It may look small with just four players on each team defending shrunken goals on pint-sized fields, butĀ the impact that organized street football has on the world’s homeless populations is anything but tiny.
In trying to empower its less fortunate citizens through football, Costa Rica’s Listening to the Homeless AssociationĀ will bringĀ an eight-person rosterĀ to the Homeless World Cup in Amsterdam next month to compete against 47 other countries.
JosĆ© Luis Monge FernĆ”ndez foundedĀ the associationĀ in 2008 and has taken a team to the World Cup every year since. In that span, he’s been able to take rehabilitatingĀ drug addicts and impoverishedĀ immigrants from Costa Rica to places like Italy, Poland, Brazil, and Chile.
“It’s a struggle but it’s one that you have to keep fighting,” Monge said. “When I started they called me crazy, but we’ve had some success and now I’m even coming out with a book.”
The new book entitledĀ “Del CartĆ³n al AviĆ³n,”Ā or “From the Cardboard Box to the Airplane,” details Monge’sĀ seven-year journey of showingĀ homeless Costa Ricans the worldĀ through football and the many roadblocks along the way.
The Costa Rican Institute of Sports and RecreationĀ (ICODER) funds the money for plane tickets to the World CupĀ and other events like the Street Football American Cup, which Costa Rica won in 2012. But in terms of food, housing, and equipment, the association is largely on its own. Monge said they get no private sponsorship and have minimalĀ capital to spend on basic amenities.
However, the Homeless World Cup Organization, which has hostedĀ the charity tournament since it began in 2003, pays to feed and house the athletes for the entirety of the week-long event.
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āWhen a homeless person gets involved in football, they build relationships and become teammates who learn to trust and share,” the organization writes on its web site. “They have a responsibility to attend training sessions and games, to be on time, and to be prepared to participate. They feel that they are part of something larger than themselves.ā
InĀ order to qualify for the Homeless World Cup’s rosters, a player must meet at least one of the following criteria:Ā Has been homeless at some point after September, 2014; Enrolled in drug or alcohol rehabilitation center; Homeless immigrant without positive asylum status; ReceivingĀ his/herĀ main income working asĀ street paper vendor.
Players must also be more than 16 years of age, according to World CupĀ rules. Monge said his playersĀ range in age from 20Ā to 35 years old.
In addition, no athlete is eligible if he or she played in a previous World Cup.Ā Each participating countryĀ can have a mixed roster of men and women, but it must haveĀ two teams of four players each: one goalie and three players in the field.
Monge said the Listening to Homeless Association starts each year with a 16-person roster beforeĀ designating eight who will travel to the tournament. The other half is placed in workshops and rehab clinics, he said.
The Municipality of San JosĆ© estimates that around 1,800Ā people in Chepe are homeless.
Costa Rica is listed in Group C alongside five other teams, including Italy and Canada. The World Cup runs Sept. 12-19.
