The Canadian men’s street soccer team placed third in the Community Cup after Ottawa Street Soccer player Ephrame Mehari scored the winning goal in a penalty shootout against the United States.
A new generation of sporting heroes took to the pitch earlier this month as street soccer players from across the globe descended on Mexico City for the 10th annual Homeless World Cup.
The Canadian men's street soccer team, which featured Ottawa Street Soccer player Ephrame Mehari, was one of 43 teams in the tournament – in addition to 13 women's teams.
Street soccer is all about social inclusion through sport, says Tatiana Rother, a Lisgar Collegiate graduate and founder of Ottawa Street Soccer.
“Typically for homeless people you have a lot of negative stereotypes, you don’t think of them as athletes,” she says. “We try to break down barriers and the idea that playing a sport can change people’s lives.”
The sport includes players from shelters, recovery programs and people with mental health problem.
Alongside Mehari, Rother travelled to Mexico to be part of the 2012 Homeless World Cup with Street Soccer Canada. Although it’s a serious competition, Street Soccer Canada has shown that it’s not all about the results on the pitch.
While other nations pick out the most skillful of players, Canada takes a slightly different approach.
“Some of the countries pick their top players. The people at Street Soccer Canada believe in choosing not necessarily the best skill level, but the people they think it’ll help their lives the most in this moment,” says Rother. “They try to pick people who are on the way to more positive things in their life and give them this opportunity, which we hope will jump start whatever they want to do next.”
Dave Ro is the manager of St. Joe’s Supper Table, a supporter of Ottawa Street Soccer.
“It’s a team environment. It brings a lot of people together, especially when people are homeless and worried about how they’re going to survive,” he says.
The Canadian men’s team placed 35th and came in third place in the Community Cup – a sub-tournament of the World Cup, while the women’s team placed 12th, according to Rother.
The results shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering most of the players only met at the airport enroute to Mexico.
“The people from the East Coast, most of us met the night before we flew out and then the people from the West Coast we met at the airport,” says Rother. “Because Canada’s such a big country you don’t really get the chance to train with your team beforehand which can be a bit of a disadvantage.”
The highlight of the tournament was a Canadian victory in penalties over the United States for third place in the Community Cup. It came down to Mehari to slot home the winner.
“I feel proud playing for Canada, because I never had this chance before,” he says. “Especially when you represent your country and you go out on the field. You feel something when you hear the national anthem.”
Although they didn’t win, the crowds in Mexico appreciated the Canadian soccer skills. Some even went as far as asking for photos and autographs for keepsakes from the tournament.
“It was funny because all the players and managers had these tags with your photo and your country and the locals would come up and ask for your autograph and for photos with you,” says Rother. “For the players I think it gave them a sense of pride for their country.”