Adopt A Team

School kids adopt a team for the Homeless World Cup

Melbourne’s schools are getting involved in the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup by adopting teams from some of the poorest African nations, providing fund-raising, friendship and assistance to enable the teams to compete in this life-changing international soccer tournament.

Through the Education Foundation’s ruMAD? (Are you making a difference?) program and street magazine The Big Issue, primary and secondary students are encouraged to learn about their adopted nation and break down misconceptions and prejudices surrounding homelessness in Australia and overseas.

One aspect of the program is to raise money to help with the cost of living expenses for their nominated team to attend the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup, to be held at Federation Square and Birrarung Marr on December 1-7.

“The Homeless World Cup seems to capture the imagination of most students, and we have had particular success with engaging the hard-to-reach kids who seem excited about the event and the role they can play in it,” said the Adopt-a-Team project coordinator, Melissa Razuki.
“We have students from all over the state busily preparing for their team’s arrival.

“Some are writing soccer chants and making banners, others are preparing welcome packs and food parcels for the players’ rooms, and some are writing to our city’s attractions asking for tickets so the visitors make the most of their time off.
“To raise funds for their teams, schools have been conducting street soccer tournaments, hosting cake stalls and casual clothes days, even enjoying African feasts.”

The Adopt-a-Team program aims to speak to over 30,000 young Australians and the wider community about the power of sport to improve the lives of individuals and its ability to aid integration and acceptance of homeless and marginalised people.

The program also aims to create real and lasting change in young people’s participation in the community and promote community values in young people.
Players in The Big Issue’s street soccer program – who are potentials for the Australian national Homeless World Cup team - visit schools to talk about their experiences with homelessness and share their stories with the students.

“The stories from the street soccer players are real and genuine,” Ms Razuki said. “The children are always visibly moved by what they hear and it helps ignite a social conscience in them.”

  • Students are also encouraged to be involved in the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup in various ways, including:

  • Weekly training with street soccer programs.
  • Donating kit to their team
  • Arranging their own street soccer tournament with the school or against other schools
  • Contacting their team’s local community and telling them about the Homeless World Cup
  • Volunteering to help at the national street soccer championships
  • Attending the ruMAD? Youth Conference

Participating schools will be invited to meet their team and watch them play during the tournament. They will witness first-hand the positive power of sport, generate support for the Homeless World Cup and help create a lasting legacy for the event.
The Homeless World Cup is a world-class, annual international event which uses the positive power of soccer to energise people who are homeless to change their own lives while increasing awareness of the issues of homelessness and poverty worldwide.

Schools participating in the Adopt-a-Team Program:

  • Melbourne Grammar Senior School: Australia
  • First Stop: Cambodia
  • Ivanhoe Grammar School: Cambodia
  • St Catherine’s Senior School: Cameroon
  • St Catherine’s School - Barbreck: Cameroon
  • Melbourne Grammar Grimwade: Ghana
  • Melbourne Grammar Wadhurst: Ghana
  • Flora Secondary College: Ireland
  • Korowa Anglican Girls School: Ivory Coast
  • Lauriston Girls School: Ivory Coast
  • Wesley college: Kenya
  • Ballarat & Calrendon College: Malawi
  • Banksia Latrobe Secondary College: Nigeria
  • Elwood College: Nigeria
  • Princes Hill Secondary College: Nigeria
  • De La Salle College: Sierra Leone
  • Bentleigh West Primary School: South Africa
  • Brighton Beach Primary School: South Africa
  • Brighton Primary School: South Africa
  • Brighton Secondary College: South Africa
  • Elsternwick Primary: South Africa
  • Gardenvale Primary: South Africa
  • Hampton Primary School: South Africa
  • Moorabbin Primary: South Africa
  • Chalcot Lodge Primary School: Zimbabwe
  • Doveton Heights Primary School: Zimbabwe
  • Doveton North Primary School: Zimbabwe
  • Eumemmerring Primary School: Zimbabwe
  • Eumemmerring Secondary College: Zimbabwe
  • James Cook Primary School: Zimbabwe
  • Sebastopol College: Zimbabwe

Have you heard about Shoesday Tuesday? It’s a aweness campaign and fundrasier to help get poorer nations to the Melbourne 2008 Homeless world Cup, find out more.