Home and Away: In Search of Dreams at the Homeless World Cup

By Dave Bidini

A gripping insight into the power of sport to change lives. Every four years the soccer World Cup unites people all over the globe to watch their favourite team battle it out to make the final. But there's another World Cup that isn't quite as glamorous: the Homeless World Cup (HWC). In 2008 award-winning author and filmmaker Dave Bidini accompanied the poor and dispossessed players of Homeless Team Canada to the HWC in Melbourne. What Bidini found was the ultimate underdog sporting event, teeming with stories of humanity and more relevant to our times than any modern big-ticket spectacle. Through seeing the players' disappointments, frustrations, joys and triumphs, Bidini understands the true meaning of this tournament. He sees firsthand the power of sport to transform the lives of those on the edge – how the decision to play this game can mean the difference between survival or a life of addiction, poverty or crime. Home and Away offers a powerful look at the homeless and disadvantaged, from the barrios of Mexico City and the shanties of West Africa to the streets of North America, Europe and Australia.  Whether you're a sports fanatic or a keen observer of human nature, you'll never watch a soccer game in the same way again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of Queensland Press
• Release date: Jan 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780702247446

Dave Bidini

Dave Bidini’s first book, published in 1998, was the popular and critically acclaimed On a Cold Road, about what it’s like to tour Canada in a rock ’n’ roll band. He has since written four more books, Tropic of Hockey (2001), Baseballissimo (2004), For Those About to Rock (2004) and The Best Game You Can Name (2005). When he is not writing or traveling the world, Bidini is rhythm guitarist for the Rheostatics. He also starred in the Gemini Award—winning film The Hockey Nomad. Dave Bidini lives with his wife and two children in Toronto. Please visit Dave at www.davebidini.ca or follow him on Facebook.