Over the next couple months, Kurt and John will be bringing you a series of updates of Octopi Vancouver, Urban Rec’s premier soccer team. No we aren’t a team of Brazilians and no, you shouldn’t expect this segment to be a chronicle of countless victories. What you can expect is an ongoing narrative of community building on and off the pitch.
This week’s game was the first of our two month season. We are playing the whole season in Thunderbird Stadium. The games are seven aside and we were excited to bring together a dozen and half folks from different communities. Our team is made up of people from all walks of life including video editors, advertising executives, post-secondary career dudes (that’s you John), budding architects, reporters, and even political operatives (not me… I swear).
The diversity of the team was exciting. So was the positivity. Our crew arrived hungry and 45 minutes early in an eerily empty stadium. When the whistle blew, we came out of the gate strong. Within 10 minutes, star striker John Horn had managed to slip by the defense and crack a shot to the top right corner of the net. We were ahead one nothing. The crowd (composed of team’s two other subs) went wild. We were on our way.
The moment of victory lasted for about five minutes until Nomads FC (our opponents), dressed in maroon bright orange, managed to slip by our team for a quick goal. “Bam,” as Emeril would say. After an initial rush of winning adrenaline, we were tied and could feel the momentum shifting. Our winger, architecture-student-by-day, soccer-star-by-night, Stew Burgess hustled back and forth down the field but couldn’t find an opening. Around then is when star midfielder Erin took a twist and a turn that sent sharp pain throughout her ankle. She’d be sitting off on the sidelines for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the defense captained by Brenton and Roger were able to close down the Nomad FC’s constant strikes until 20 minutes in and a header off a corner kick that could have been lifted straight out of the World Cup. That’s when we started to realize the team we were playing was full of Englishmen. As usual, they displayed the latent skill in “football” of their countrymen and by the late part of the first half, their prowess was on full display.
As the cold biting air ate away at our team in the second half, the team capitalized on Octopi‘s mistakes and notched three more goals. By the third goal, our back was broken. Despite repeated miraculous saves by Octopi goaltender David Willensky, the English “beast” would not be satiated. A late “dribble around the goalie” goal by John Horn could not inject any life into Octopi. We lay mangled on the plate like some calamari served up at White Spot. Pass the tatziki sauce boys.
The final score was 5-2 (at least that’s what I’m going to say the score was). Miraculously, despite the drubbing on the field, spirits were not significantly damaged. I’m going to chalk that up to the perservering spirit inherent in the group of people that we’ve brought together. In fact the teams positivity remained well after the final whistle was blown. After a brief “people’s mike” session, the team decided to take their “game” to the next level with the commissioning of some hot pink t-shirts. Stay tuned for a brief of our next game.
It’s a well known sports fact that the Vancouver Canucks build pre-game team-based-community-winning awesomeness by playing soccer. After all, with so many players from different national and cultural backgrounds, it makes sense, I guess, for the guys to get their blood flowing and joints loosened by playing the sport that is the most accessible, celebrated and beautiful one on Earth. You know, hockeysoccer football!
And then, last night, Daniel Sedin took the Vancouver Canucks’ penchant for pre-game soccer-playing to amazing new levels. Because he did this:
Is this our first glimpse of a new sport that, for lack of a better word, I will call sockey? Has Daniel Sedin found a secret weapon that he will try to exploit for months and years to come? Will kids from Vancouver and Sweden (because nowhere else knows or cares about Twin Power) incur head injuries by emulating Daniel and banging really, really, really hard pieces of hockey equipment with their heads and faces? Will Eric Hassli bust out a hockey stick as part of future goal celebrations? Was the mediocre-at-best Parker/Stone vehicle BASEketballsactually a forward-thinking, bang-on prediction about where sport is headed?
I’m not sure what will happen to our global sporting community in the coming days, months, years, and decades, but I do know that we’ve witnessed something dexterously special and, possibly, have seen through a window of sport fusion into a future of people heading hockey pucks, kicking basketballs, bicycle-spiking volleyballs, and inappropriately wielding hockey sticks on the football pitch. And such things are amazing.
Finally, whatever the context of our sporting future, Steve Nash was fusing sports into each other before anyone announcing games for TSN thought it was cool.
Patrick Oleman, captain of the 2010 Homeless World Cup Team Canada and captain of Woodwards FC – a street soccer team based in the Downtown Eastside out of the famous Woodwards Building. Oh, and I’m also a long distance runner.
What do you do for fun?
