I would be remiss in my blogging duties if I ended my day and did not mention that the Homeless World Cup kicked off today in Melbourne!
Take a minute and check out the info and sites.... Kicking Off the Homeless World Cup
By Flickr user Benno Hansen
The results are in for the first day's matches: England, Ethiopia, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Poland, and Portugal have blown away their opponents in the first round of the Homeless World Cup 2008, which is taking place in Melbourne, Australia, from December 1 to 7. The tournament features over 500 football (soccer) players, men and women, from 48 different countries. All of them are homeless.
From the tournament website: "The Homeless World Cup is an annual, international football tournament, uniting teams of people who are homeless and excluded to take a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country and change their lives forever. It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 60 nations working with over 25,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year.... The impact is consistently significant year on year with 73% of players changing their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams."
Also this week, turn your attention to Chile for the South American Football for Hope Festival. Over 200 boys and girls from around South America (as well as Costa Rica and South Africa) are meeting in Santiago de Chile from December 1 to 7 for a street-football
I learned about both of these exciting events from an organization called streetfootballw
(official site)
A BALL CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
There are one billion homeless people living in our world today. The Homeless World Cup exists to end this, so we all have a home, a basic human need.
The Homeless World Cup is an annual, international football tournament, uniting teams of people who are homeless and excluded to take a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country and change their lives forever. It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 60 nations working with over 25,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year.
The first tournament took place in Graz 2003 uniting 17 national teams. At the 5th Homeless World Cup in Copenhagen this summer, 48 nations, 500 players were united for a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country. Melbourne is the host city for the next tournament from 1-7 December 2008.
The impact is consistently significant year on year with 73% of players changing their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams.
The Homeless World Cup supporters include UEFA, Nike, UN, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Ambassador Eric Cantona and international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.
Watch Homeless World Cup TV to find out more.
Join the Homeless World Cup on Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, and Youtube and post your comments, photos and videos.
