FOR soccer players around the globe, a berth in the World Cup is the ultimate goal.
That may not be the top priority for members of the North Vancouver Shields, but that goal is actually much closer to a reality for athletes on this team than it is for most other Canadian soccer players.
The Shields are the host team for the Western Canada Street Soccer Championship tournament scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday at North Vancouver's Norseman Field. Fast feet, fun and fellowship will be on display but there will also be four more prizes up for grabs - spots on Canada's national team for the Homeless World Cup scheduled for Oct. 6-14 in Mexico City.
Teams from Kelowna, Victoria and the Comox Valley will join the Shields for this weekend's tournament along with six teams based in Vancouver. Officials from Street Soccer Canada will also be on hand to select possible World Cup participants based on strict criteria - players must never before have participated in a Homeless World Cup and must either have been homeless at some point in the previous year, make their primary living as a street-paper vendor, be an asylum seeker or currently be in a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program while also having been homeless in the previous two years.
Homelessness is not just people sleeping on the street, said Shields team manager Charles Macgregor, and despite its affluence the North Shore is no different than other Lower Mainland communities when it comes to marginalized people. The players on the teams that will be on display this weekend come from a variety of places and backgrounds.
"They live in shelters, they live in housing," said Macgregor. "It's different things. It could be they're addicted to drugs, or alcohol. Or they have depression. That's what the program is supposed to help - to talk it out, how can we help you?"
Last Saturday the Shields, run by the North Shore Salvation Army, got in one last practice game against a Downtown Eastside team at John Braithwaite Community Centre to tune up for this weekend's big show. As the players raced up and down the gym floor in the fast paced, three-on-three street soccer setup, Macgregor, who is the head organizer of this weekend's tournament, raved about both the street soccer program as well as the players he's gotten to know through the game.
"They're here for practices early, they set everything up, they listen," said Macgregor, the Salvation Army's volunteer athletics co-ordinator who helped start the Shields soccer program on the North Shore seven years ago. The team is an important part of these players' lives.
"They get out of their room, they get into a group," said Macgregor. "They take out their frustrations - if they've got problems they forget it for about 90 minutes."
Shields captain Natasha Fox knows just how much of a boost a team like this can give to someone who is marginalized. As her teammates whizzed by, she explained that she's had trouble finding work and, though she has a place of her own now, has spent some time living in shelters. But she loves the time she spends playing soccer.
"Being captain of this team has been really great for me," she said, breathing hard as drips of sweat rolled off of her long blond hair. "I've been unemployed for a long time and this gives me something that I'm part of. It gives me gratitude that leading this team and hosting this tournament is really beneficial to all the players and all the teams. It's good for our community."
While a trip to Mexico for the World Cup would be great, she said, this program means a lot more to many of the players involved.
"A lot of these young guys would be off drinking or doing drugs if they weren't playing here," she said, nodding at a talented group of young players from North Van's DTES opponent. "These teams are vital for young people who are marginalized. . . . It's a really, really wonderful thing to get underprivileged people playing sports and keeping them healthy and active and strong."
Judging by the talent on display at Braithwaite last Saturday, the soccer will be exciting to watch for those who do stop by this weekend. Games are played three on-three plus a goalie with free-flowing substitutions and seven-minute halves. All players must see the field for regular shifts and each team must have at least one female player on the field at all times. Each team has an attacking player who is not allowed to cross half, meaning loads of offense from a perpetual power-play setup.
The game is played hard and fast, but fair play is stressed at all times and players keep it clean, showing respect for each other and the rules. Macgregor has a strict code of conduct when his players take the pitch.
"No drugs, no alcohol, no dirty play," he said. "They are adults, when they're not here they're going to do what they're going to do. But when they're here it's my gym, my rules."
The first Homeless World Cup was held in 2003 and has grown to include a network of 73 national organizations. Some high-profile players and sponsors have helped keep the action going. On the North Shore the team relies on donations, sponsorship and fundraising from a variety of sources to keep the ball rolling.
"Everybody is welcome to come down and help us out - we're always looking for volunteers," said Macgregor, adding that he's hoping to start a committee in September to ensure the stability of the program. Downtown Eastside teams draw a lot of attention from donors and aide programs but it's sometimes a battle to find that kind of support on the North Shore.
"We need the support here in North Vancouver badly," he said. "What can we do? How can we expand it? What sponsors can we get to help?"
Macgregor would love it if people would start just by coming by this weekend to check it out. The action kicks off with an opening ceremony Saturday at Norseman Field at 12: 30 p.m. with games running from 1 p.m. to 4: 30 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to noon on Sunday.
"It'd be nice to have 100 people there," he said. "Just people coming to support us and cheer and see what we're about."
