The Power Of Soccer

90 minutes. That’s all the time you have to deliver a winning performance. But for every 90 minute game, you dedicate hours upon hours training. You commit to a goal. You rely on and support your teammates. All so that when needed, you can step up and change the game.

For the players at the Homeless World Cup it’s the same story. But more than the self-confidence, skills and wherewithal to change the game, soccer and all of its components- commitment, structure, team, goals- empowers the players to change their lives.

Conceived in 2001 by founders Mel Young and Harald Schmied, the Homeless World Cup, now in its seventh year, brings together people who are homeless and excluded to represent their countries and battle it out in a weeklong street soccer tournament.

“We didn’t know it would work, to be honest” Mel says. “But then at the first Cup we saw the players change psychologically before our eyes. The pride they felt by wearing their national colors. The effort they put in, and the love they felt from the crowd. For the first time in some of these people’s lives, they were being treated like human beings. The stands were packed with fans who just the week before crossed the road to get away from these homeless people were now cheering them on as if soccer stars. It is a life changing moment.”

The Homeless World Cup has grown from 18 teams to 500 players from 48 nations with over 30,000 homeless people benefiting from the training and trials for the 2009 tournament in Milan.

Over 70% of the players improve their lives by quitting drugs and alcohol, finding jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families, and even going on to become players and coaches for pro football teams. And success is not limited to the players. The tournament brings new life and shatters stereotypes not just for the homeless but the spectators as well.

Join the team and be a part of the team at homelessworldcup.org