Homeless World Cup Foundation and Slum Soccer: The India Story

Football may not be the first sport that springs to mind when we think of India, but Homeless World Cup national partners Slum Soccer have been using football as a tool of engagement with homeless and marginalised young people for over a decade now and have become established as a leading figure in the Sport and Development field in India.

"What started as simple weekend sessions in 2001, reaching out to 10 children, using football as a tool for social improvement and empowerment has bloomed into fully fledged football coaching camps, educational and healthcare workshops and societal development programmes, bringing a positive influence to the lives of nearly 70,000 men, women and children in over 63 districts all around the country." (Slum Soccer Annual Report 2011-12).


Slum Soccer and Homelessness in India

The second most populous nation in the world, India has a population of well over a billion people. 170 million people live on the streets and 260 million people (a group almost equivalent in size to the entire population of the USA) live on less than a dollar a day.

Slum Soccer engages homeless and marginalised people through football, providing them with not just the physical, social and psychological benefits of playing a sport, but with access to health and hygiene care and information.

Taking part in regular football sessions provides a simple framework for homeless people to develop a new way of life, with structures and goals - a platform for a better future.

When a homeless person gets involved in football they communicate and build relationships with others; they become teammates, learning to trust and share; they have a responsibility to attend training sessions and games, to be on time and prepared to participate. They feel part of something.


Here an interview I had done in July 2011 with Abhijeet Barse from Slum Soccer in Berlin, Germany.

Emmanuel Petit joins the Homeless World Cup team

The former Arsenal, Barcelona and France international player, Emmanuel Petit, has become a Homeless World Cup Global Ambassador supporting the vision of football changing homeless people's lives.

Emmanuel Petit was one of the main supporters of the 2011 Homeless World Cup football tournament held in Paris last summer. He has traditionally been involved with social projects in France and fell in love with the Homeless World Cup and its worldwide impact during the Paris event.

Petit said: "Football is a powerful influence. When you take someone from the street, put them in a square football pitch, in a team where there are rules, referees and team mates – that's life too, that’s society. The players have to respect themselves, each other and the referees."

"I truly believe that sport and football is very important for the human being and that is why I decided to be an Ambassador for the Homeless World Cup."

The ex-Arsenal and Barcelona footballer played 63 times for his country and scored the third goal, one of them in France's 3-0 victory in the final of the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final against Brazil at home.

Follow this link to see a recent interview to Emmanuel Petit during the Paris 2011 event.

More information about the Homeless World Cup at www.homelessworldcup.org | facebook.com/homelessworldcup | @homelesswrldcup

Homeless World Cup team goes to India to deliver Football Coach Program

#FootballFirst will be developed with our National Partner in India Slum Soccer in association with the English Premier League's International Small Grants Fund.

Homeless World Cup works through an International network of 73 Partners and has developed #FootballFirst as a unique, modular coach education programme with flexible entry points to best suit the needs of our global network. It builds national partner's capacity to grow their programmes and gives players a step up into the world of organised football and onto the pathway out of homelessness.

Over a 16 day period 75 coaches and six coach educators will be trained to deliver high quality, regular coaching sessions, create teams, and run leagues and tournaments. Coaches use their own life experiences alongside the core coaching skills to deliver a strong social message to vulnerable and peer groups on how to avoid or deal with the difficulties they face - and skills gained in planning, organisation, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation are ultimately transferable to other areas of life, such as home and job acquisition or development of locally determined social enterprise activities.

The courses will be run in Nagpur (Slum Soccer’s HQ) and Chennai, with participants drawn from eight different cities across the country – extending the opportunity to play football to an extra 4.000 homeless players in the coming months. By creating a pool of coach educators to replicate the training wherever/whenever required the course will enable Slum Soccer to extend its programme and ensure sustainability in the coming years.

Homeless World Cup Foundation Director of International Development Deborah Ball said, "It is a great opportunity to contribute to the development of Slum Soccer's programme and offer opportunities to homeless players in India. By working in partnership with the English Premier League, UK Sport and Tottenham Hotspur FC we have been able to create a sustainable and lasting contribution to the development of grassroots football with Slum Soccer in India."

Homeless World Cup Foundation Director of Football Andy Hook said, "Helping to develop coaches and players at this level provide a strong base for the long term development of football in India which is very exciting, it has been great to see the organisation grow over the past four years with the development of a strong group of coaches and the introduction of the women's programme."

This is the third visit of the Homeless World Cup team to India.

2012 Homeless World Cup in Mexico

The 10th anniversary of the Homeless World Cup annual tournament will take place at the historic Plaza de la Constitución, Zócalo in Mexico City from 6- 14 October 2012 with a record participation as 72 teams.