Run, play soccer and visit people from the street in and around the Downtown Eastside.
What your favorite community?
The Downtown Eastside – because it is my hood. There are so many interesting people down here that need help, but for whatever reason, just can’t get the help they need. I like to try to help them and when it happens, it’s the best feeling in the world. It makes me feel like a better person.
What’s your superpower?
Bringing out the best in people.
How use it to build community?
The more people I encourage and engage the bigger the community becomes and the better and more inclusive it is. I saw this first hand when I worked with team-mates to build Woodwards FC.
My Three Favourite Things About Patrick Oleman Are…
1. Enthusiasm for sport. This is a guy who loves sports. He loves soccer (with a passion) and that mad love affair is enough to get you plugged in and ready to do yet another set of drills. Don’t feel like it, “2 laps” (as Patrick would say). This enthusiasm never ceases to inspire me. Around two years ago, Patrick was out of shape and facing homelessness. Two years later he has competed in a world tournament in Brazil, practices 4-5 times a week and runs about every other day he isn’t playing soccer. In the coming weeks he’s planning on running a half marathon – something he’s been training for for months. His pure love of sports enough to make you a believer of its power to heal and transform.
2. His role building and expanding Street Soccer in Metro Vancouver. Patrick’s ongoing engagement in Street Soccer is inspiring. He’s been a committed member of the Portland FC and the Vancouver Street Soccer league for well over two years (a lifetime when you consider the rapid turnover of the team’s players). He’s also taken on a mentorship role with players both on the pitch and off it. That’s led to the creation of a new street soccer team (Woodwards FC) and the inclusion of a over half a dozen new players, many of whom have also become longtime members of the soccer club. Without Patrick, Woodwards FC and Portland FC would not have been able to make the same amazing progress over the past year in engaging people at risk of homelessness with a potentially world-changing sport.
3. His backwards jump kick soccer shot. It’s a thing to behold, even if it doesn’t hit the mark every time its done. Heck, even the Whitecaps think it’s cool.
Yesterday afternoon Whitecaps FC players Jeb Brovsky, Shea Salinas, Bilal Duckett and Jonathan Leathers joined dozens of street soccer players at Oppenheimer park for a pick up game and meet and greet. It was an amazing afternoon for many players who’ve faced homelessness and addiction challenges in their lives.
It’s always awesome when two wicked communities come together and it’s hard to imagine a better fit than these two organizations. Both are committed and passionate about the power of soccer. Organizers of both teams seem optimistic that Wednesday’s practice will lay the groundwork of a developing relationship between Vancouver’s premiere soccer club and the Vancouver Street Soccer League – an organization designed to use the power of sport to empower and engage some of the city’s most marginalized citizens.
For many of the players of both Portland FC and Phoenix, the scrimmage with the caps was a once in a life time chance to pass to and score against MLS players.
Next week a five mens team players and eight women will be leaving BC to compete on behalf of Canada at the international competition. The scrimmage was a good preview for some of the high level play Team Canada can expected at the upcomingHomeless World Cup in Paris, France.
Last year Team Canada took home the Fair Play Award for their sportsmanship at the tournament hosted in Rio. This year Canada is sending both a mens and Women’s team. Organizers are hopeful the Paris trip will be just as positive and transformational for the teams’ players as the Rio trip was. Many of the team members who’ve returned have stayed hooked on soccer, off drugs and been successful in finding housing.
No, he's not going to punch the iguana. Ryan is merely flexing his ample muscles to reflect how holding a probably poisonous relative of a dinosaur makes him incredibly "hardcore" and a man of the animals, too.
By the end of today, one of Vancouver’s coolest community builders will be on a brain-drain-plane headed for Melbourne, Australia. [Editor's note: it is his being on a plane that cause our typical GTKYC interview to be replaced by a more over-arching narrative]. Ryan McKee was one of the architects of the community built by the Vancouver Whitecaps Football (Soccer) Club. And – as happens with much of our homegrown talent here in Vancity – Mr. McKee hit his professional ceiling in our beautiful city and will now be taking his fan/consumer-engagement talents to Melbourne, home of Melbourne Victory Football (not Aussie Rules) Club.
Ryan’s wife, Elyssa, and my wife, Michelle, went to university together. This meant that, whether we liked it (or each other) or not, Ryan and I would be spending quality time together for years to come. Luckily, ours was/is a relationship rife for/with a bromance typically reserved for films like I Love You, Man and epic stories like Of Mice and Men or Batman and Robin or Paradise Lost.
