Kick off Poverty
Posted by Chris Alefantis - 01/10/2008
On the field
“Rouf Municipal Stadium” in central Athens is exploding to life every Sunday night. At 8.00 pm sharp the members of the Greek Team will take to the field under the watchful eyes of trainer Periklis Papapanagis. “Rouf Municipal Stadium” has become something of a “home ground for the Greek Team”. It is there that almost two years ago our first football training session took place. It is a place full of memories, much fun and hard football! On any given Sunday, approximately twenty people will turn up. Attendance varies. We have had days when over thirty football maestros will take to the field, causing a headache to Periklis, who would have to enlist the services of our volunteers to manage the rising current of wonderful people and footballers who responded to our call to play. Training involves a bit of everything really: running and warm up exercises, individual drills and, of course, a game. The stakes are high. The members of the losing team end up doing all the cleaning up of the dressing rooms. It is not a bet really. It is just an extra incentive to add to the fun of the game. Homeless people, refugees and people on drug rehabilitation programs are the football stars of the day. However, the doors are open to everyone. Right from day one, we have encouraged friends to come and join us on the football field. The response has been great! It is such a great joy to see people who show up to our training sessions –at times out of curiosity and on occasions on duty (like in the case of journalists)- to come back again and again. Players are getting relaxed, remain focus, meet new people who come from different walks of life, and everyone is happy. On a typical Sunday, Anna, our doctor (from Médecins du Monde) will be there, alert as ever to attend any player who might get a knock. Paul, a psychologist from Arsis NGO, will join the team on the field. Louiza, Sergios and Chris will be there too, ready to provide their services to the team. Ages vary. Ali, an unescorted refugee from Afghanistan, is 14 years old. He will come to training whenever he is done with his homework. On Monday morning he has to be at school. Dimitris is the patriarch of the team. At 65 years old, he is by far the oldest person to take to the field. He rarely misses a training session! Dimitris was a member of last year’s team that traveled to Copenhagen. He is still there, commanding the respect of everyone. On occasions, he will score the odd goal that will lift the team spirit to new heights!
Off the field
The Greek street soccer programme kicked off its official campaign for 2008 a couple of weeks with a press conference that was held in Central Athens. Just as it happened last year, the “Klotsia sti Ftohia” (“Kick off Poverty”) campaign entails a series of events that will run through October and November, culminating in Melbourne, in early December, where the current Fair Play Award holders are looking for more football, more fun and, most importantly, an opportunity to unite their voices with the rest of the world in the fight again social exclusion and poverty.
The Tournaments
Events will kick off at the Korai Square, the central square of the second largest municipality of Greece, Pireaus. “Open Football and Information Tournament” is the appropriate title given to the event, which will take place on Saturday, October 11. A football pitch will be set up, and players of the Greek team will measure up their football skills against a variety of opponents. Teams consisting of veteran Greek footballers, journalists, actors, members of Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) and other NGO’s dealing with the issues of poverty will line up against the members of the Greek team (and against each other) in a unique football event. Off the pitch, specially designed kiosks will be informing the public about the Homeless World Cup, the history of the Greek Team, and the issues of Homelessness both at home and abroad. Our army of volunteers is working feverishly to prepare the event that promises to be as much fun as never before! The event will be repeated a couple of weeks later, Saturday, October 25, in Syntagma Square. Syntagma Square is Athens’ (and Greece’s really…) central square -just a short walk from the Acropolis and the historic Plaka area and right across the street from the Greek Parliament House.
The cartoon exhibition
Monday, October 13, is “curtain raising” day for the “Entos Estias” cartoon exhibition. “Entos” is the Greek word for “In” or “Within”. “Estia” can mean “goalpost” but also “house”! So, “Entos Estias” can either mean “Within the goalposts” or “In a house”! Greece’s most famous cartoonists and comics creators will be exhibiting their inspirational work, in our quest to promote social equality and inclusion. This is the second year running that the cartoon exhibition is taking place. Indeed, some works from last year’s exhibition were also exhibited in Copenhagen, during the 5th Homeless World Cup. The exhibition will run from Monday, October 13 to Sunday, October 19 at the “Dimotiki Pinakothiki Pirea” (Pireaus Municipal Art Gallery).
The documentary
On Saturday, October 18, the documentary “Klotsia sti Ftohia” will be screened at Microcosmos Cinema. The documentary (which made its debut in this year’s International Ecofilms Festival, in Rhodes Island) is dealing with the preparations of last’s years Greek Team that made its international debut in the 5th Homeless World Cup. It is a powerful story of the team and its members that reaped critical acclaim at the Ecofilms Festival.
The conference
On Wednesday, October 22, a one-day conference will be held in the Cultural Centre of the City of Athens. The event is co-organized with the Institute for the Homeless of the City of Athens. People that have spent years and years working on social issues will be putting forward their experiences, making their proposals and taking a stand against social exclusion. Researchers, academics, NGO’s representatives, social workers and a host of other speakers from a range of groups will be taking to the podium to address the issues at stake.
The Greek Extreme Team
Early morning on Sunday, November 9, the members of Greek Extreme Team will be positioning themselves at the starting line of the Athens Classic Marathon. Vaios Mesdanitis, Aristotelis Papageorgiou, Nikos Valatsos, Giorgos Frantzoglou, Giannis Tsilis, Periklis Papapanagis (our team’s coach) and Chris Alefantis will be hoping to enjoy (!) the 42,195 kilometres journey, cross the finishing line and reach the fundraising target that they have set for themselves: 1000 euros. This is the fundraising target we are hoping our friends and supporters will assist us to master, in support of the Homeless World Cup. This year’s new members are training hard and oozing with confidence that the feat of last year’s team will be repeated. Last year’s members ran the Alonissos Marathon, comfortably crossing the finish line (well, sort of…) and beating their fundraising target. Our initial target was 700 pounds and –thanks to the huge hearts of our friends and supporters- we managed to raise 977 pounds (for more information: www.justgiving.com/chrisalefantis).
The same formula that was used last year will be applied this time around as well. Here is how it works: All we are asking is 0.20 euro cents per kilometer run. Let's say that Helen from Melbourne wants to take a punt on Periklis. If Periklis completes the Marathon, Helen will have to donate 42 kilometers X 0.20 euros= 8.40 euros (well done Periklis!). If Periklis runs 20 kilometers, Helen will be donating 20 kilometers X 0.20 euros= 4 euros. Alternatively, Helen can place her money on all of us! If the unthinkable happens and all five of us complete the Marathon, Helen will donate 42 kilometers X 0.20 X 5= 42 euros. Our friends and supporters can, of course, choose a combination. That is, make a "one-off' donation as well as making a donation per kilometer run. For more information on his year’s marathon effort please refer to www.justgiving.com/teamgreece.
Did you know…
…that Melbourne has the third largest Greek population in the world? Athens, Salonica and then Melbourne have the largest concentration of Greeks! There are more than 300.000 Greeks living in the capital of Victoria and we are so happy to feel that they have already thrown their warm support to Greek Homeless Team. Surely, the stands will be packed with white and blue flag raising fans whenever the Greek team takes the field. But the support is not limited on the field. We have asked the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne & Victoria (the oldest and largest Greek community of Australia) to become actively involved in the event. Naturally, they responded in the most positive way. The cartoon exhibition will be hosted in Melbourne and the “Klotsia sti Ftohia’ documentary will be screened in a Melbourne theatre. Details are yet to be finalized and will be released as soon as dates and venues are confirmed. At the same time, we are looking to have a charity game organized, during our stay in the most liveable city in the world! Again, details are to be confirmed.
