When one of my co-workers
first approached me about participating
in the D.C. street soccer
team about a year ago, it struck
me as sort of odd.
After all, I had not played since
high school, 39 years ago, and I
could not see myself as being an
asset to any team. Nonetheless, I
decided to give it a try.
One thing led to another, and
I ended up becoming a regular
member of the team.
Never mind how awkward I felt
– and probably looked as well – I
still stuck with it.
The co-worker who brought me
on has moved on, both in terms
of work and in terms of the team,
but I’m still playing in the position
of goal keeper, just as I began in
June 2007.
Last year, I wrote an editorial
about participating in the 2007
Homeless USA Cup with the
D.C. team when we traveled to Charlotte, N.C. for the games. This year, the
2008 Homeless USA Cup games are being
held in Washington, D.C., beginning June 27
and lasting through June 29. Eleven teams will
be participating in the games: Atlanta, Austin,
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Michigan, New
York, St. Louis, Charlotte, Richmond, Minneapolis,
and Washington, D.C. The winning
team will go on to the Homeless World Cup to
be held in Melbourne, Australia, in December
2008.
Soccer – referred to as football outside the
United States – played by teams of homeless
individuals, has become a worldwide movement
that is changing lives everywhere it is
played. Teams currently exist in 48 different
nations. The sport gives motivation and empowerment
to the participants who seek to
rebuild their lives.
I wrote in my editorial
last year about the very
positive atmosphere that
pervaded the games in the
2007 Homeless USA Cup.
An almost addictive feeling
went everywhere with
the team during our stay
in Charlotte. We were received
very hospitably, saw
a film about street soccer
around the world, heard
about programs for street soccer both in the
making and in action in various locations in
the United States and had the opportunity to
interact with the other players who had come
for the games. When the awards were handed
out at the end of the games,
the D.C. team was awarded
the Fair Play Award.
This time, the games will
be held on D.C.’s home turf
at the Washington Kastles
Stadium at the site of the
old Convention Center on
11th and H streets Northwest.
The playing field is
much smaller than a regulation
field (52x72 feet) and
is surrounded by boards.
The rules of the game are considerably more
restrictive than those for regular soccer. A
game is composed of two halves of seven
minutes each in length with a one–minute
interval between each half. The games are, as
a result, very fast–paced and intense events
played at close proximity in a very short
amount of time.
The D.C. team has been practicing twice
weekly in anticipation of the games. We are
aware that the opposing teams have been
putting in no small amount of effort as well.
The competition will surely be stiff, with each
team making its best effort to win. The real
story will be told at the games themselves this
weekend; it is then that we will see who is the
real winner.
Maurice King has been writing for Street
Sense since January 2004. E–mail him at
benadam@cyberdude.com.