Along with his unchartable charisma and rugged good looks, Ryan is taking with him to Australia a ton of professional talents that combines sport, media, people, and the transcendance of in-person and online communities. Whether it was his pedal etiquette experiment or his work on the “we’re all in” campaign for the Whitecaps, this man knows what it takes to build meaningful, cordial, family-friendly-with-an-edge community in the twenty-first century.
We’ll miss you, Ryan. May your intelligence, wickedawesome sense of humour, and your passion for the community-driven nature of sport serve the people of Melbourne as well as they’ve served we folk in Vancouver.
Thanks for the memories. Stay classy. Best of luck!
Late in the afternoon on Saturday, March 19, we were on our feet in a jammed stadium at Empire Field next to Vancouver’s Empire Bowl. Surrounded by roughly 23,000 screaming blue and white fans, we had our first taste of the phenomena of “football fanaticism”. We were at the Whitecaps FC home-opener for the team’s debut in the MLS and something was in the air that we were getting in at the birth of one of Vancouver’s future premier sports franchises. Watch out Canucks – here we come.
The day started as it should when it comes to football – at the pub. We caught the SFU 135 from Downtown. Along the way we met half a dozen fans heading the same place we ere. Everyone was decked out in full gear (except for one fellow who had decided to body paint himself in team colors) and was jazzed about the start of the season and (perhaps) the beginning of a new era in West Coast sports. At Oscars Pub off Boundary, we waded into a throng of Southsider supporters. Jammed well past the firecode requirements, the pub was completely over-capacity. The three bartenders couldn’t keep up with the hundreds of orders for pitchers and pints. After initially planning on eating lunch at Oscars, we gave up, wedging ourselves into a nook at the bar and waiting 20 minutes for our 1 (and only) chance too order a pitcher and a shot (McNulty style).
We spent our time talking about the coming game, the MSL, the Whitecaps, the coming game again, World Cup Soccer and how nuts Southsiders fans are. We made friends with other Whitecaps supporters including Kevin, a friendly Air Canada baggage guy who had travlled the world watching pro-football in both North America, Japan and Europe.
By 2:45 it was time to head to the stadium. There we watched as thousands of fans streamed into the newly erected stadium. Almost everyone was wearing jerseys or team colors, thousands more carried their patented Whitecaps scarves. In the distance, the sun broke through the clouds shining on the snowy caps of Seymour and Grouse. The air was crisp and the excitement was palpable.
We made our way to seats in the north side of the stadium. From the first whistle to the final 90 minutes, the majority of the game was spent standing and cheering for the team. When the Whitecaps scored the first goal of the game early in the first half, the stadium erupted. Thousands of tiny drums could be heard thumping over the hoarse cheers of thousands of fans.
John’s Kolbian Experiential Cycle
As Kurt mentioned, he and I are two of the luckiest sports fans in Vancouver. After all, we are proud owners of season tickets to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. And, as he scrawled above, we definitely learned something about soccer, Vancouver, and ourselves this weekend. Which leads me to David Kolb and the Experiential Learning Cycle. See, Kurt and I just had “an experience” and I’m a big fan of reflecting on actions and experiences in order to have a better and more educational experience going forward. Here are some key lessons from Saturday’s game:
Show up at Oscar’s Pub earlier – as it turns out, the Southsiders like to party; a 1:15pm arrival at the pub revealed us to be grossly unprepared and left our bellies empty. Lesson: pack shareable snacks and become popular with equally hungry Southsiders!
Wear a shirt (this is not our lesson) – to the chilled-out young lad who got on the 135 to SFU wearing nothing but white shorts, body paint and a heckuvalot of team spirit, remember to wear layers. Lesson: let the body paint dry and then put on a festive sweatshirt to warm your body en route to the game – this tip is as safe as it is stylish.
Toronto FC sucks – what kind of seasoned, five-years-in-the-MLS team gets lit-up by an expansion team?! Lesson: only time will tell if Vancouver Whitecaps FC is a dynasty, if Vancouver will be the toughest place to play in the MLS, or if Toronto FC is just like the Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays, but with shin pads and way more endurance.
Being Tall is an Enigmatic Experience – people like it when you can reach stuff or hurl your poncho farther than anyone else in your section, but they do not like it when you stand up and block their son’s view. Lesson: when people yell at you to sit down, don’t just succumb to peer, fear or fan pressure(s). Engage your fellow-fans and try to work out a solution! [Editors' note: by the end of the game John was leading cheers and getting thumbs-up from a super-excited mom and her even more excited son...who just needed to stand up on the bleachers!]
