8/4/2019 Kick Start- Hong Kong Tatler

1/3

hong kong tatler 1 october 2011 hong kong tatler 2 october 2011

he eiffel tower

looms large behind

them as the eight menrepresenting the Hong

Kong ootball team

walk onto the pitch at

Paris Champ de Marspublic park. Their

confdence grows with

each step as the spectators cheer loudly rom the

sidelines and the team readies itsel or its open-

ing match. But all this excitement and attention isunamiliar to the tenacious competitors who have

travelled halway around the world to compete in

the Homeless World Cup (hwc) ootball tourna-

ment. Indeed, it could hardly be more dierentrom their daily existence in Hong Kong, where lie

on the street has made them eel almost invisible.

For this team, kicking a ball around is more

than just sport. Each member, aged between 25and 40, is a recovering addict in treatment, and

all have been living in shelters or institutions.

Football has opened the door to a new world, one

in which they have purpose and sel worth. It has

changed their lives by restoring their sel-esteem.

Everybody needs to wake up in the morningwith a goal, says ormer France and Manchester

United striker Eric Cantona, the hwcglobal ambas-

sador. The Homeless World Cup brings this oppor-

tunity to go into training, to change your lie.The annual Homeless World Cup is an interna-

tional ootball tournament that brings together

people who are homeless, marginally homeless,

addicts in a rehabilitation programme or those

who earn a living as vendors o street papers.Each participating country sends its own team,

which plays rounds o our-a-side street soccer

in a series o ast-paced, 14-minute matches. The

frst tournament was held in Graz, Austria in 2003and brought together 18 teams. The latest edi-

tion, held on August 21-28 and won by Scotland,

attracted 600 players on 64 teams (including 16

womens teams) rom 53 countries.The goal o the hwc is to end homeless-

ness by bringing international attention to this

worldwide issue and by empowering those who

T

KickS

TaRt

8/4/2019 Kick Start- Hong Kong Tatler

2/3

hong kong tatler 3 october 2011

OnTh

clockwe

fromaboe

HongKong

battleit outagainstKenya;HongKongplayersposeoraphotowith theEstonianteam;Brazilianplayersshowoftheirskills;the EifelTowerprovides agrandbackdroptothematches;cheeringonHongKong

with human rights ngothe Society or Community

Organisation, has been working with the home-

less or more than a decade. His experience taughthim that helping people restore hope and regain

confdence was the best way to break out o the

negative cycle in which they are trapped. When he

heard about the hwc, he knew it was the vehiclethat would make this possible or many people.

Ninety-eight per cent o homeless in Hong Kong

are male, says Ng. Most o them lose hope. We

need to rebuild that hope through the game. In

ootball, they need to ace losing and winning. Butmost o all, they learn not to give up.

Luckily, businessman and ootball an Alex

Chan also believed in the hwcdream. When he

read about Ngs attempts to assemble a team, heimmediately oered to help undraise. Within

three days there was enough money to send the

team to Edinburgh, Scotland, to compete in the

2005 tournament and the Hong Kong team wasborn. A new team has been ormed each year, and

Hong Kong has participated in every cup since.

The Hong Kong team is recruited through an

annual selection tournament, where 12-16 teams

are invited rom social rehabilitation institutions.

The chosen players attend weekly ootball practiceand training or three months, during which they

begin to develop the physical, mental and emo-

tional qualities needed to be an eective player.

Team manager Ho Wai-chi says, Footballteaches them lie skills discipline and per-

sistence and how to be brave in the ace o a

strong enemy. And not to give up. Players also

attend a training camp, where the ocus is on

team building more than skills.Although the Hong Kong team ranked 40th

and won just two matches out o 13 in Paris

(against Sweden and Canada), the stats are o

little importance. Ho says, Since these playershave already experienced a lot o difculties

in their lives, we dont want to put them under

unnecessary pressure. We just want

them to enjoy the game.

Beore joining the team, Ying Ho was the

big boss o the gang with whom he lived. Knownor his hot temper, he lived a lie in which no one

told him what to do. During the tournament, he

surprised everyone with his change in attitude.

When he came close to getting angry, he insteadthought about the consequences and calmed

down. Ho explains: We are the only Chinese

team in the whole tournament. How could I yell

at them? It would be an insult to the team and tothe badge we are wearing.