Nations competing at the 2012 event include reigning champions Scotland, hosts Mexico, 2010 winners Brazil and teams from as far as Australia, Ghana and Japan. They will be joined by a number of debutant teams including new Homeless World Cup partners Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Moldova; Vietnam and Pakistan.

The Women's Homeless World Cup held simultaneously with the main competition will feature home favourites Mexico, former champions Brazil and two tournament debutants in the form of Hungary and Nigeria.

Mexico City 2012 Homeless World Cup (56 nations)

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA, Vietnam, Wales, Zimbabwe

Mexico City 2012 Women's Homeless World Cup (16 nations)

Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, England, Hungary, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Scotland, Uganda, USA

Mel Young, President Homeless World Cup, said "We are delighted to build on the momentum of our first decade with a tournament that welcomes the highest number of players in our history. In these critical times, it is more important than ever that we continue to spread awareness to combat the global issue of homelessness."

Homeless World Cup: Brazil top, India in 39th place

Former champions Brazil top the annual Homeless World Cup Rankings following a string of impressive tournament performances, while Mexico sit atop the first ever Women's Homeless World Cup Rankings.

In the men's category India have moved up six spots to be now 39th, while amongst women India is ranked 14th a drop of a spot.

The rankings are compiled following each annual Homeless World Cup tournament to commemorate the event and to commend the thousands of players who have taken part since the inaugural competition took place in 2003.

Top ranking Brazil were host nation and champions of the 2010 tournament in Rio and finished in third at the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup which took place last August. The South Americans are joined in the top three by 2011 finalists Mexico and two-time champions Scotland. Mexico, semi-finalists in 2010 secure second place despite defeat in the Paris final whilst the Scots, who lifted the trophy after a 4-3 victory, climb six places and into third place.

Kenya (10th) break into the top ten after taking fourth place in Paris whilst perennial contenders Ukraine, Russia and Poland slipped to 4th, 6th and 9th respectively. Ireland retain seventh place as Portugal (8th) concede top spot. Indonesia make an impressive entrance to the rankings, they occupy the 22nd spot having finished sixth in their Homeless World Cup debut.

The Women’s Homeless World Cup Rankings have been released for the first time and Mexico is the first nation to hold top spot. The Mexico team have reached the grand final in the previous two editions of the growing women’s tournament, although they were unfortunate to lose on both occasions. They will look to go one step further on home turf as Mexico hosts the Mexico City 2012 Homeless World Cup next year.

Former champions Brazil sit in second place in the women’s rankings as Kenya, the winners of the Paris 2011 Women’s Homeless World Cup are ranked third following a glorious debut tournament, beating Mexico 4-3 in a pulsating finale.

Colombia (4th) and Argentina (5th) add South American clout to the top five as Haiti, Scotland, Malawi, Norway and the Netherlands complete the top ten.

Mel Young, President Homeless World Cup said, "Congratulations to Brazil and Mexico for their great performance that lead them to top."

"The importance of these rankings, however, is not only about the final positioning but the recognition of the determination and hard work of our players and National Partners organisations. Every player participating at the tournament is a winner."

For the full rankings click here .

Sky is the limit for the Women's Homeless World Cup

With interest and participation at an all time high, the Paris 2011 Women's Homeless World Cup will expand to accommodate sixteen teams this summer. The Women's tournament sparked incredible interest at last year’s Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup as the 12 participating teams plundered no fewer than 520 goals in just 54 games as host nation Brazil were crowned champions.

As a result, the Homeless World Cup received an unprecedented number of applications from partner organisations wishing to field an all-female team at the Paris 2011 event, the vast majority incorporating women's football into their national projects for the first time.

Now the women's tournament has been expanded to accommodate 16 teams for the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup, allowing for a further four teams to compete. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay and Uganda will be joined by debutants Canada, hosts France, Malawi and Scotland.

Roberta Silva represented champions Brazil in Rio, she said, "To play at the Homeless World Cup is a great opportunity for people who are in need and a fantastic way for women to show their football skills."

Gerthrude Saint-Jacques, who played for Haiti, said, "I'm overjoyed to have played at the Homeless World Cup, meeting people from across the world and playing football. It is more than a dream to represent your country at the Homeless World Cup – it is a miracle."

Mel Young, President and co-Founder of the Homeless World Cup, said, "Homelessness is an issue that affects men and women in equal measure. This is why it is so important that we build on the success of the women's tournament in Rio and this is something that I am excited to see realised in Paris."

The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup takes place at the Champs de Mars, Paris, France from August 21-28, 2011.

VIDEO: Eric Cantona lends his voice to the 2011 Homeless World Cup

Manchester United legend Eric Cantona is a Homeless World Cup Ambassador and his renowned vocals feature in the video to promote the annual football tournament happening in Paris next August.