Empire Field is at capacity – we’re not sure if Whitecaps FC’s temporary home field will be able to sustain the size of crowd that was there on Saturday. Beer and bathroom lines were both painfully long (for reasons that are different, but also the same). Lesson: you don’t need to drink to have fun! The atmosphere was intoxicating all on it’s own. And with less beer in our bellies, Kurt and I can avoid perilously long lines for the loo and spend more time getting to know the cool people who share seasons tickets in our section.
So there it is. With our lessons learned Kurt and I are excited to experience Vancouver’s fastest growing sporting community in a bigger and better way than we did last weekend. See you at Empire Field on April 2 for the big match against Kansas City (I know! I was shocked they had a team, too!).
It has been a pretty amazing trip from Team Canada. Last week they departed from Brazil after prepping and practicing for well over a year. Lots has been written about the team. For a quick snapshot, check out this CNN story or take a look at one of our more recent posts.
Over the past week, Team Canada coach Alan Bates has been sending dispatches on the team’s progress to Vancouver. Here’s a run down of the past five days!
Day 1
This update is coming to you straight from the Alpha Hostel in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro (aka Team Canada Headquarters). My aim is to write daily updates about our Homeless World Cup experience.
Yesterday was a long and very memorable day for all of us. We all gathered at the LifeSkills Centre right across from Oppenheimer Park to a very warm send-off by volunteers and fans. In characteristic fashion, Kailin See, Sarah Blyth and lots of other PHS volunteers put together a great event including a hot breakfast, haircuts, and matching track suits and bags for the whole team. We were looking slick by the time we stepped on our bus.
Like a post-game Canucks dressing room, the room was filled with media from radio, TV, and newspapers interviewing players. Kurt Heinrich has done an amazing job with keeping our media contacts informed and has created a real buzz in the city about the team.
The highlight of the morning was co-team captain Patrick Oleman’s uncle Tom performing a traditional Stlaltlium ceremony to send us on our way in the perfect mindset, telling our guys it’s time to “stand and walk like men”.
We were then followed to the airport by a CTV crew from the show First Story and were met there by another TV crew from CityTV. Fortunately, everything went smoothly at all the airports that we went through. It was a very long trip from Vancouver to Toronto, Toronto to Sao Paulo, and finally Sao Paulo to Rio. Imagine doing that on your first day of air travel ever, as was the case for a lot of our guys.
The ride from the airport to our hostel was a big eye-opener for all of us. The scenes included sprawling Favelas of makeshift housing along the highways and young men dodging cars in the middle of very chaotic traffic trying to sell popcorn to motorists. It wasn’t lost on the guys that the popcorn sellers probably don’t get a cheque on the third Wednesday of every month.
We had a good team dinner at a burger joint around the corner from our hostel and everyone was ready to crash after that.
It’s now the morning after we arrived, and today has already provided lots of fun. We’ve been joined by Vancouver volunteers Daniel Errey, Sarah Blyth, and Kailin See. Wendy Perkins from Toronto is also in Rio now and we’re looking forward to getting our fresh new unis from her later today.
Team Korea is also staying in our hostel and the highlight of the morning has been an exhibition game with them at an urban graffiti-encircled soccer court nearby. I was impressed with our skill and sportsmanship in a friendly 3-0 win.
As I type, the guys are out playing again with the local kids in the alley/street outside the hostel. They’re learning a lot of sweet moves.
Day 2
Day 2 started with a meeting to comment on successes and address problems that we had on day 1. Let’s be honest, this kind of trip was never going to be without its challenges. I think we’re lucky to be here a bit early to work out little things and start to bond as a team.
If you just want to see some photo highlights from today, go to:
After being joined by all the Vancouver-based volunteers who came a day later than the team, we decided we had to hit the beach. We played frogger across 7 or 8 highways (crosswalks seem not to have been invented yet in Brazil) to get to beautiful Botafogo beach. It’s covered in soccer nets. There’s also a great view of the Christ on the way there.
We then went for salad and pizza washed down with Guarana before returning back to the Hostel to wait for our uniforms. I can’t really describe in text how excited the guys were about the unis: home and away professional-looking jerseys, shorts, socks, new shoes, and tons of flags. Paul, Wendy, and Michelle from Street Soccer Canada did a great job getting it all together and to Rio. There were expletives and tears, both out of happiness.
