muktar Ali, Yusaf Mohamed, Timo Teckenberg, Ryan Bossie, Evan Cox, Alex Rivet.

Coaches: Mike McGraw, Abdijabar Hersi, Per Henrickson, Dan Gish.

Soccer film coming out next year: To see a trailer of a film about the Lewiston High School soccer team, go to https://vimeo.com/145582582   The film is produced by Ian Clough, who graduated from Lewiston High School in 2001 and played soccer. Clough’s film will be featured next year at the L/A film festival.