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When Soccer Feels Like Home
MAY 04, 2009Eazibee, HappyNews ColumnistThis is a great article from today's New York Times. It focuses on the ups and downs of New York's Street Soccer team, one of 19 US soccer teams for the homeless.
Street Soccer NY is made up of players from a homeless shelter on Ward's Island, who now play in a men's soccer league at Chelsea Piers (one of the city's premier sports-entertainment complexes). The team started shakily, as the players didn't know each other's names, let alone trust each other - and some turned up drunk... But with regular practice, donated shoes and other equipment, and a burgeoning team spirit, the team has improved. They won for the first time this week. But it's not just the winning that's important. As some of the players have testified, it's a way to feel normal, interact with others and get fit again - all of which heightens the players' ability to cope with their tough circumstances. One thing's for sure - they'll have lots of people rooting for them now!
PS - there's a nice little video on the NYT website if you go to the article there.)
Read the story:
reasonstobehopeful.blogspot.com/2009/05/when-soccer-feels-like-home
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/nyregion/03homeless.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&hp
Eazibee hails from the UK but now lives in New York, where she works as a consultant - focused on health and environmental issues in developing countries - alongside raising a young family. She devotes any free time she has left to screenwriting and blogging. Reasons to be Hopeful is her principal blog, which she started in October 2007 in an effort to counter the negativity dominating the mainstream newswires. She aims to capture good news from across the world, reflecting the positive experiences of many different communities. Please feel free to send any good stories you come across to eazibee(at)gmail.com.
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