After taking some pictures at the Hostel, we went to break in the new gear by playing with the kids that the players have befriended. We mixed up the teams and had a great game. The kids have awesome skill. A little more size and you could see them really tearing up a soccer field. Some other guys who were standing around joined in the game too. It was a bit like those hockey commercials we have where a ball hockey game just spontaneously erupts out of random people on the street.
We finished the night with a casual dinner at the hostel and are looking forward to finding out who our competition is in the first round tomorrow. Korea, Norway, Poland, and the US are all staying near us. The guys want to play the best teams. We all feel it’s just going to be so cool to play teams from other countries. It doesn’t really matter who the individual guys are. Just the fact that they all flew here from some other nation to compete with us is awesome.
Day 3
Daniel Errey got Day 3 off to an energetic start by taking the players to the beach for a workout. Nothing like a run on the beach and a quick dip in the Atlantic to get you going in the morning.
After the players grabbed a quick breakfast, we took the metro over to the far end of Copacabana. The metro is free for all Homeless World Cup participants. The cold rain that greeted us in Copacabana made us feel right at home. Despite the weather, we had a great walk along most of the length of the seawall. Highlights included huge waves and intricate sandcastles.
We ran into a lot of teams on our way to the match venue and enjoyed shaking hands and meeting them. Once there, we were surrounded by other teams, many of them chanting or singing. Somehow, Go Canada Go, just didn’t live up to the soccer/football chants of some of the other nations, so we had to break out both the national anthem and also a First Nations warrior chant that is totally awesome. Five of our eight guys are First Nations. We’re representing Canada old-school!
We registered and got our picture taken and then were given new shoes, shirts, shorts, socks, and a team pair of goalie gloves and a ball. This was all courtesy of Nike. There was a bit of a delay for the HWC lunch, so we decided to do our own thing and went to a buffet where you pay by weight. It was thoroughly delicious.
We then returned to the hostel to dry off a bit and get ready to go back for the draw. While most guys were getting ready, I went with our goalie Kevin to try to get him a jock/cup somewhere. This mostly involved me walking up to store clerks, pointing at my crotch and getting a lot of confused looks. I think I know what they’re called now for when we try again tomorrow.
It was very exciting to find out who we’ll be playing in the first round. On Monday, we play Ireland and Romania and on Tuesday we play Cambodia and Mexico. I think it’ll be a tough group. The other teams look good. For the full Group lists and schedule, see www.homelessworldcup.org.
After the draw, we went out on the beach to practice free kicks (we’ve got some sneaky ones), corners, and moving the ball our from our goalie. That was followed by a barefoot scrimmage and a round of coconuts.
We wandered around Copacabana a bit more, going to a street market and then watching our local team Botafogo play on TV in the Brazilian league at a cafe. It was then time for dinner at the HWC headquarters at a hostel called the Mellow Yellow. The food was actually really good. Mmmmm, butter chicken.
Since getting back home, we’ve just spent some casual time at the hostel. The guys are really coming together as a group and we haven’t even stepped on the court yet.
Tomorrow will include the parade, opening ceremonies, and the first day of games. Unfortunately we don’t play, but that will give us a chance to scout the opposition and get a feel for things.
We’re itching to get into it.
Day 4
The Homeless World Cup festivities got into full swing on Day 4 with the parade and opening ceremonies. We had a great time during the parade right down the boardwalk along Avenue Atlantica in Copacabana. We were lead by a children’s Brazilian drum group and that lead to lots of dancing, including Co-Captain Patrick Oleman busting out some traditional First Nations dancing. We also brought out the national anthem and the First Nations warrior chant that has become one of our trademarks.
At the end of the parade, everyone filed into the competition venue for the opening ceremonies. Co-captains Kevin King and Patrick Oleman both got turns waving the Canadian flag as part of the ceremony. Unfortunately, the ceremony was a bit of a bust because the sound system wouldn’t work which meant that nobody could here either Mel Young (the President of the Homeless World Cup) or another guy who I think was the Mayor of Rio. I guess I’ll never know, but I was impressed with his support for the tournament anyways.
Games got under way pretty soon after the opening ceremony. It was hard for all of us to watch games and not play. We learned a lot watching the other teams though. Fortunately/unfortunately, we learned a lot from Ireland and Mexico (both in our group) who dished out the biggest smack-downs of the day with twin 14-0 wins (vs. Romania and Cambodia respectively). The best teams have amazing skill and also have really effective systems for defending.
