Sacramento will host the Homeless World Cup in 2023 — the first time the huge annual international street soccer competition will be held in the United States.
The tournament, set for July 8 through July 15 at Sacramento State, will include more than 500 athletes from more than 50 countries, said Lawrence Cann, founder and CEO of Street Soccer USA.
All players have experienced homelessness within the past three years, or are refugees, Cann said.
“Our mission is to fight poverty through soccer,” Cann said. “The experience of homelessness can be very isolating and very shameful. But that shame can be removed.”
Lisa Wrightsman, director of Street Soccer USA Sacramento, found that to be true. She discovered street soccer over a decade ago while in a sober living program at Mather Community Campus in Rancho Cordova.
“The tournaments are a way to not give in and go back to the old behavior,” said Wrightsman, who grew up in Sacramento. “It gave me that drive to believe if I keep doing these good things I’ll have a reason to get back to the community and be accepted.”
Since 2010, 16 women and about eight men from Sacramento have competed in the Homeless World Cup, Wrightsman said.
The last tournament was held in Wales in 2019, with the past three postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Previous tournaments have been in Copenhagen, South Africa, Australia, and under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and typically draw thousands of spectators.
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