On a sunny afternoon in south London, a group of girls are training for a world cup in Russia. The ultimate goal for these players isn’t a trophy, however, but getting off the streets.
The girls who will play in Moscow are doing this as a step towards changing their lives, which have been marked so far by school exclusion, deprivation and in some cases homelessness. The tournament, which starts on Fridaywill involve more than 230 homeless and street-connected youth from 20 countries.
“Which team do I most want to meet? For me, it’s the Russians, because it’s their country and I want to see what it’s like,” says Kate, 16, who will play in midfield for the team, organised by homelessness charity Centrepoint.
Like most of her teammates, Kate is a few weeks into Centrepoint Street Football Team England, a six-month programme to help socially excluded young people. She has not experienced homelessness herself, but was drifting without direction after being excluded five times from school. “It has really helped me, to focus on the football,” she says.
“We want them to meet young people from around the world and get some knowledge of others’ situations, but we also want them to think about themselves: how did I get here, what have I overcome to be here? And to come home with some skills and inspiration from taking part in an international event,” says Jack Badu, sports operations and engagement officer at Centrepoint, who will take the girls to the tournament, called the Street Child World Cup. “It’s about aspiration.”
Centrepoint partners with professional football clubs to support marginalised young people in its England squad and give them the chance to compete in international tournaments across the globe. The Street Child World Cup, held ahead of the FIFA World Cup, is one of four such tournaments; another is this year’s Homeless World Cup in Mexico.
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The girls will be competing against teams from countries including Brazil, India, Mauritius, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia and Zimbabwe. None of the squad of 42 have been been chosen solely due to their skills on the pitch, but because all of them have been participating in social inclusion programmes and proved their willingness to change their lives.
Like Kate, Verona, 17, had been excluded from school several times before joining a college run by Arsenal FC that partners with Centrepoint.
“I didn’t get along with my teachers and was always having arguments,” she says. “It’s only when I started going to Arsenal college that everything started to go uphill. This is an opportunity I couldn’t have imagined taking two or three years ago. At school all the teachers see you as just another person to tell off. Here, you’re an individual.
“I have always played football, ever since I was nine or 10. I prefer to go to the Arsenal college and come here to train than just sit at home doing homework.” She hopes to be a physiotherapist when she is older.
Over the six-month training period, the girls willtrain regularly at St George’s Park, home of the Football Association. At their most recent session, they were given the shirts they will wear in Russia. It was a proud moment, says Kate, who follows the England national women’s team and wants to work in the sport. They have also trained with Afghan footballer Khalida Popal, who fled the Taliban “because they told her it was a man’s sport and she couldn’t play, but she played for her country,” says Kate.
In addition to helping develop their resilience, the girls’ Russian adventure has another dimension, says Badu: “We hope they will think about the issues that other young people face … that they’ll tell young people in Africa and elsewhere there are young people in the UK who care about them. From feeling that ‘no one supports me’, they’ll go to feeling they are part of a large community of young people from all over the world supporting each other.”
The girls will return to London with £10,000 from the Vitol Foundation to effect social change in their communities. The team think they may spend it on a project to tackle knife violence or spaces for excluded young people to play sport amid cuts to youth services and rising youth homelessness.
After the six-month development programme ends, Centrepoint will work to find them further opportunities such as coaching and mentoring. All the girls can take part in a player progression programme that involves mentoring next year’s England squad.
Given British-Russian tensions in recent weeks, aren’t they a bit nervous? “We’ll take it all in our stride,” says Badu. “There is a lot of scaremongering but I think it’s great that the Russians want to support this tournament for street children.”
“I am excited and nervous,” says Verona, “but nervous in a good way.”
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