Even though we didn’t play on Day 4, we built on our fan-base significantly by cheering for other teams and putting on a formidable display of good cheer. Our favourite teams have included Korea, Poland, Cambodia, and the Phillipines. We’re the official cheering section for these and several other teams. Usually Canadian soccer fans are so reserved compared to in other places, but not here. We’re so loud that other countries try to recruit us to cheer for them before games.
We continued the jockstrap expedition for a brief time. I brought back-up and mostly got Sarah Blyth and Kailin See to make fools of themselves trying to ask for one. We didn’t find one despite going to many sporting goods store. Brazilians must have balls of steel and little experience with ice hockey. Anyways, our goalie decided he didn’t need one in the end.
I went to my first coach’s meeting in the evening. It’s basically where all the countries’ coaches and managers can complain about things. Some of the coaches are pretty intense about rule interpretations.
Day 5
Today was obviously very exciting because we had our first two games. After getting ready in the morning, we made our way to the venue and onto the practice pitch to get warmed up. We had a good warm-up, but the Irish looked like they really knew what they were doing. It turned out that was more than a hunch. In a result that should surely put my job on the line, we got our butts kicked 15-1 by Ireland. The HWC website says 17-1, but that’s just not true and it does make a difference. The highlight of the game was when Jeremy Isaac introduced the ball to the top corner of the Irish net off a well placed corner by Peter Chow to make it 1-1. It was almost as if we practiced it (cough – we did – cough). The TSN turning point came when Ireland went ahead 2-1, about 3 minutes into the game. Before the game, I told the guys I just wanted to feel like we left it all on the field. That’s exactly what I felt. We learned a lot, but all the strategy in the world wasn’t going to win that game for us.
Our guys are so positive that you would have thought we won our first game 15-1. Everyone saw it as a learning experience and was honoured to have played with such a good team. We had a lot of fun between games. We got to watch a lot of great soccer. I’m calling Kenya and Mexico in the final. You heard it here first. I haven’t seen many of the women’s teams, but the guys like Norway and the Netherlands. But it might not be just soccer skill that they “like” about them, gnome sayin, so they might not be the teams to put your savings down on.
What we lack in scoring finesse, we make up for in cheering dominance. I think we deserve half the credit for Poland’s win over England today for our unending “Polska! Polska! Polska!” cheer throughout the game. I’ve got to admit that as someone with English roots who also lived in Nottingham for three years, it felt wrong inside to cheer against the three lions. The English keeper didn’t like our choice of alliance either and let us know about it after the game (in a very friendly way). I’ll have to teach the guys some British football chants and make it up to England another day.
Aside from our cheering, we’ve become well-loved in other ways as well. Yesterday, one of our guys came up to me to tell me that we were giving our shoes to Italy. “What!!?” was my immediate response. Turned out they ran out of free shoes and Italy didn’t bring as many as they needed. Some of their guys were looking at starting their game in flip-flops. Now, maybe this makes me a bad person, but I’ve got to say that even after the situation was explained to me a bit, I really didn’t like the idea of us giving away our shoes. We’ve done all this planning, come all this way, tried to make everything right, and the day before we play we’re going to give away our shoes!? To Italy!? Don’t they make shoes? But, of course, the guys were right. It was absolutely the right thing to do. The Italians only wanted to borrow the shoes. So, our shoes beat Croatia 8-6 and we got them back. Until today that is, when we lent them to Italy again between our games. I’m not sure what their result was, but if they won that means our shoes are a respectable 2 and 2 after today.
It’s our player Robert Milton’s birthday today and he requested ice cream, so we shared a couple of small tubs of it with lunch. Right after that, we went for a bit of a dip in the waves and some sandcastle building. The ridiculousness included backflips, and Baywatch-style David Hassellhoff impressions.
Having watched Romania on the first day of games, I thought they were going to be tough but that we might be able to take them. They only had four guys on the first day, so I thought maybe we would tire them out with our full team. However, there’s a little known rule at the HWC that if a team is short of players, they can request to use local “inexperienced” players from the host country. That would be fine if this was India or even Sweden or something. Try finding an “inexperienced” soccer player in Rio. So, we played most of the second-half against two Brazilians and one Romanian (the games are four-aside, three and a goalie). The end result was an 8-2 loss, but you’ve got to believe me that we learned from our Ireland experience and actually played really great defense. You have to keep one player over half all the time, so you’re always defending with two against three. It’s a high-scoring game. We also had two great goals. Jeremy Isaac is now a goal-a-game man with his second of the tournament and Robert Milton celebrated his birthday by suavely sliding it past the Romanian keeper on a penalty.
