ST BASILS 4 ENGLAND PLAYERS IN HOMELESS WORLD CUP TEAM
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We're off to Australia!
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The four young St Basils England Players and Martin Hall from Wolverhampton all left from Birmingham New St on Thursday (20th Nov) lunchtime. All after the weeks residential training with the first team at Manchester United and playing on the hallowed ground during the match between MU and Stoke city. If that wasn't enough excitement they were filmed on Tuesday morning preparing and packing up to leave, for BBC Midlands Today, which was broadcast on the evening of Tuesday 18th. Last but not least Tyrone found time at 7.30 am on the morning of leaving to get a lift into BBC Mailbox and went on 'Live' Radio WM where Phil Upton interviewed him and wished the squad all the best! Radio WM will be following their progress. Watch this space.
The story so far.
Manchester United Foundation and The Big Issue in the North have selected 4 young men from St Basils in Birmingham to take part in this year's England Homeless World Cup team.
Tyrone Coleman and cousin Romaine Coleman, with Abdi Gall and Ryan Nash all from St Basils have joined the squad of eight players selected from hundreds of hopefuls who have attended regional and then national trials held since January. In November, they will travel to the tournament in Australia, to compete against over forty-five other countries in a bid to bring home the coveted Homeless World Cup trophy.
Hopes are high this year of victory for England, who came second in the very first Homeless World Cup tournament in 2002 but who have steadily fallen down the rankings ever since.
Louis Garvey, Manchester United Foundation coach said: “We've picked the squad earlier this year and had more people than ever before try out to be part of the team. There are some brilliant players representing England and we're all doing the best we possibly can to do our country proud at the tournament. We now need people in England to rally behind these lads and show their support for them as they travel to Australia to represent their country.”
The players, who come from across the country including Birmingham, London, Bristol and Oldham, are all homeless or accessing homelessness services to help them keep their tenancies.
| l-r Ryan, Abdi, Tyrone and Romaine see case studies below. |
Tyrone commented
“What I have realised as a young person that out of something bad something good can be achieved.As at this present time in my life I have something to look forward to, and that is to go to Australia to represent my country in the homeless world cup in November for 21 days with 3 other members of St Basils.One of which is my cousin Romain Coleman and that in itself is a bonus for me.“
Richard Brown, Homeless World Cup England Team manager from The Big Issue in the North, said: “The lads who have made it into the final squad of eight players should be very proud of their achievements. Projects like this prove that sport can have a dramatic effect in turning people's lives around and I'm sure that every one of these lads will find the Homeless World Cup tournament a literally life changing experience.”
Previous England team players have gone on to do coaching, played semi-professional football and moved on into further training and employment as a direct result of the motivation and enhanced self-esteem gained from taking part in the project.
As well as attending the tournament, which takes place in December, all eight squad members have had the opportunity to do their coaching level one badges thanks to the FA. They will also be travelling out a week before the start of the tournament to run some football training sessions in local Melbourne schools.
Abdi Gaal said
“When I first came to St Basils they offered me a range of services to help me. Then they found me accommodation to help me settle as soon as they could. I was very happy to found a place of my own that I could call home. ST Basils gave support with my benefits, and helped me settle down.Since I have been with ST Basils, I have gained confidence, skills and discipline.
After a while I found out that St Basils had a football team, which I soon joined.The managers of the football team put me through to the Homeless World Cup Football Tournament team selections, of which I am through to the last 8 players.”
The England Team have been funded by the Football Association and the Erach and Roshan Sadri Foundation.
For more information about the England team, case studies or photographs, please contact Christian Lisseman on 07920 824 758 or email christian.lisseman@thebiglifecompany.com
Or to interview St Basils England Players contact Catherine M Clarke Catherine.clarke@stbasils.org.ukor call 0121-772-2483
m. 0777-599-7964
Following St Basils 4 members of Homeless World Cup Team- Case studies
July 2008
Romain Coleman
Romain is 23 and from Birmingham. He left home over a year ago because of some family problems and is now staying at St Basils in the city.He says his mum is really proud that he has got into the England team and that it is a “gift from the Big Man” that he has been selected. “It’s been good to meet different people during the trials,” he says, “and I’ve learnt a lot about my personal skills since taking part in this project.” Romain would love to be a professional footballer but is also interested in mentoring and support work in the future. He supports Aston Villa. His cousin, Tyronne, is also part of the team.
Tyrone Coleman
Tyrone is 23 and is also staying at St Basils in Birmingham where his cousin, Romain, also lives. He decided to leave home when he was 19 to gain some independence. Tyrone loves being part of the team and knows that this is a “once in a lifetime” experience. He has made some good friends during the last six months having met a number of people from a similar background as himself. “No one thinks anything bad of anybody here,” he says. “Many of us have had the same difficulties at home.” Tyrone would like to take his footballing as far as he can and would love to get to a semi-professional level. He is also interested in doing some support work and is set to do a teaching course soon and learn sign language.It’s an added bonus for him that his cousin is in the team alongside him. “There are a lot of young people off the rails and they look bad,” says Tyrone about the England team. “It’s nice to know that somebody out there is doing good and we can all make a change.”
Abdi Gaal
Abdi, who is 20, is now living at St Basils in Birmingham. Abdi was originally from Somalia but lived in Holland as a child. Then, when he was 15, he and his family were removed from the county, despite the fact that Abdi’s father is from Holland, and sent back to Somalia. Four years ago, Abdi came over to the UK. He stayed in London for a couple of years with his grandma and then moved to Birmingham when it felt a bit overcrowded at home. In Holland, Abdi was playing football for an under 12s and then an under 14s team and he was really disappointed when he had to leave the country. He thought that his opportunity to play football was over. “After being sent to Somalia, there was a moment when I didn’t want to play football anymore,” he says. “I never imagined I would one day be representing England. My support worker at St Basils encouraged me to take part in the trials and I’m glad I did. It’s made me see that anything is possible. The moment you think you’ve dropped down is the moment you’ve got to pick yourself up and go on.” Abdi has got a lot of plans for the future, including completing a Construction Skills Certificate, playing football and being involved in some youth work to help other young people who are homeless.
Ryan Nash
Ryan is the fourth of this year’s players who is from St Basils in Birmingham – the first time so many England players have come from one place. Ryan is 20 and became homeless when he was 18 after family problems. He stayed with friends for a while and then moved into Wolverhampton Foyer before going to St Basils. He says it’s brilliant to have made it to the England team. ENDS
Editor notes
Based in Birmingham and the West Midlands St Basils is one of the largest agencies in the UK working with young people age 16 to 25 at risk of homelessness or actually homeless. The company received the Housing Corporation 'Gold Award' for preventing youth homelessness in 2006 and is currently the Housing Association national Centre of Excellence for tacklingyouth homelessness www.stbasils.org.uk
