Home, soccer, home
This weekend, the U.S. squad for the Homeless World Cup is being put together. Think about that for a minute.
They have no address. No place to keep their clothes, other than a plastic bag.
But they love soccer. And they want to represent our country.
Homeless people from seven states, including California, and Washington D.C. have been picked to congregrate in Charlotte, N.C., through Sunday, hoping to qualify for a team that will be one of 48 to meet in Cape Town, South Africa for the fourth Homeless World Cup from Sept. 23-30.
They have one goal in mind: Eliminate global poverty. Or, at least the organizers of this whole thing have that optimistic business model in place.
Dr. Jeff Grunberg, the CEO of Homeless World Cup-USA, organized the formation of the American team and the first USA Cup hosted by the Urban Ministry Center. Grunberg is a sociologist working with the homeless since 1976 and has published a street newspaper called BIGnews. Lawrence Cann, director of the Art Works 945, is also a homeless service provider who brought last year's team from Charlotte to Scotland for the '05 World Cup.
Read more to find out how you can help with donations to this amazing cause....
For an overall idea of what the Homeless World Cup is all about, this Wikipedia entry is pretty thorough. Find how how this four-a-side game is played, what the requirements are for national team membership and a history of the event.
One of the first places to go to find out about what this tournament is all about is to track down this book, "Goal," written by the tournament's co-founder Mel Young, and available on the homesite for the tournament. Proceeds for this and the sale of Nike-sponsored T-shirts help support the cause.
This annual street soccer event is always looking for sponsors and those who want to help keep it going. For more information, click here.
As a side note, the world organization did some research about how this tourmanent affects those who participate. Their results:
-- 94 percent (198 of the 217 surveyed, players from 2005) said it gave them "new motivation for life."
-- 85 percent said that it improved social relations.
-- 77 percent said it "changed their lives significantly" in one or more of the following ways:
38 percent have regular employment; 40 percent have improved housing; 28 percent have developed better education.
-- Of the 43 percent who addressed drug or alcohol dependency, 68 percent of them say they've succeeded in getting a handle on it now.
Tweleve players from 2005 now make their living partly from soccer as coaches or players with pro or semipro teams.
Supporters of this cause include Ringo Starr, Sir Alex Ferguson (the manager of Manchester United) and world-known players such as Rio Ferdinand and Luis Figo.
Nike and the UEFA (Europe's main soccer organization) are also big supporters. In fact, all fines that the UEFA level in competition since 1999 are donated to this cause.
Educate yourself more about this, as well as the homeless' plight in general. It's a real eye opener.