The evening has had its share of interpersonal conflicts, so that’s been a bit rough on the players and the volunteers trying to patch everything together. The best medicine would be a win against Cambodia in the morning.
It’s been an exciting time for a number of young men who herald from the Downtown Eastside. After over a year of practice, eight young men (six of whom are from First Nations around BC) will be heading to Rio on September 15 to represent Canada in the Homeless World Cup. Haven’t heard of the Homeless World Cup? Here are some fast facts:
The Homeless World Cup is a world-class, annual, international football tournament
It uses soccer (aka football) as a catalyst to encourage people who are homeless to change their lives; and to change the attitudes of governments, media, public and key influencers to create better solutions to homelessness around the world
64 Teams are competing this year
Last year’s cup was in Milan and the next will be in Paris
Team Canada is going to win (probably!)
Team Canada was drawn from Portland FC, a team drawn from the Portland Hotel Society managed HEAT shelters and the Eastside Sun Eagles, a pick up team of DTES residents. It’s exciting the Team representing Canada will be coming from an area often written off as a hopeless basket case of poverty and addiction. Its neat to think of such a success coming from such a tough as nails neighborhood. It is a success that’s being talked up around East Hastings most days and is capturing the imagination of many Vancouverites. Last week, this spirit was showcased on CTV and endorsed in an editorial in the Vancouver Province. This weekend, the team met Bobbie Lenarduzzi and were recognized at a Vancouver Whitecaps game.
While individual players are kicking bad habits one after another, Portland organizers and volunteers are increasingly looking to expand the Portland FC model and reach out to the dozens of other shelter residents spread around the Downtown Core. A women’s team is in the process of being formed.
None of this could have happened without the rallying support of dozens of coaches, coordinators and supporters. As a team member, its been truly heartening and inspiring to see how activists, businesses and non-profit organizations in and around the DTES have come together to donate what they can (be it time, supplies or money) and provide the team with the resources they need to succeed. Be it businesses like Fairware, Farpost, London Drugs, Eclipse Awards, Darwin Construction, Anti-Social or organizations like Coastal Health, UBC Psychiatry or the Portland Hotel Society, Portland FC and Team Canada represent a effective (and hopefully duplicable) model of what can happen when a community comes together to make a good idea happen.
In the end, no matter what the results are in Brazil, Team Canada and the community that’s come together to support it are all winners.
After 80 years of waiting, Africa’s history has been modified and strengthened by hosting FIFA world cup 2010. The vuvuzelas, the heavy traffic and city modernization efforts initiated and executed by South Africans to bring the 2010 soccer extravaganza to Africa is commendable. This is beautiful and big history for Africa! Africa will benefit from the 2010 world cup for years to come.
According to research posted on www.fifa.com, an accumulated audience of over 37 billion people watched the France ’98 tournament, including approximately 1.3 billion for the final alone, while over 2.7 million people flocked to watch the 64 matches in the French stadia. This gives an idea of how many people are watching the World Cup and how Africa can use this platform to change its negative image forever. For PR purposes we should have the following infomercials aired before the beginning of every match, at half time and at the end of every match:
Johannesburg is not the capital city of Africa, Africa is actually a continent with more than 52 countries! Africans don’t keep Lions as pets, Lions are dangerous wild animals only found in the parks! ..and That Mandela is the President of South Africa and not Africa. All these infomercials can help change the perception in the West about Africa. A good example is Melissa who toured Africa the other day and uploaded this on her facebook status “ ..Just learnt that Africa is not a country and that Egypt is found in Africa. This is all news to me as I thought Africa was a country and Egypt was in the desert and that you would never get pyramids in Africa, just like you would get elephants in Egypt… apparently I am wrong.”
Pundits predicted that Africa could surprise many and lifting a FIFA World Cup Trophy. However, Africa has been surprised. South Africa has written history as the first host nation of a FIFA World Cup not to qualify for the second round! That means Bafana Bafanas’ dream of playing the eleventh World Cup special match ball named Jubulani made by the German sports equipment Adida at the finals will never come to pass. Jubulani is a isiZulu word which means “bringing joy to everyone”.
