Street Soccer

If all goes well, on July 25 eight homeless men representing the United States will take the court to defend against the likes of soccer giants Brazil and Germany, England and South Africa. There will be 32 countries in all, each vying for the cup at the second annual World Homeless Cup of Street Soccer to be held in Gothenburg, Sweden. Last year, in Graz, Austria, the American team managed seven wins out of 13 games for a ninth-place finish. This year, they want the cup.

But some of the team's best players may not be able to make the trip. More formidable than the competition is the challenge of securing proper travel papers; many of our footballers have little or no identification. Some have lost their important documents, others find it hard to contact family members to help locate them; still others come from countries where even with helpful contacts it's next to impossible to get legal documents in a timely fashion. When i.d. is established, visa and green card issues quickly become complicated. As coach of the U.S.'s team, I have watched at close range as team members try to clear these hurdles.

Take the case of Komlan Johnson, a journalist in exile from his native Togo. He's young, in good shape and a fierce ball-handler who has never missed a practice. He's seeking political asylum and wants to be an American citizen. Though his visa runs out at the end of June, lawyers who've agreed to represent him say that with a formal application he can remain-but he cannot leave during the application process for anything other than an "emergency." Understandably, he does not want to return to Togo, so he will stay the course and follow the rules.

Mahdi is an excellent player, lightning fast and, like many of the team's foreign-born players, adept at "the soccer dance." He can't make the trip because although his birth certificate can be located-in Khartoum "50 percent of the mail is opened"-he came here under a U.N. passport obtained via the Swiss, which has since expired. There's no question that he cannot travel abroad.

Then there are the bureaucratic nightmares. During the team's first attempt to help William Martinez get his birth certificate from the Honduran government, we telephoned the bureau of official records. The woman who answered instructed us to send the money via Western Union-in her name, of course. She promised to go out "during her lunch hour," get the money and send out the certificate right away. That was three weeks ago. When we called back, we were told that as an official document, Martinez's certificate must be opened by customs who would then "send it on." Our hopes are not high.

Even among those who have their paperwork in order, there are other problems unique-or common-to our players. For instance, you can't get a passport if you owe more than $5000 in child support (or less, depending on a particular state's law). If you are on parole, depending on your particular case, you can be denied the right to travel.

Other players are plagued by the normal ills of homelessness: swollen ankles, fatigue, addiction. Last year, one of our players, a former super heavyweight boxer who represented Puerto Rico in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul was forced out with a blood clot in his leg.

The Homeless World Cup grew out of a meeting of street newspaper editors in Capetown, South Africa, in March 2001. Harald Schmied, editor of the Graz paper, Megaphon, took on the notion and managed to raise half a million dollars for the first year's games. Eighteen countries, including the U.S., agreed to field teams, and we sought out our own funding from corporate and private backers. None of our city or state money went toward the trip-only outside funds.

We received a lot of publicity. HBO and BBC-funded documentary teams traveled with us to Graz, and we were covered in the New York Times, the Daily News and Newsday, as well as by the local tv networks. This led to a new stream of funding and intense media interest, including a full-length feature film currently in development.

More than one report questioned the whole notion of a homeless soccer tournament. Until basic needs are met, how can we justify spending money on such an apparently superfluous matter?

My answer is this: not by bread alone. Each week, I see camaraderie at practice among men and women who would otherwise be sitting in chairs or carrying on with the day's regular and often boring activities. I see them come to life under the instruction of our volunteer coaches, and there's no argument that they've been given a sense of purpose.

It's a great thing-and a noble thing, we believe. We want our team to win, but our priority remains the care and social work advancement of not just our players, but everyone who turns to us for help. This new sports recreation program is just one of several ways we do outreach to the city's homeless population. We also sign up vendors for our street newspaper, BIGnews, and we hold weekly writing and photography groups-all to attract interest, to bring people in off the street, to offer shelter and friendship, a good hand, intense social work, new opportunities.

Five of the six people we took to Graz are now employed and housed. They view themselves differently and feel better. And this year, with help from the Ford Foundation, we will study the effects that sports activities have on depression, isolation and poverty.

What kind of team will we have this year? Even after several months of planning and twice-weekly practices, after recruiting players at the food lines and in the shelters, with all the interest we'd stirred up-we had just a few bona fide candidates who could play, travel legally and pass the medical tests. But then three new players walked in: two hailing from Peru, the other from Haiti. Not only do they have their papers in order, they're naturals on the grass.

If we can get the team up to eight solid players, we may have a chance.

Incidentally, for the 2005 Homeless World Cup, the executive committee of the International Network of Street Papers named New York City as host. With no paperwork problems standing in our way, our team will give Brazil and Germany, England and South Africa a run for their money. o