\n Some of them have faced verbal abuse in the high street and when visiting supermarkets in the area. He said one player he spoke to last week displayed a \u201cpalpable loss of confidence\u201d following the protest by Save Our Future & Our Kids Futures<\/a> earlier this month.\n<\/p>\n \n The team manager, who requested not to be named due to the \u201chostile atmosphere\u201d he feels there is around asylum seekers at the moment, told the Sunday National some of the players had been at the Falkirk accommodation for around two years.\n<\/p>\n \n He said the length of time it takes for asylum claims to be processed has led to him fearing for the players\u2019 mental health, and he is now also worried about their\u00a0safety when they\u2019re out on the streets.\n<\/p>\n \n Asked if he was worried about the players\u2019 safety, he said: \u201cDefinitely, yes.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cI think while they\u2019re in the hostel, they\u2019re going to be okay. Their mental health is dreadful, but that\u2019s probably more due to the time it takes to get an asylum claim done.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cI\u2019m more scared for their safety if they\u2019re out and about.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n He went on: \u201cThey don\u2019t talk about it very much because it\u2019s very difficult for them, but a lot of them have had remarks shouted at them in the street.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cWhen you hear about the journeys they\u2019ve made, some idiot shouting at them across the street is nothing compared to what they\u2019ve been through, but I think they are a bit surprised because when they first got here,\u00a0it was okay. I didn\u2019t hear of anybody getting a shouting at.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIt all seems to have picked up a bit lately.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n The cricket team was formed last year and involves players from the Falkirk hotel\u00a0and another asylum seeker hotel\u00a0in Bathgate.\n<\/p>\n \n \n The Snow Leopards manager has also been volunteering with Friends of Scottish Settlers in Falkirk for more than three years and has helped move people from temporary accommodation to local authority flats, build CVs and get National Insurance numbers when they gain refugee status.\n<\/p>\n \n He said the asylum seekers he has worked with want to contribute to Scottish society, but he accused the UK Government<\/a> of wasting that resource and \u201cwarehousing\u201d people.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIf the decision was quick about granting them refugee status or not, I wouldn\u2019t necessarily have an issue with the hotels,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cBut I know people who have been waiting for a decision for three years. You\u2019re putting your life on hold, and you\u2019ve effectively warehoused all these people.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cA lot of them are young. They all come here with a lot of enthusiasm about their new home that they now feel safe in and this is where they are going to make their life, and it is just ground out of them over these years.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s wasting all this energy and resource and willingness to work hard in the community and be part of Scotland.\u201d\n<\/p>\nPlayers in the Afghan Snow Leopards cricket team (Image: Ruaraidh Holden) In their first match against Dollar<\/a> Cricket Club earlier this year, they secured a three-wicket victory<\/a>. Many of them now play for the first and second team at Westquarter & Redding Cricket Club in Falkirk.\n<\/p>\n