Switzerland

Surprise Strassensport organises four tournaments a year in different cities in Switzerland. Teams can join the league by signing the contract with the criterias: socially disadvantaged adults with a coach and a manager.

Organisation - Surprise Strassensport

Eighteen teams compete in four national tournaments of the Swiss "Strassenfussball"-League. The Swiss streetpaper "Surprise" also organizes a refereeing and a coaching course at the beginning of each season to get more people involved in the reintegration project. Teams can join the league by signing the contract with the criterias: socially disadvantaged adults with a coach and a manager. Surprise also organises a referee and a coach course.

The participants are either streetpaper vendors, jobless, sometimes homeless, have mental and drug problems or are asylum seekers.The League runs two levels of competition to make sure the games are fair. Eight players from both levels are chosen to play on the national team. This means that not only soccer skills count for a player to make it! A national player has to prove his motivation towards a better future for himself and be a good team player.

Participants since the first Homeless World Cup, the Swiss team arrive at the Homeless World Cup after a grueling selection process.

Surprise has two main sponsors and several funders. Each year 8 new players are chosen to represent Switzerland at the Homeless World Cup annual tournament. Three people work 100% (added together) to run the project.