The Big Issue

Coen

COEN SLAUGHTER (NSW)

Twenty-one year old Coen Slaughter hails from Rutherford in NSW and joined The Big Issue’s Sydney Street Soccer Program in June 2007. This rising talent has played soccer all his life and looks up to players like Zinedine Zidane. He was awarded Best Player of the Tournament at The Big Issue’s 2008 National Street Soccer Championships.

In the past, Coen has experienced family disruptions and homelessness but credits his friends, National Street Socceroos Coach George Halkias and Centrelink with helping him find his feet. He is now studying a TAFE course and says that things “are more positive. I’m still down a bit as I have no job, but I do have somewhere to live,” he said.

Through the Street Soccer Program Coen has enjoyed meeting and interacting with people from different backgrounds and says it has made him feel more positive about life. When facing these personal challenges Coen says that it’s important to “stay positive, be calm, ask for help and talk about your problems”.

Come December, keep your eyes out for Coen on the street soccer pitch. He says he is “looking forward to meeting players from around the world and finishing as high as we can.” And when the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup is done and dusted, his goal is to find a job.

(Photo by Michael Brown - photoworx)