Tag Archives: Street Soccer USA

Kicking It at Kastles Stadium for the 2010 Street Soccer Cup!

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I have been a proud supporter of Street Soccer USA and the Homeless World Cup for several years now. It is a wonderful charity that my family and I have grown very close to. Their use of the power of sport to help the homeless is inspiring and has helped countless people who have been or are currently homeless. That is why we are proud to support this weekend’s 2010 Street Soccer USA Cup being held at Kastles Stadium in downtown Washington D.C (11th and H Streets, NW). It is so appropriate that we can continue to celebrate Street Soccer’s efforts here in the nation’s capital. Thanks to Mark Ein and his team at the Washington Kastles, we can enjoy holding the Cup in DC for another amazing year.

Please come out this weekend to Kastles Stadium to cheer our players on as they battle for the coveted Street Soccer Cup. The players will be arriving from cities all over the country this Thursday and will be ready to begin play on Friday. The opening ceremonies will commence at 5:20 pm on Friday afternoon with games to quickly follow. Play starts back up early Saturday morning at 8:00 am and continues until 8:00 pm. The final day of competition will see the crowning of a new champion with games beginning at 8:20 am and lasting through the closing ceremonies, which are scheduled for 3:30 pm. There will also be a couple of concerts periodically throughout the day, so there will be plenty to see and enjoy. It is really important that we have a big crowd to cheer on these inspiring figures and push them to new heights. I plan on attending several matches and will be in attendance for the ceremonies as well. My son will also be at the tournament to volunteer and help out. The tournament will be taking walk-up volunteers in the morning, so its not too late to help out if you would like. I am excited to see competitive soccer in an outdoor venue. I encourage you to come out, join us, and enjoy great soccer. Oh, and tickets for attending the event are free :) .

The Leonsis Foundation has been strong supporters of this charity and their leadership, which includes Lawrence Cann. You may remember him from an article in People magazine last year. His commitment to rescuing the homeless has been a big reason for our continual support. I am also very proud to say that one of my good friends and partners at Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Dr. Sheila Johnson, has become involved with the charity as well. Dr. Johnson continues to set a great example. Her help with Street Soccer USA has been invaluable.

If you haven’t heard of Street Soccer before, or just want more information about it, check out the film Kicking It. It is about the Homeless World Cup that took place in South Africa. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. It is an amazing story.

Sport For Social Change Comes to DC

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“Join this team, change your life.” That’s the challenge Street Soccer USA has been putting to teens and adults struggling with homelessness. The program offers a sense of belonging, mentorship, life skills training, and connections to jobs and job training to dedicated participants.If you love sports and enjoyed the passion of the FIFA World Cup you won’t want to miss the national Street Soccer USA Cup competition that the Leonsis Foundation is once again bringing to Washington, DC. On July 30th at 5pm, 23 teams based at social service centers from coast to coast will compete for a national championship in street soccer, a fast paced 4 vs. 4 style game. The games are hosted by the Washington Kastles at their center city stadium on 10th and H Street and finish Sunday at 3pm.

There are three great ways for you to get involved:
1. Come out at 5pm on July 30th to attend the Opening Match and Parade kicked off by Mayor Adrian Fenty. (If you register your group or business online SSUSA will announce your attendance over the PA and your group will also be entered in drawing for select giveaways at the Cup)
2. You can enter your own team to play on the official stadium gamefield in the Street Soccer USA Open Cup.
3. Sign up to volunteer

Visit www.streetsoccerusa.org to register for free tickets or purchase priority seats or courtside passes. You can read about the great entertainment, prizes, and register your team for the Open Cup there as well, or learn how to get personally involved. You can also read more about the teams, the players, and the sport for social change movement.

You can also support your favorite team at www.shopforsocialchange.org. Register for free, choose the team you support, and the program with most registrants will get a $500 grant from the Shop for Social Change.

See you July 30th at 5pm!

San Francisco Wins Street Soccer USA Cup

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A great weekend of sports and social change concluded here in DC. San Francisco won the Cup and will head to Milan to participate in the Homeless World Cup Tournament.

Thank you to Mark Ein for letting these folks play in his great tennis stadium and thank you to all of the folks who donated time, money and effort to make this tournament a great success.

Here is the ESPN write-up on the event. Thanks for your ongoing support. “A ball can change your life.”

Soccer for Social Change

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Click here to read about Street Soccer; The Homeless World Cup trials coming to Washington, DC; and the DC Knights homeless soccer team.
 
I am proud to continue my family’s sponsorship of this worthy event. Get involved. Donate some time or money to this great cause and come on down and watch some games at Kastles Stadium.

BIG NEWS: Street Soccer Comes to Washington, DC

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My family’s charitable foundation is so pleased to help bring the Homeless World Cup US Trials to Washington, DC, from June 27th to June 29th. The games will be played at the new Washington Kastles tennis stadium in downtown DC. Mark Ein, owner of the Kastles, was also an executive producer of our film on this subject called “Kicking It”.

More than 100 homeless players and their coaches and volunteers will be coming to Washington, DC, to participate in this program. There will be tournaments and games to choose the best players to represent the US in the Homeless World Cup to be held in Melbourne, Australia in December of 2008. This is an opportunity of a lifetime for these people and I am hopeful you will come and watch the games.

“Kicking It” will open that same Friday night at the Landmark E Street Cinema and we will bring out the players and staff to one of the premiere screenings. Also, DC United is playing the LA Galaxy on that Sunday and MLS soccer and DC United have invited us and the players to come to the game and be recognized at halftime at RFK Stadium. What a thrill and true synergy to have our film open; DC United playing the LA Galaxy on ABC; and the tournament all scheduled the same weekend! As you know, the film “Kicking It” will debut on ESPN in September of 2008 as well.

I am honored to help this wonderful organization, Street Soccer USA, and the Homeless World Cup all work to help shine a light on homelessness and how a “ball can change your life”. Come on out to the games. Support us. Come on out and see the film at Silverdocs on Saturday or at the Landmark E Street Cinema next weekend.