New Zealand Homeless World Cup National Team Interview

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The Homeless World Cup, founded in 2003, is a yearly tournament that features teams from around the world who are or have been in the past year homeless. The competition gives the players a chance to play a game they love, see another part of the world, and most importantly gain life skills they need to break free from homelessness and improve their lives; many go on to self-sustaining jobs and lead productive lives using the skills they learn. Tom Kelly is a trustee of Street Football Aotearoa, who run the New Zealand Homeless World Cup national team and street leagues throughout the country. He was able to answer some questions about the preparation for this year's tournament (New Zealand's first ever entry), the players, and football changing lives......

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What are your hopes for New Zealand’s inaugural HWC national side in the 2008 competition?

 

I hope that all the players have a good experience in Australia. For many of them it’ll be their first experience of travel abroad, and for all of them, of playing football in front of a crowd. If everyone comes home with a smile on their faces then we’ll consider the adventure a success.

 

Do you think that the location will make it possible for a good amount of NZ fans to come and support the team?

 

There’s a big ex-pat community of New Zealanders in Melbourne, so yes I hope the team will be well supported as word spreads. I was stunned by the strength of support that Poland had at the Edinburgh HWC in 2005- even a fraction of that following would give the NZ team a huge boost.

 

How has the selection process gone in making the first squad?

 

Selection processes are never easy. The fact that we were drawing from a relatively small pool of players if anything strangely made it more difficult as many of the regular players felt they had a good chance of making the national squad and were perhaps all the more disappointed by being left out.

 

Describe the street soccer scene in New Zealand?

 

We formed Street Football Aotearoa (Aotearoa is the Maori name for the country) earlier this year, with a view to establishing street football for the first time here, so it’s still in its infancy. The support of local sporting figures; Former All-White Wynton Rufer the Oceania player of the 20^th Century and the country’s best known footballer, and former All-Black Norm Hewitt who has been working quietly behind the scenes to help us get the project running, is helping to raise our profile around the country. A current affairs TV show ‘Close-Up’ have been filming training sessions and the selection process too and that’s really helped to get the word out. We’ve established two regular weekly sessions in Auckland and one in Wellington so far, and these have been running successfully for about 6 months now. As a sport it has the potential to grow over the year ahead as hopefully other cities and groups feed into the organisation.

 

What is your relationship with New Zealand Football, as they are now “official supporters?”

 

NZ Football, the federation of local associations, is not a big or wealthy organisation. Football a minority sport here with only one professional club- so the governing body’s support has simply been to give their blessing to our project and support for the principles of the trust. It’s nonetheless of great importance to us to be seen as part of the bigger football scene in NZ.

 

How has soccer grown recently in New Zealand, at all levels?

 

Football is making steady progress and is increasingly played in schools. Immigration has bolstered the game too with many local players coming from expatriate and refugee communities. It’s no longer unusual to see kids wearing the shirts of the big European clubs. The establishment of the Wellington Phoenix last year (who play in Australia’s A-League) means that there is a professional team to support in the capital and that’s had an impact too- regular crowds of up to 15,000 have broken previous records. The LA Galaxy rolled into town to take on the Phoenix, and David Beckham took it a stage further and sold out the Westpac Stadium. They’re returning in the week of the Homeless World Cup tournament to play an Oceania XI at Auckland’s Mt. Smart Stadium as a testimonial for Wynton Rufer and that should bring out the crowds again. The Women’s Under-17 World Cup is happening here soon too, which shows that FIFA see us as a country with potential for expanding their operations! The Phoenix are having a tough time of it at the moment but I think that long-term the future is bright for Kiwi football.

 

Can you give us a quick summary on this year’s squad and management team?

 

The squad is made up of 5 players from Auckland, the largest city, and 3 from the capital Wellington. The players range in age from 19 to 54 and some of them kicked a football this year for the first time. Some of the players are rough sleepers, but most currently have beds in homeless shelters and hostels. The team manager is Katie Owen who worked with homeless people in Scotland for ten years before moving to NZ last year. Katie has known HWC founder Mel Young for many years and first attended the tournament in Gothenburg in 2004 as a spectator. The team coach Stephen McLuckie is another recent arrival in NZ. For the last three tournaments he has been manager of the England team, as part of his role at The Big Issue in the North. In Edinburgh, Capetown and Copenhagen he worked alongside team coach Louis Garvey from Manchester United’s community development programme.

 

How do you think the successful ESPN documentary “Kicking It” has helped the HWC and street soccer around the world?

 

To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to see any impact yet. I’ve not seen the film but am looking forward to it. Colin Farrell discussing ‘Kicking It’ on Letterman and the screening of the film on ESPN will have raised awareness in the States, but after the New York tournament was switched to Edinburgh in 05 as a result of US immigration issues, I think its unlikely that we’ll see the HWC in the USA.

I believe that the release of ‘Kicking It’ is a natural progression for the gradual rising profile of the tournament since its inception. Each year media interest has been greater than the last.. so the film is a symptom of the tournament’s success rather than vice-versa.

 

How has the community responded to street soccer? Would you say the Wellington Street Soccer mini-tournament was a success?

 

The community has responded well and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback in both cities where training is currently happening. There’s still a lot of misunderstanding around issues of homelessness, so what we are doing and the associated publicity has been a good opportunity for those working in the sector to get some clearer messages out around issues of homelessness and poverty.

 

The little tournament we held in Wellington as part of the squad selection process was fun and gave the players their first taste of a tournament, albeit small. Wellington City Council brought a team along which was a welcome addition to the financial backing they’ve already given us. We hope it’s the first of many such events.

 

Who are some New Zealand players we should be on the lookout for?

 

Look out for Wayne, at 54 he’s the oldest player in the team. He’s profoundly deaf but manages to communicate well with the players around him. He brings a real sense of fun and enjoyment onto the pitch every time he plays.

 

Also check out John. As an asylum-seeker John still faces potential difficulties in travelling to Melbourne, but if those are ironed out he could well become one of the players of the tournament. Supportive to his team-mates he’s an incredible footballing talent.

 

 

If you want to get involved with street football in New Zealand, email streetfooty@gmail.com

 

If you're interested in getting involved in your country's set-up, or you want to learn more about this great competition, visit www.homelessworldcup.org

 

The competition was recently the focus of the popular ESPN documentary film "Kicking It."

 

 

 

- Andrew McCarten