Victoria Park Auckland was the venue yesterday for the first official get together for the NZ Homeless World Cup team. In the presence of Close Up (TV 1) Mark Sainsbury and Wynton the players were taken through a light training session.
 The event was organised by LIFEWISE and STREET FOOTBALL AOTEAROA.

• The official New Zealand charity partner of the Homeless World Cup
• A group of volunteers with a common goal
• Encouraging local NGOs to assist SFA in getting homeless people involved in soccer

(From left: Amphay P., John Love, Wynton, Mark Sainsbury-Close Up, Marcel Coe)
LIFEWISE
o       A leading support service for homeless people in Auckland though The LIFEWISE Centre (2 Airedale Street)
o       Has for many years been the main provider of basic support services for homeless people cooking & serving 47,000 meals a year
o       Committed to making long-term positive change possible for all homeless people and in early 2008 launched a new framework for service delivery which focuses on transitional support – assisting individuals into housing and resourcing them with the skills and expertise to maintain tenancies.
LIFEWISE, previously known as Methodist Mission Northern, provides a range of other community and social services to children, families and older people.
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 Homeless World Cup
 
History

• A life changing annual international football tournament.
• It was founded by a Scotsman called Mel Young and has become a global movement
• This year will be the sixth Homeless World Cup (Austria 2003, Sweden 2004 Edinburgh 2005, Cape Town 2006, Copenhagen in 2007).
• Recognised as a major annual event on the global sporting calendar 
• 2008 is the first time New Zealand will be represented at the event

 
Format

• 2008 tournament - Melbourne 1st-7th December. Special stadiums will be built at Federation Square and Birrarung Marr with play taking place on an enclosed hard pitch
• 4-a-side with rolling substitutions from a squad of 8 players.  Each game is 14 minutes long.
• Winners progress into winner’s brackets to play for the final Homeless World Cup Trophy and the remaining teams continue to play for 5 other trophies. Each player leaves the tournament with a medal, but they also receive a once in a lifetime opportunity to change their lives. 

 
Who competes in the Homeless World Cup?

• About 500 players from about 50 nations are expected to attend the event in Melbourne.
• It is for both men and women over the age of 16 years. 
• Each player must have been homeless at some point after the 2007 Homeless World Cup (4th August 07) in accordance with their national definition of homelessness
• In NZ we are using the NZ Coalition to End Homelessness definition which includes rough sleepers, people living in temporary accommodation and shelters, people without security of tenure or in overcrowded or sub-standard housing. Also eligible are recent refugees and those currently in drug or alcohol rehabilitation who have been homeless at some point in the past two years.

 
Why have a Homeless World Cup?
 

• There are over a billion homeless people in our world today. 
• NZ homelessness is on the rise. A recent street count in Auckland found nearly a hundred rough sleepers within 3k of Sky Tower on a Sunday night in winter. Those were just the visible tip of the iceberg of a problem that has no official national government response.

 
How are players selected?
 

• Each country stages national trials that involve homeless people training for a period of time sufficient for them to make changes to their lives. 

o       In NZ Currently we have a weekly training session running for homeless players in Wellington, coached by Tony Morrison and two sessions running in Auckland, one coached by Stephen Fletcher, the other established independently by Salvation Army which will feed into our national selection trials. Developmental work in Auckland is overseen by trustee Stephen McLuckie who works for LIFEWISE. We are encouraging the formation of other feeder groups around the country. Players will be selected for the final team and to represent their country according to ability and the level of commitment they demonstrate.
o       Team selection occurred in late August

How does the Homeless World Cup make a difference?

The Homeless World Cup is able to change the scenery, challenge stereotyping.
 

• The HWC raises the issue of homelessness in a way that captures the imagination.
• It challenges stereotypes
• People who have been spat at the week before are cheered by thousands and treated as soccer heroes during the tournament.  The feeling of belonging, challenge of working in a team, regaining a health- oriented attitude towards life, self esteem and the experience of fun are a powerful combination to change a person's life.
• Over 70% of players who take part make significant changes- repairing relationships, getting off alcohol or drug dependencies or getting a home or job. An amazing fact.

 


How many spectators attend the event?
 

• This rises each year. In Cape Town there were over 100,000 people. 
• In addition, thousands of people log on to the webcam around the world to watch live.
• The Australians will be televising the final live on TV.
• The recent selection trials for the Kenya team alone attracted hundreds of thousands from the slums of Nairobi.

 
KICKING IT
 
KICKING IT is an inspiring documentary film following seven players as they prepare for the 2006 Homeless World Cup in Cape Town.
Directed by Susan Koch and narrated by Colin Farrell, the film first screened as part of the official selection at the 2008 Sundance Film festival.



There will be a charity screening of the KICKING IT on Tuesday November 18th to raise funds to support the team representing New Zealand at the 2008 Homeless World Cup and LIFEWISE’s ongoing work involving homeless people in soccer.  
 
Event details - Tuesday 18th November - 6pm - Academy Cinema (located near Auckland City Library) - Tickets $25, including refreshments.
Book KICKING IT tickets (Academy Cinema, 18th November 6pm).

• www.lifewise.org.nz  
• Phone (09) 302 5390

 
Contacts & More Information
Homeless World Cup

• www.homelessworldcup.org

 
Street Football Aotearoa

• streetfooty@gmail.com

 
LIFEWISE

• www.lifewise.org.nz
• stevem@lifewise.org.nz