Author: Vancouver Street Soccer League

The Vancouver Street Soccer League is a volunteer-run organization which reaches out to individuals who have been homeless, are currently homeless, or are at risk of homelessness, as well as individuals who feel marginalized within their communities, or are recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. We address the issue of homelessness, marginalization, and addiction through inclusivity and soccer – believing we can enhance all of our lives through the principles of Fair Play, Community Building, Supportive Partnerships, and Health and Safety.

Homeless World Cup 2013 – Report

Posted on by Vancouver Street Soccer League

The inaugural Homeless World Cup was held in Graz, Austria in 2003. Since then, it has grown into an annual event which brings together teams from around seventy countries, and supports grass-roots football programmes and social enterprise development all year round. The Vancouver Street Soccer League has previously sent players to the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 tournaments, held in Milan, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and Mexico City respectively.

This year’s Homeless World Cup was held in Poznan, Poland between the 11th and 18th of August. Two of the Vancouver Street Soccer League’s most dedicated players, Taran and Dennis, were chosen by Street Soccer Canada to represent Team Canada at the event.

Team Canada didn’t bring the trophy home, but they did record wins against Australia, Finland, South Korea, and Germany. What’s more, following consultation against the tournament referees, they brought home arguably the biggest prize of all: the Fair Play award.

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To see a full record of the scores, check out Street Canada’s page. To watch full match highlights of all the games, check out the Homeless World Cup’s YouTube channel.

A Visit from the Whitecaps

Posted on by Vancouver Street Soccer League

On Thursday July 18, the VSSL players were lucky enough to receive a visit from the city’s Major League Soccer team, the Vancouver Whitecaps.

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Club ambassador and Whitecaps legend Carl Valentine, the eighteen-year old winger Kekuta Manneh, and the Illinois-born full-back Greg Klazura spent the afternoon with us at Andy Livingstone Field, where they discussed everything from tactics and technique to nutrition and psychology. What’s more, the Whitecaps donated a full compliment of training kits to the VSSL, as well as a range of much-needed equipment.

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If you missed out on this ‘Caps visit, fear not: the plan is for this to become a more regular event. Watch this space!