District Sports includes homeless team in its annual Cherry Blossom Soccer Tournament

District Sports (DS), a Washington D.C.-area community-based athletic and charity organization, has given the DC Knights street soccer team a spot in its annual Cherry Blossom Soccer Tournament. The invitation comes as part of a pilot program started by District Sports to offer spaces in its annual event to organizations that support disadvantaged groups in the DC-area.

“As an organization, District Sports is devoted to community development through sport,” said Alex Bearman, Executive Director of District Sports. “The Cherry Blossom Soccer Tournament has grown into a very successful regional event and we are enthusiastic about sharing it with deserving groups who might not typically get a chance to participate.”

Along with including additional community organizations serving disadvantaged populations in D.C. next year DS will expand the tournament to 64 teams doubling the size of the event and creating the largest adult recreational soccer tournaments in the Nation’s Capitol. Expansion of the tournament will allow DS to better serve its members and local community organizations.

"Street Soccer is honored and excited to participate in the 2010 Cherry Blossom tournament. These events are instrumental in our ability to use sports as a tool for social change, and District Sports has been a relationship that we hope to continue to develop for years to come." Said Omar Abdul- Baki coach of the DC Knights.

The DC Knights street soccer team is a program of

Street Soccer USA

designed to assist men, women, and youth of all ages who lack permanent housing. Research shows that SSUSA reaches more than 20% of the chronically homeless in a given service area, and realizes a 75% success rate in effecting a positive life change such as addressing a substance abuse problem or mental health issue, securing full-time employment or moving off the street.