The Homeless World Cup is coming to Sacramento. Here’s how the competition changes lives

Before Chris Zacarria and Angelina Lowney started playing street soccer, they struggled financially and lived in transitional housing in Sacramento.

Zacarria, 54, was a recovering addict. She didn’t know how to dribble a soccer ball when she first got the chance to join a team. But organizers and other teammates taught her the basics, and soon, she was asked to be goalie for the Sacramento team that would play for a competition called the Homeless World Cup.

That international tournament is coming to Sacramento in 2023, making its first stop in the United States. More than 500 athletes from 50 countries will compete for the cup in a tournament that invites those who are refugees or people who have experienced homelessness within the past three years.

It will have at least one player from Sacramento on the U.S. team, Lawrence Cann, founder and CEO of Street Soccer USA told The Sacramento Bee.

The tournament, which is in its 20th year, is scheduled for July 8 through July 15 at Sacramento State. It draws thousands of attendees. Sacramento will be the first host city post-pandemic. The last time the tournament was held was in Wales in 2019.

Athletes like Zacarria and Lowney say it changes lives.

Street Soccer USA provided Zacarria with opportunities to travel to New York and San Francisco to compete in the National World Cup. Her team won second place in New York, paving the way for her to compete in the 2014 Homeless World Cup in Santiago, Chile.

The organization helped pay for flights, prepare Zacarria and her teammates for the tournament, and much more.

Lowney, 47, played in the Homeless World Cup in Poznan, Poland in 2013. She now works full-time at Walmart and coaches soccer, changes that she credits to her time in the soccer program.

“It taught me the life skills to be able to develop myself and to divert my life,” she said.

Zacarria now works as behavioral health technician and is currently working with children with special needs.

“You don’t know what you are made of until you put yourself out there,” Zacarria said. “We became a family, and developed a good relationship with people.”

The competition is coming to California’s capital as the city struggles to address its homelessness crisis. More than 9,300 people experience homelessness in Sacramento County on any given night, according to a recent count, a population that exceeds the number of homeless people in San Francisco.

Sacramento voters in November approved a ballot measure intended to clear encampments and provide more resources. The city of Sacramento and the county also recently struck an agreement detailing each agency’s responsibilities for homeless services.

“I feel like there isn’t enough to offer people in desperate situations,” Lowney said. “People need resources not only for addiction, but also maintaining a job and an apartment or the loss of your family. It’s about being able to take care of yourself and become independent.”

Lowney used programs that helped women and children, but said it’s harder for men and also women who lost their children.

Why Homeless World Cup chose Sac State

The decision to hold the tournament in Sacramento was an easy one, said Cann, the Street Soccer USA president and founder.

“We were impressed with everything that California State University, Sacramento offered as a venue not just for the football that will be played at the Hornet Stadium but also the accommodation and services available to our players, coaches, officials, and volunteers,” Homeless World Cup founder Mel Young said. “It’s the perfect location for our return to action and our strong relationship with Street Soccer USA, especially in Sacramento was a key reason behind our decision.”

“The team behind the bid are not only enthusiastic about hosting the best Homeless World Cup ever, but they are also experienced and well placed to create a fantastic environment and a positive life-changing event for our 500 players who will be coming to the state capital of California in 2023,” Young said.

New courts in Sacramento

Street soccer is more fast-paced than regular soccer, using walled courts the size of basketball courts.

Street Soccer Sacramento opened a court at 8th Street and Broadway in 2020, giving refugees and unhoused men and women the chance to play.

These players are people deserving of respect,” Lisa Wrightsman, director of Street Soccer USA Sacramento. “They’re not out there playing for money or cars. They are people who have very little in their lives, and they’re working hard, and smiling, and lifting one another up. I hope that people watching them are able to appreciate that.”

Soccer is a universal language, Zacarria said. Some recent refugees to the U.S. also play with Street Soccer Sacramento.

“You don’t need to speak the same language as long as you pass the ball,” she said. “That’s how you make friends. I play for social change–change in a way that works for you. And we play together and have fun.”

To register in Sacramento’s street soccer program, email Wrightsman at Lisa@streetsoccerusa.org.

This story was originally published January 2, 2023 at 5:30 AM.