The Opener: Vancouver Street Soccer League Helps Participants Reach their Potential
The Potentiality inspires and educates change-makers who are passionate about building community.
One of the ways we do this is by featuring organizations (businesses, social enterprises, schools, and non-profits) that are doing cool things to build community.
This month, we are focusing on the Vancouver Street Soccer League and Portland FC, which help empower people who suffer from homelessness, mental illness and addiction to become healthier, happier and more engaged.
Part 1 – The Context | Tell us about the VSSL. What is your unique value proposition and how do you deliver on it?
Issues of homelessness have long impacted the City of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. For many people, Canada’s poorest neighbourhood has yielded one depressing story after another. A quick stroll down Hastings Street near Main Street makes it clear that the City and those who deal with marginalized people have their work cut out for them.
Four years ago, a group of volunteers came together with a small group of residents from the New Fountain HEAT shelter to create the Portland FC, a soccer team for people suffering from homelessness, mental illness and addiction.
Based in the Downtown Eastside, the team practices twice a week, and hosts a variety of soccer games and tournaments with other partners including the Vancouver Police, the City of Vancouver, the Whitecaps, basketball player Metta World Peace and the UBC Women’s Varsity Soccer Team.
Since its genesis in 2009, Portland FC has fostered three other break-off teams led by former players. Meanwhile, other Street Soccer teams have popped up in Surrey, the Northshore, Kelowna, Courtney, Victoria and many other places. Today, the Vancouver Street Soccer League boasts close to a dozen teams, and Portland FC and the VSSL have sent men’s and women’s teams to compete in the Homeless World Cups in Brazil, France and Mexico.
In addition to supporting the growth of street soccer, the VSSL has also inspired the personal and professional growth of many of our players. Over the past four years, dozens of players have gone on to find stable housing and work, and countless others have seen an improvement in their quality of life.
Part 2 – The Challenge | Tell us about the community-based challenge you are addressing. What problem are you solving?
A recent challenge that our organization faced was maintaining momentum when volunteer/organizational power was being sustained by a small number of individuals. The importance of maintaining momentum for a small non-profit like the VSSL can’t be over-emphasized. It is momentum that drives enthusiasm on the soccer pitch among players, helps garner interest from the media and supports the organization viably when fundraising.
When starting out, a small volunteer group dynamic can certainly have its benefits. It allows for a great deal of trust, as everyone knows each other and the skills and assets they bring to the table. Fewer people at the table also means far less consultation, which can streamline decision-making and generate action. A small group also allows power to be centralized, which can be important when trying to keep the organization on track after its birth.
However, it also creates challenges. A small group can rapidly lead to burn-out among key organizers. It also limits the number of skill sets you have to manage various problems (league organization, fundraising, outreach, etc.) and limits your ability to scale rapidly.
Our solution to this problem was to deliberately expand the size of our organizational group by engaging new members in the decision making process. We pulled in people who had been involved in the organisation for a significant amount of time – people we knew and trusted. We also carefully chose a group of directors, not only based on their commitment to the VSSL, but also based on the special skills they had to offer.
Part 3 – The Community Potential | Tell us how your idea, service and/or product builds community.
When Portland FC began, the initial group of organizers were connected to the Portland Hotel Society (one of a number of housing providers operating shelters) or were psychiatrists involved in treating many of these individuals.
For the shelter workers, the soccer team provided a positive outlet for shelter residents to make friends, get exercise and engage in positive non-destructive activity. The psychiatrists saw the same benefits and noted that street soccer players were increasingly successful in managing their drug and alcohol addictions, finding housing and improving their physical fitness.
The team (and later league as it grew across Metro Vancouver and later British Columbia) provided players with a nexus of support. Connections to shelters and housing societies allowed for easy triage of housing issues and support to enter supportive housing. Connections to the medical community allowed for rapid diagnosis and support for mental health challenges. Connections to other players created a distinct and supportive network for the players – when they were in crisis they had now had someone to help.
Today VSSL is a family of people with diverse skills and backgrounds who are united in a common goal of making life better for each other. This, by definition, is a vibrant community.
The Closer | How the VSSL Builds Community
The Potentiality focuses on how people can build community by harnessing key competencies – in this case the VSSL helps build community at all levels, both on and off the soccer field.
One of its most powerful assets is, and will continue to be, the strong and vibrant community it fosters both on and off the field. This community is based on many of the same competencies described in the Potentality. Leadership, communication, learning and adaptability have all been brought to bear to forge this unique and important league. It stands as a great case study of how community engagement can make a positive difference in the lives of both people suffering from homelessness and those with a passion for helping them.
Ultimately, everyone wins.
All photos courtesy of the VSSL.