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Street Soccer USA Cup Description

Street Soccer USA Cup 2009 Schedule

Bidding for the Cup

Register to Volunteer at the SSUSA CUP DC 2009

Street Soccer USA Cup Description

Thanks to the Ted Leonsis Foundation, Mark Ein's Washington Kastles, national homeless services provider HELP USA, and NIKE, the Street Soccer USA Cup will once again be held in Washington DC this July 31-August 2.

The Street Soccer USA Cup is a unique sports for social change event in the United States featuring homeless youth and adults, male and female from 16 cities across the country where they participate in local programs.

The local programs focus on setting goals on and off the field and connecting players to job training, education, and other specialized programs. During the Street Soccer USA Cup, 16 teams representing a variety of agences (grassroots, city wide, and national homeless service providers) from cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, Austin, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. to name a few, will compete for the Street Soccer USA Championship in fast-paced, 4 versus 4 street soccer action.

Street Soccer USA started in Charlotte, NC, almost 5 years ago, the outgrowth of an innovative program called Community Works 945. After much success helping homeless people off the streets and into permanent jobs using sports as a hook and tool, Street Soccer USA moved to NYC, joining with the homeless services provider HELP USA (www.helpusa.org). In NYC, and around the nation, the volunteers and players (homeless clients) have incredible stories to share and have shown amazing growth in a very short amount of time – at practices and games.

Across the country, SSUSA programs works with homeless youth and adults, building community, fostering a sense of belonging and accountability, and setting goals for a better future with the participants – all through the positive power of sports. Each year, the best players/ambassdors at the Street Soccer USA Cup are chosen to the US National Street Soccer Team and travel to the Homeless World Cup, which this year will be held in Milan, Italy in September. Since 2005, 28 of our 32 National Team alumni have moved off and stayed off the street and stay off the street since being part of SSUSA. And to date, over seventy-five percent of the participants change their lives for the better including securing full-time jobs, long-term housing, and freedom from addiction and mental health afflictions.