Charlottesville
Coaches: Trigg Brown and Josh Bare
Year of Participation: First
Level of Programming: 1D
Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Street Soccer CVL has been quite the experiment. My name is Trigg Brown and I am a student at the University of Virginia interested in getting involved in Street Soccer USA because I believe in the principles and possibilities of using small grass roots programs to engage and provide aid for the homeless population in Charlottesville. Starting out as a fundraiser idea for the national program, it has brewed and cooked down into a team of five to eight guys that consistently play soccer every week. The "coaches" are UVA students and community volunteers, ranging from Hope Community Center employees to students from Covenant High School. Our program has been privileged to use one of the Hope Community Center vans, which makes play possible because the guys are scattered throughout different locations in Charlottesville. Making rounds to the public library, the Rivannah River Trail, the Salvation Army, and a few other spots, it takes a while for the team to gather. At a local city park behind Venable Elementary School, the guys and I meet several UVA students, Walker Redd, Karter Smith, Will Towne, Andrew Harbin, and Kyle Menges among others.
Before practice became officially scheduled into everyone's weekly agenda, Garrett Trent and I, determined to engage the problem of homelessness head on. We ate breakfast and spent time with members of the Charlottesville homeless population at Hope CC's Day Haven Program. Garrett has gone on develop his multifaceted Meet Your Neighbor Program. It encourages everyone in the community to get to know each other at fun, themed events. Breakfast was a time to develop relationships with people who are homeless, especially with those who also wanted to get active and play soccer. In such a small population soccer is hard to sell. We probably played basketball the entire first semester, occasionally kicking around, but second semester was much more promising. With the help of my friends and the Hope van, we conducted small 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 practices. The first couple of goals got first timers, such as myself and our first homeless participant (Will Cox) excited and inspired. The better the competition, the better the practice. Now, as we have moved forward and as practice as became regular, weekly, and official, the team is conducting its practice with zeal and dedication. After February, we started team stretching, drilling, running a lap before play, and scrimmages with local players.
The team has really expanded everyone's social network. A great coincidence was meeting Gunaung and his friends, a group of refugees from Myanmar. Now our team includes people from Southeast Asian, University Students, and people from the streets fo C-ville, and it feels completely normal, fun, and inspiring! I learned that some of the Myanmar refugees, as unreseloved asylum seekers actually qualify to particiapte in the Street Soccer USA Cup as players given their "homeless status." We have really learned how sports, in this case soccer, can help us all.
Lately, Josh Bare has taken and active role in practice, providing focused instruction and coaching with a grounded base of knowledge. Our team has provided a safe environment for our homeless neighbors to take their mind off their living situation. I look forward to what we have to bring to the table at the USA Cup. In the meantime, we are helping James move from the Salvation Army and into an apartment -- he just got a Moped so he can get to work independently. Since playing with us, Will Cox has gotten out of an harsh living situation with his brother and younger players, Mike and Larry, have something productive to do. As students, we are most helpful when working out immediate solutions, but as the program has developed, we have started working with Region Ten, a local service provider. The services provided by Region Ten will enable our players to address issues such as mental health problems, intellectual disabilities, and substance abuse programs.
