Street Football Wales offer drop-in football centres in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Merthyr and Holywell.

Street Football Wales . . . Using the Magic Of Messi To Take Players To The Homeless World Cup

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By Graham Thomas

The World Cup and the magic of Lionel Messi may have inspired people around the world, but in Wales there is one organisation hoping the tournament can genuinely help change lives.

Street Football Wales use Pele’s “beautiful game” as way of doing something much more than just providing excitement on the field.

Through football, the social inclusion charity build communities, enabling those who have been through tough times to restore self-confidence, friendships and a sense of belonging.

It is a football story with a longer term goal than just kicking a ball through the posts; social change for those who have been marginalised and excluded.

For those in need of stability, consistency, mutual trust and camaraderie in their lives, Street Football Wales offers a game plan.

 

Street Football Wales competed at a recent tournament in Dundee.

You turn up, you play football with others, and you feel better about yourself and about life.

Drop-in football centres are offered in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Merthyr and Holywell for anyone who fancies a kickabout, whatever their level, whatever their fitness, whatever their motivation.

 

Homeless World Cup

They may have ambitions to pull on a red shirt and represent Wales at tournaments like the Homeless World Cup.

Or they may just want the sense of togetherness of playing with teammates and have no desire to do more than that.

Mostly, new players find their way to the six centres (Cardiff has two, including a women only location in Ocean Way) by word-of-mouth or referrals by support workers.

The organisation use qualified coaches and volunteers to help run their sessions and currently offer football activity to over 450 players.

“The majority just want to play football for what that can offer,” says project manager Scott Jeynes.

“Some can barely kick a football when they first come, there’s a lot of people who haven’t played football since they were in primary or secondary school.

“But we do have a lot of very talented footballers, too.

 

“For the majority, it is community-based football, it is all about bringing people together. For a few, they are really motivated to represent Wales in Street Football tournaments.

“We have an ex-Cardiff City women’s player; she is a phenomenal player and she is playing with someone every week in Cardiff who just smiles because they can be there. That’s the kind of ethos we have.”

 

Football Partnerships

Street Football Wales work closely with other organisations – including Sport Wales – and often find it’s other groups who have signposted potential players in their direction.

“There is a reputational partnership, based on our trust with hostel accommodations, with groups like like Pobl and Llamau. We have had players represent Wales from those organisations.

“Because we have a constant relationship, the support worker may encourage people to come to the football sessions. It is just an informal training session, there are no formal questions.

“Mind and Barod are pretty good advocates of our work. We have had a lot of success with their clients.

“When people are able to see our work they are then able to trust us. Hearing the impact stories of some of the past players has helped in that area too, so these people can see how we work and how we have affected people’s lives.

“We are giving people the chance to represent Wales. They know that if they stick with it, they will be in with the chance of pulling on a Welsh jersey.”

 

Football Prescription

Like ParkRun, Street Football Wales have also held discussions with doctors and other health professionals about the benefits of advocating football as a potential lifestyle and health changer.

“We have had some informal GP referrals and we work with the AA groups who signpost our training as an opportunity for people to get active and join in with a new social group,” adds Scott.

“It is something I think that would help a lot of people. Sport in any form can have fantastic benefits for people who have physical and mental issues.

“You can see what an impact football has on the people who have been involved here. It is great to see the positive impact sport can have.”

The Homeless World Cup provided ambitious street footballers with an incredible opportunity when it was hosted by Wales three years ago.

 

Keen Michael Sheen

Almost 500 players from around the world came to Cardiff to represent 46 countries at an event for which Welsh actor Michael Sheen – a Street Football Wales patron – was a key organiser and major funder.

Sheen says: “Whilst the Homeless World Cup is a great incentive and something we should all get behind, it`s the wider programme that excites me most, the impact we can all make together.

“As patron my aim is to help the team in achieving more impact, being more sustainable as it grows and to make everyone in Wales proud of their Homeless World Cup teams!”

 

The 2019 Cardiff tournament should have been the springboard to greater participation in street football across Wales and the UK.

But Covid struck soon after and derailed plans and Scott admits it was a tough challenge to keep the organisation going.

“It should have been the event that catapulted street football into the public eye even more,” says Scott. “Michael Sheen was our patron, and still is, and he supported the event to the hilt.

 

Bright football future

“We had a lot of guys who wanted to play football, but how can you reach people who don’t have a phone? You cannot even do any Zoom meetings, so, we had a real difficulty in reaching people during that period.

“Only now are we reaping the rewards from that World Cup, because there hasn’t been a Homeless World Cup since the one in Cardiff.

“We are back now highlighting conversations about homelessness and social exclusion and also being able to offer regular football.

“We’ve battled through and I think the future for what Street Football can offer people, what change it can help bring about, is really bright.”

 

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