In Street Soccer USA National Cup, D.C. waterfront hosts unique soccer celebration

The Street Soccer USA National Cup took place on Washington, D.C.’s Southwest waterfront last weekend, bringing together soccer squads composed of men and women from 18 cities around the country -- including Montgomery County, Md. -- where the sport is being used as an instrument for changing lives and creating hope for the homeless and downtrodden.

“We really believe that ending homelessness is a team sport,” explained Lawrence Cann, Street Soccer USA’s founder, on Friday. “We work with shelters, youth shelters and different homeless service organizations around the country, and we build relationships and trust through playing soccer together. Then we use that trust as a platform to deliver life and job skills and help people make a difference in their lives. Our main outcomes are education, health, employment and housing.”

While the competition decided the SSUSA national champions in various brackets, it was above all a gathering of hope and renewal, and a celebration of the game’s universal appeal as area soccer players of all ages and abilities also participated in small-sided competitions alongside those who are transforming their lives through Street Soccer USA.

“It’s a great way to bring the community in, people who love to play soccer and learn about what we’re doing with Street Soccer,” said Lawrence’s brother and fellow SSUSA executive Rob Cann. “It’s hard to get yourself out to go and volunteer, so we’re trying to bring people here and get them to play a game they already love, and then really interact side by side with our players.”

Held at the temporary stadium erected for the Washington Kastles tennis team on the shores of the Potomac River (which was set up at the site of the old Washington Convention Center at 10th and H Streets NW in previous years), the SSUSA National Cup has become an annual event in D.C. and its steady growth has matched that of the organization as a whole. SSUSA has established programs in 18 cities, with two more in development, and sends a U.S. national team to compete in the Homeless World Cup every year.

Lawrence Cann proudly notes that 75 percent of SSUSA participants reach positive outcomes in at least one of those areas within a year of joining a Street Soccer program, driven by the structure, accountability, pride and fellowship of a team sports environment. He and his brother, North Carolinians who founded the organization in Charlotte in 2007 after learning of the Homeless World Cup, have bold aspirations for even bigger and better achievements in the future.

“We’ve gotten up to 18 cities, and we have two other cities that we’re working closely with that aren’t here this weekend. So at about 20 we feel like it’s a great number; we’re not trying to expand just to expand,” said Rob Cann on Friday. “Now we want to see all these programs really be effective – each and every one of them get to an optimal level where they’re serving a lot of people and serving them really well.

“We think in five years from now, we can serve 50,000 people and hopefully have a team in every state.”

SSUSA has been aided by the support of entities like Nike and the U.S. Soccer Foundation, along with philanthropists like Sheila Johnson and Ted Leonsis, but climbing to the next level will take even greater commitment from donors, volunteers and staff. While their national event will still return to D.C. next year, the Cann brothers hope to stage similar tournaments in other parts of the country as they build a regional tournament network.

“It’s major growth, it’s ambitious, sure. And we need to do a lot to get there,” said Rob Cann. “But the amazing thing about Street Soccer is, people just want to be a part of it – whether they’re from the soccer community and they don’t know anything about homelessness but understand the game and the power of soccer, or it’s social services agencies that want to more effectively serve their clients. They step forward and get the ball rolling.”

PSW was on hand at last weekend's SSUSA National Cup and will be posting video coverage of this amazing event later in the week.

[+Click here to read the Washington Post's moving profile of a participant in SSUSA's Montgomery County program]