Homeless World Cup offers hope and compassion for a global problem
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sienna Jackson doesn’t know where she’d be if she hadn’t found Street Soccer USA. But she knows where she wouldn’t be: in a home, in dental school or starring for the U.S. in the Homeless World Cup.
“My mental state would have went to trash,” said Jackson, 25, who had less than $3 in her pocket when her mother kicked her out of her home just after her 20th birthday. “I think I probably would have turned to drugs and alcohol. I honestly think I would have given up on myself.”
Donnie Nicholson knows exactly where he’d be if he hadn’t been introduced to soccer more than a dozen years ago.
“I’d be dead,” said the 47-year-old, who spent a decade on the streets after leaving the Navy.
Instead, both found purpose, camaraderie and hope in the simplest of games. And during the past week, they’ve been sharing that with 420 athletes and coaches on 42 men’s and women’s teams from 29 countries at the Homeless World Cup in Sacramento, a competition where you are a winner just for showing up.
The idea for the tournament came in the
