15 August 2013 - A seven-member Philippine team, led by coach Rudy del Rosario, is currently competing in the 11th edition of the Homeless World Cup (football tournament) from August 10 to 18.
The event is being held at a specially constructed arena next to Lake Malta in Poznan, Poland.
The Filipino community in Poland, especially our kababayans who live in Poznan, are enjoined to watch the games, cheer on the Philippine team, and lend whatever assistance they may need.
The members of the team are Jerry Patrick Noni Sinsoi from Zamboanga del Sur; Juan Paulo Santos from Metro-Manila; Nen Ryant Minoza from Argao, Cebu; Larry Gonzales from Iloilo; Valentino C. Tolentino from Pangasinan; Daryl T. Fernandez from Tayabas, Quezon; and Elson B. Dorimon from Cebu City. Serving as their team guide in Poland is volunteer Ms. Ania Makula.
The Philippine team will go to Warsaw from August 18 to 20 for a three-day stay upon the personal invitation of Philippine Ambassador to Poland Patricia Ann V. Paez and will depart for Manila in the afternoon of August 20.
The team’s participation in this year’s tournament was sponsored by Mr. Dan Palami who is the chairman of the non-government organization Urban Opportunities, manager of the Azkals, and CEO of APT.
During the games, Ambassador Paez also met a Filipino-American named Ms. Maria Zerby who served as goal keeper for the USA team.
Participants to the Homeless World Cup are “homeless and socially disadvantaged men and women from across the world (who) unite to represent their countries in this unique football tournament.”
Sixty-four (64) teams from 50 countries are participating in the Poznan 2013 Homeless World Cup.
According to the website of the Homeless World Cup, this street football event has unique rules, which among others, include the following:
• Players must at least be 16 years old and be playing in a Homeless World Cup tournament for the first time and they must meet the following criteria:
- Have been homeless at some point after 01.08.12 in accordance to the national definition of homelessness;
- Make their main living income as street paper vendor;
- Asylum seekers currently without positive asylum status or who were previously asylum seekers but obtained residency status after 01.08.2012;
- Currently in drug or alcohol rehabilitation and also have been homeless at some point in the past two years (post 01.08.2011)
• Each match takes 15 minutes and is divided into two halves of 7 minutes each with a break of 1 minute.
• Teams are made of 8 players, and there will be a maximum of 4 players per team on the court: 3 outfield players and 1 goalkeeper.
• The tournament runs for eight days, following a 3-stage structure: 1. Qualification stage; 2. Group stage; 3. Trophy stage
• The best teams will play for a chance to win the Homeless World Cup Trophy; the second group will play for another cup, third for another cup, and so on and so forth.
• Teams will be awarded at the end of each match: 3 points for the winning team; 2 points for the team that wins by shoot-out; 1 point for the team that loses by shoot-out and 0 point for the teams that lose a game in normal time. In the case of a match ending in a tie, it will be necessary to decide the game with a sudden death shoot-out.
• All the players will win a medal. END