Using animation and street art, the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup promo "Homeless to hero" highlights the power of football to transform lives and features four ex-Homeless World Cup players leading extraordinary lives.

Patrick Mbeu, formerly of Team France is now coaching with Paris St Germain FC; Michele da Silva, Team Brazil became a member of Brazil's U20's national women's squad; David Duke, Team Scotland is the founder of Street Soccer Scotland using football with over 500 homeless people; and Nathan Bowen, Team England is a Health Coach Coordinator a Brighton and Hove Albion FC.

Created in collaboration with Promax UK, Beautiful TV and Nike the promo features music from the Mercury Music Prize Nominated Brighton based sextet 'The Go! Team' with a superb track called 'The Running Range' from their new album 'Rolling Blackouts'.

The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup will take place at the Champs de Mars, Paris, France from 21-28 August 2011.


Here the promo video with Eric Cantona

Donate at Ulule.com, help homeless players live a dream

The Homeless World Cup and Ulule.com have joined forces to help five teams reach the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup, giving the opportunity to support the players and receive exclusive rewards.

Founded in 2003, the Homeless World Cup is a unique, pioneering social enterprise using football to energise homeless people to change their own lives for the better. An annual first class international football tournament is staged as a celebration of the yearly achievements of the Homeless World Cup and a network of more than 70 national partners.

Ulule is supporting the Homeless World Cup by collecting funds to enable players from five economically poorer nations to reach this year's tournament held at Champs de Mars in Paris, France from August 21-28, 2011. For the players this represents an unlikely opportunity to realise a dream shared by millions: to wear their national colours with pride, enjoy the adulation of the crowd and represent their country.

The five teams supported by fundraising on Ulule are:

Cambodia, Kenya, Malawi, Palestine, Paraguay.


They aim to raise €2,500 for each of these teams in order to finance the documentation, travel and accommodation costs required to compete at this life changing tournament.

Supporters are offered signed photos and videos of the teams, as well as event T-shirts. Anyone can help. All the projects can be found and supported at this address: http://fr.ulule.com/homeless-world-cup .

Mel Young, President and co-Founder of the Homeless World Cup, is confident of the profound impact this tournament will have on the lives of homeless people worldwide, "The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup is an opportunity for homeless people to move from being invisible to stand proud on a global stage, and be the true ambassadors for their country that they are."

The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup supporters include UEFA, Fundacion Telmex, United Nations, Nike; Global Ambassador Eric Cantona; international footballers as Didier Drogba, Rio Ferdinand; and Arsène Wenger, this year's President of the Local Organising Committee, with Emmanuel Petit and Liliam Thuram as the Paris tournament Ambassadors.

Homeless World Cup - 100 days to Paris

The start of the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup is drawing near with 100 Days To Kick Off!

The 9th edition of the Homeless World Cup will see 64 nations from across the globe participate in the annual football tournament, featuring host nation France, reigning champions Brazil and debutants Indonesia. 16 of these teams will be participating in the Women's Homeless World Cup, the biggest yet including Canada, France, Kenya and Scotland, all represented by a female team for the first time.

Like in the last few years India will be one of the countries taking part in the tournament.

Mel Young, President and co-Founder of the Homeless World Cup said: "The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup will be once again a great opportunity for homeless people to participate on a global football event, stand proud and become true ambassadors for their country."

The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup will take place at the Champs de Mars in Paris, France from August 21 to 28, 2011.

Keep up to date with the build-up to the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup visiting our website www.homelessworldcup.org and by joining us on Facebook and Twitter .

Homeless World Cup Rankings: India 45th

The Homeless World Cup, the international tournament that uses football to beat homelessness, has announced the official world rankings for 2011 as preparations get underway for the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup. And India finds itself ranked 45th amongst 68 ranked nations. India only finished 35th in the Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup, dropping two places.

Despite having never won the Homeless World Cup, Portugal has been rewarded for their consistent form in the tournament, including a fourth place in Rio 2010 by being ranked number one over all. In second place is Brazil, who jumped one position in the rankings following their victory at the Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup. Ukraine, winners of the Milan 2009 Homeless World Cup slip from first place to third in the rankings following a ninth position finish in Rio. Men's finalists Chile were amongst the biggest movers gaining ten places to sit in tenth place whilst debutants Palestine join the rankings in 27th place.

In the inaugural Women's Team Rankings, Brazil, holders of the Rio 2010 Women's Homeless World Cup, tops the table followed by finalists Mexico and third placed Haiti.

Mel Young, Founder and President of the Homeless World Cup said: "This is brilliant news for Portugal who have performed consistently well and run an excellent project all the year round. It's not only about rankings, it's also about participation and having fun as we prove yet again that sport can make a huge difference in people's lives."