The realisation that the good o the team was

more important than his own needs was a new

experience, and a good eeling. Team managerHo explains: He eels a bit o sel-respect i he

can obey what the coach says and by listening to

live rough. So ar,

the event has had a

proound impact:studies suggest that

more than 70 per

cent o the 100,000

people involved sincethe project started have returned home to change

their lives or the better. Regardless o whether this

means coming o drugs and alcohol, securing a job,

going back to school, fnding a home, or reuniting

with amily, a cycle o positive change has begun.Mel Young, president and co-ounder o the

hwcsays, You have three wins when it comes

to change. The players change beyond recogni-

tion, and the people who come to watch us neverlook at homeless people the same way again. The

media, too, as they oten represent the home-

less as a problem, but now we are changing the

stereotype and getting positive stories.It was a belie in the possibilities this tourna-

ment oered that allowed Hong Kong to join in

the fght to be heard. Ng Wai-tung, a co-ordinator

People who come to watch usnever look at homepeople the same way again

8/4/2019 Kick Start- Hong Kong Tatler

3/3

that to be poor in Scotland is nothing compared to

being poor in a country like Cambodia.Hos presentation on Hong Kong explained

that, technically, the citys basic social securitysystem ensures that nobody will starve to death,

but the conditions under which many people live

are inhumane. Ho says: Absolute poverty by def-

nition may not exist [in Hong Kong]. But the gapbetween rich and poor, and the price o land, are

so high that even i you have a job, you can still

live in poverty. Some people live in homes which

are no larger than a cofn.There is still a long way to go, but until then it

will be stories such as Ah Cheungs that inspire hope.

Once a proessional soccer player, when social work-

ers ound Cheung, his gambling addiction had lethim destitute and sleeping rough. Ater joining the

Hong Kong team or the Edinburgh tournament, he

never looked back. Within six years, Cheung started

his own business, was married, became a ather

and coached the Hong Kong team in South Arica.He remains a keen volunteer and helps the team

with undraising and training. Team manager Ho

recalls, The day he got married, he invited us and

his mother came to me a lmost in tears, saying thatit was because o what he experienced at thehwc

that she ound her son again.

It is this type o tale that makes the tournament

such a potent catalyst or change. Returning homearmed with a renewed sense o sel, these men and

women have ound a goal, and they know how to

achieve it: one kick at a time.

Raising the funds to sendthe Hong Kong team to the HomelessCup each year is achieved in particularly fitting fashion: they ball to raise money for football. Each year, a four-a-side charitnament is organised in which corporations or institutions conHK$15,000 to form a team. With 12 to 16 sides, the money raisfor transport, promotion and training costs, and is enough to sthe team, a coach and a social worker. In-kind sponsorships aavailable for uniforms, refreshments, souvenir T-shirts, signagmore. Says team manager Ho Wai-chi: The beauty of fundraithat we bring some very different sectors together, from bankwatchmaking and jewellery, printing and industrial productithink the attraction is the nature of the whole game and thosein the past who have demonstrated what impact the game hatheir personal lives. Its those successful stories that sell the ideSee soco-wofoo-homelesssoccer.hk for more information.

Pay it forward

able. Says Ho: I keep saying to them that the real

fght is not in Paris, but in Hong Kong. You haveto use what you learn here to turn a new page in

your lie. We will keep pushing them to under-

stand what they have learned.

Thehwcalso helps by showing the players oeach nation that they are not alone. The Paris event

was the frst to hold a conerence on homelessness,

where each team gave a presentation about the

situation in their country. Its an opportunity or the

poorer nations o the world to learn that even devel-oped countries have similar problems, and a chance

or the homeless in more developed nations to learn

that there are many people worse o than they are.

And sometimes, these experiences inspire play-ers to discover their own humanity. At the Milan

hwcin 2009, the Scottish team captain explained

how each year the team adopted a team rom

a developing country. They would give them anyextra ood allowance they had or gits such as jer-

seys and toiletries. When asked why, his reply cap-

tured the spirit o the game: Because we realise

Being poor in Scotlandis nothingcompared tobeing poor in a countrylike Cambodia

others. It gives him a eeling o proessionalism.For Chung Man, whose severe lack o sel-

confdence made him very shy, the trip to Paris

was an opportunity to fnd his own voice and to

realise he had something to contribute: he had the

best English skills on the team. I was pushed totest mysel physically and socially because, when

you are in a oreign country, i you dont speak to

express yoursel, you wont be able to do any-

thing, not even eat. In Hong Kong I would neverspeak English, says Chung. With each word spo-

ken his confdence grew and soon other players

were asking or his help in communicating.

The hwcmay be a once-a-year event, but thebenefts are long lasting. Once the players return

home, ollow-up programmes created by the

organisers ensure that the whole eort is sustain-

OnvisiOn

clockwe

fromtopleft

HongKongonthe charge

againstPalestine;thetournamentostersa spiritocamaraderieamongansandparticipants;theKenyanwomensteamcelebratesvictoryoverMexicoinParis;HongKongsquadmemberswatchromthesidelines

hong kong tatler 5 october 2011

images:matthewJ

ordaan,

esmedeacon,m

andlamnyakama,

BethanmoBey,

BenJaminmoldenhauer,kr

isthostagupa