FLOURISHING FLEMISH LEAGUE

Posted by Belgium - 05.05.2011

We caught up with the 'Belgian Homeless Cup' as they look to kick-off their latest league season in January.

The Belgian Homeless Cup was founded in January 2009 and already engages more than 300 homeless players and supporters.

Operating predominantly in the Flemish area of the country the competition will welcome ten teams from regional organisations this year, nine from the Flanders region and one from Brussels.

Regional homeless organisations wishing to enter a team to the Belgian Homeless Cup must give support to the players and have a direct ink to their local professional football team; the side from Brussels for example, has a strong link with European giants Anderlecht.

This year the Belgian Homeless Cup will culminate in tournaments taking place in February and April before a grand final on June 11th, from which the squad to compete at the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup will be selected.

However, the league operates a unique scoring system for teams wishing to represent Belgium at the Homeless World Cup, which looks beyond sheer sporting prowess.

Competing teams are marked not only on their sporting accomplishments, but also on the social integration and development of players and their fair play record.

Bert Ballegeer, coordinator of the Belgian Homeless Cup explains: “Teams are not only graded on their performance on the pitch. The social and sporting marks are weighed up, including personal testimonies from the players and marks on fair play, and this gives each team the chance of winning the tournament,” he said.

Ballegeer recognises the collaboration between social organisations and professional football clubs from the first and second divisions as being greatly beneficial.

“When teams arrive at a tournament they travel in official club outfit, they play in full club colours with the emblem on their chest. This provides the players with a great deal of pride and belonging,” he said. One of the professional teams, Club Brugge, invited homeless players to volunteer at match days, while other clubs have provided assistance with training and social support”.

The 2011 Belgian Homeless Cup kicks-off in January, providing hundreds of homeless players the opportunity to re-engage with society, be part of a team, and perhaps represent Belgium at the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup.

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