Henrique Pinto, Project Director of partner project CAIS and manager of the Portugal Homeless World Cup team, said: "To be the top ranking side is an unmistakable worldwide recognition of the serious hard work the CAIS Association has done during the past eight years. Players from Portugal have participated in every Homeless World Cup tournament and have not only proven to be winners on the football pitch but also beyond it, this is an excellent example of what it means to be empowered and autonomous again."

Beating homelessness through football, the Homeless World Cup is an annual international football tournament supporting and working with grass roots projects in over 70 nations and involving over 50,000 homeless people globally. 70% of the players at the Homeless World Cup experienced a significant life change.

The ninth edition of the Homeless World Cup takes place from August 21 to 28, 2011 at Champs de Mars, Paris in France, before the baton is handed to Mexico in 2012. The Homeless World Cup is supported by UEFA, Nike, global ambassador Eric Cantona and international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.

To see where your country is ranked, please click here: Homeless World Cup rankings .

Tottenham Hotspur to fund Team India in Homeless World Cup

In something very encouraging English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur renewed their sponsorship agreement with Team India for the 8th Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup.

Team India is organized and run by Krida Vikas Sanstha (KVSN) working with over 10,000 people through their slum soccer programme. The partnership will see the English Premier League Club fund Team India during the forthcoming competition in Rio, Brazil, which takes place from September 19-26.

Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur said, "Our involvement in last year's Homeless World Cup was extremely successful and we are delighted to be involved again this year. The Premier League is vastly growing in popularity in India, as is the support for Spurs, and so it's very satisfying that through football we can help make a positive impact as part of our global community strategy. Our involvement with the Homeless World Cup is one aspect of what we hope will be a bigger role for Tottenham Hotspur in our long-term support of football development in India."

Vijay Barse, Founder KVSN, Manager Team India Homeless World Cup is delighted by the news: "KVSN organises the development of grass roots football in India and it is very important to our success that our participants get a chance to participate at the Homeless World Cup, this opportunity has been realized by the timely support of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Players from slums of Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai are representing India this year and they are delighted to be participating with the support of a professional English Premier League Team."

Homeless World Cup founder Mel Young said: "Homelessness is a global issue and creative partnerships are needed to address it. Spurs is a fantastic example of what a premier football brand can do to make a difference and we applaud them for it."

In addition to providing financial support to Team India, Tottenham Hotspur will also provide kit, coaching advice and signed memorabilia for auction. The Club will also seek to engage further with KVSN through their own partnerships.

For more information visit: www.homelessworldcup.org

About KVSN, the Slum Soccer programme

Krida Vikas Sanstha Nagpur (KVSN) or in English 'Sport for the Homeless', is based in Nagpur, and runs football programmes to inspire and educate the most disadvantaged members of society. KVSN began by providing organized leagues for the homeless and slum dwellers, many of whom were addicted to drugs or alcohol, and involved in petty crimes or violence. The dramatic decrease in these harmful activities and the improvement in the participants' lifestyles inspired KVSN to expand such that it is now running slum soccer programmes in over 15 cities and is addressing issues such as HIV/AIDS infection, personal hygiene and environmental protection. KVSN has organized marches to raise awareness of these issues and an India-Pakistan friendship bicycle rally along the disputed border to promote peace in the region. Currently, KVSN is in the process of developing a community development centre to offer participants housing, school education and vocational training.

www.slumsoccer.org


About the Homeless World Cup

Beating homelessness through football, the Homeless World Cup is an annual world class, international football tournament inspiring 64 national grass roots football projects and over 30,000 homeless players a year to change their lives: over 70% change for the better. The 8th Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup takes place from September 19–26 at Copacabana Beach, Rio, Brazil before the baton is handed to the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup from August 19-29, 2011. Homeless World Cup is supported by UEFA, Vodafone Foundation, Nike, global ambassador Eric Cantona, international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.

www.homelessworldcup.org


About Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Founded in 1882, Tottenham Hotspur is the 15th largest football club in the world in terms of turnover. In 1961 Tottenham Hotspur became the first club in the modern era to win the League Championship and FA Cup 'double'. In winning the European Cup-Winners Cup two years later they became the first British club to win a major European trophy. In all, Spurs have achieved two League Championships, won the FA Cup eight times, the League Cup four times, and a major European trophy on three occasions. The most recent success was the 2-1 Carling Cup Final victory against Chelsea in 2008.
Their Barclays Premier League matches are broadcast in to 211 territories worldwide, and more than 166 million people world-wide support Tottenham Hotspur or like to see them do well, including 4 million in India. In the 2010/2011 season Tottenham Hotspur will play Champions League football for the first time in the clubs history.

www.tottenhamhotspur.com