Kicking On

Being a soccer fan, I enjoyed this story in The Big Issue (no. 316, 4- 17 Nov 2008) about the Homeless World Cup.

(Clicking on the 'kicking on' title above gets you to: http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/vic/content/2005/s1356594.htm)

Martin Hughes, former editor of The Big Issue, recounts in this article how he first heard of the event at an international street papers conference in Buenos Aires in 2005.

The idea of an international street papers conference is in itself an intriguing one.

Given that papers like The Big Issue are printed once a fortnight and would have far lower circulation figures than major newspapers, it is testament to the power of ‘word of mouth’, or ‘grassroots’ media that firstly, it can spawn international conferences, and even more impressively, an international event like the homeless World Cup.

Hughes volunteered an Australian team for the event, held in Edinburgh in 2005, before having organised either players or sponsors.

In a dualistic act of faith and pragmatism, ABC TV’s Stateline program filmed two possible follow-ups on Hughes’ struggle to garner funds: one had him regretfully announcing the project’s demise, the other jubilantly announcing a major sponsor.

Faith won, with the CEO of Smorgon Steel (and chairman of the Essendon Football Club) Ray Horsburgh providing the air fares for the team the morning after the program aired.

So we have an alternative street paper piquing the interest of a non-commercial television station, attracting the interest of a major industry player who puts in funds and interest into a project that major media would kill for.

I love it – and that’s in addition to the warm fuzzy glow we get from hearing how this street soccer competition has given homeless people a purpose, social contact, and a way back into society.

Despite the ignominy of seeing soccer villain Kevin Muscat ( Melbourne Victory captain and long-time enemy of Adelaide United fans) posing in feel-good photos with the Aussie street soccer team, I can only conclude that on occasions like this, the world actually gets it right, with some help from ‘little’ media.

Follow-up: the (2005) Stateline story attached to the title link above stated that Melbourne hoped to host the Homeless World Cup in 2008. They will - next month.