Ghana has made history as the only nation in Africa to qualify for the second round. Figures are crossed and many have sworn not to miss any match being played by the new “African heroes”. My friend who is a tech wizard in a busy organization and a football fanatic developed a solution named “ FIFA World cup2010 boss management solution”. I have decided to share the same with you so that you can have freedom at your workplace and watch any world cup match without being terrorised by your boss. Remember this solution has worked in some organizations in Kenya and is only applicable until 12th July 2010. It reads:
Dear Sir / Madam,
I wish to let you know that the FIFA World Cup is about to begin. This is not just any other tournament, it’s the World Cup! Please note that this tournament takes place every four years and a month to finish, i.e. from 11th June to 11th July for this year. During this period take note of the following:
1. I will be knocking off earlier than usual in order to watch the kickoff of the first game.
2. Do not be surprised if I report a little bit late every morning, it will depend on the time the last game finishes.
3. Production will go up during this month as almost all employees will be happy and highly motivated (Check Maslow’s Motivation Theories with Human Resource).
4. I know you are into other boring sports like cricket, bowling, etc. Please, if you want to fit in the work environment for the next one month, try to know something about soccer, even asking a foolish question like “Is Malawi playing tonight?” that is if you really want to fit in, or else you will be a loner for one full month.
5. Greeting each other in the morning will change from “Good morning” to “How was the game last night?”
6. I will not accept to work overtime during this period as no amount of money can buy me to miss a game. Therefore make sure you don’t give me any work after 16:30 hours.
7. I will need to be up-to-date with the latest; therefore, the first hour every morning is for accessing sports websites and other updates on the internet and also chatting with friends on phone.
8. Lastly, please do not think you can fire me should you decide to break any of the above rules, as you will have to fire everyone.
Thank you for your understanding.
Yours faithfully,
Staff
Cc: Management
Cc: Secretary General, Central organization of trade Unions
cc: Human Right Commission
cc: International Labor Organization
cc: United Nations Council for Human Rights
cc: FIFA
cc: Moreno Ocampo, Prosecutor, International Criminal Court Prosecutor
For the next month, you’re not going to find a better place to watch the World Cup than on Commercial Drive.
The old “Little Italy” of Vancouver is already buzzing. Many of the local cafes are open from 4:30 AM onwards so you can watch the games live with other die-hard soccer fanatics. With that in mind, we at the Gumboot thought we’d sketch out a few great spots to consider checking out at game time. No matter who’s playing you can’t beat the atmosphere. And as it gets closer and closer to the final in July, expect the hype (and the crowds) to grow exponentially. Four years ago during the last World Cup, the crowds were so think that they had to block off the street. Hundreds of fans jammed tiny cafes, bars and restaurants to cheer on the team to victory. The scene of celebration rivaled this year’s Olympic celebrations (well, not quite – but you get the idea).
Interesting spots to consider checking our include the following:
La Rocca Restaurant- 1565 Commercial Drive – Great spot with big screens, all sorts of Italian Fellas located in the heart of the drive. Normally this is a sports bar/restaurant anyway so when World Cup time comes around these guys really hit their stride. You can also purchase all the World Cup kitch you desire – and some tasty spaghetti and meatballs too!
The Portuguese Club – 1144 Commercial Drive – Big screens and a lot of Portuguese people. If Ronaldo does what the entire small nation is dreaming he’ll do, this place could be the Grand Central Station of Portugal’s victory celebration. Regardless check them out. You can’t find more reasonably priced (and delicious mussels, clams and chorizo). To die for.
Pane Vero – 952 Commercial Drive – One big screen and a great patio. This place fits the bill if your looking for somewhere to get a morning cup of coffee or one of their delicious breakfast sandwiches. Their owner Claudio is good people. Though its a ways down the drive from the majority of Italian cafes, its well worth a stop!
Abruzzo Cappuccino Bar – 1321 Commercial Drive – If you want a really hardcore experience this is the place to go. These guys don’t even have a website because, I guess, they figure as “soccer central for the Drive” they don’t need one. This is a place where 7 days a week there’s soccer on the screen. Premier League, Euro-cup, you name it. It’s on and there’s a gaggle of older Italians sauntering about sipping their cappuccinos and looking almost too mobbed up for comfort.
If you’ve got any other great suggestions please toss them in the comments section! Happy World Cup and we’ll see you on the Drive!
Over the next couple months, Kurt and John will be bringing you a series of updates of Octopi Vancouver, Urban Rec’s premier soccer team. No we aren’t a team of Brazilians and no, you shouldn’t expect this segment to be a chronicle of countless victories. What you can expect is an ongoing narrative of community building on and off the pitch.
