Charlotte and NYC Street Soccer Come Together

The Street Soccer USA Street Court made possible by the US Soccer Foundation, Sport Court and Athletica is causing quite a stir. Different from artificial turf, the street soccer court offers a fast-paced, small-sided indoor or outdoor game. Built in 2005, Street Soccer USA uses the field annually in Washington DC to host the Street Soccer USA Cup, for US Homeless National Team training in New York, and for SSNYC training.

Last week, the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association rented the field for a tournament event in Greensboro, NC. Street Soccer players, staff, and volunteers from Charlotte, NC and New York City collaborated to make this event a success: setting up and taking down the plastic court, the walls, goals and nets behind each goal. Charlotte players Luis and Osman reminisced playing on the street court in August of 2009 at the Street Soccer USA Cup, when Charlotte placed 8th out of 16 teams. New York player TK and Charlotte midfielder Osman found common ground in their shared heritage and their love for the game. Thanks for having us NCYSA and to HELP USA for making it possible. Looking towards the 2010 USA Cup and to the new teams that will be joining the tournament for the first time!

Check out Max

Max and his mother Melissa traveled all the way Indiana to our SSUSA Cup in DC last year. They were star volunteers and supported the Chicago team.

Max's work to support SSUSA last year was a huge boost to the players, but helping out is nothing new to max. check out this link

Max is a finalist for a national youth service award this year. Having met Melissa, there is no secret about where he gets it from. Thanks guys!

SSNYC's Charles Marc gets his Greencard! Timing is good since C is Haitian and now can take advantage of US laws to help Haitians and make it easier for them to send money home.

Charlotte Street Soccer 945 Season Kick Off

Charlotte, North Carolina's Street Soccer 945 is hosting a season kick-off event for volunteers and supporters at the Attic/Madison's at 200 N Tryon tomorrow, Thursday, January 28 from 6-8pm. A $20 donation will help pay for the league fee and new jerseys. This a great opportunity to come together with other Street Soccer supporters, enjoy food and drink, and learn more about the program and how to get involved. Hope to see you there!

Headline News This Week

Leaders With Heart” piece about SSUSA HLN Air Schedule: Wednesday, Jan. 27: 10:30-11AM, 2-2:30PM Saturday, Jan. 30: 10:30-11AM @helpusa

Using Soccer to Supplant Kerosene Use? - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

Using Soccer to Supplant Kerosene Use? - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

Prays for our brothers and sisters in Haiti

Puts everything into perspective . . .

Charlotte's Street Soccer 945 All Stars Improve to 2-0

Street Soccer 945 All Stars in Charlotte, NC defeated Team AA last night by a score of 5-2. The All Star team is made up of long time program participants who have taken significant steps towards achieving their life goals. Many players have participated in the Street Soccer USA Cup and the Homeless World Cup.

First, a look at last week's season opener. The first game of the season for the Street Soccer All Stars was a chilly one with a temperature of 35 degrees at kickoff. The players may have preferred different temperatures but we didn’t let that stop us from winning our first game! The first half was a thrilling one with all 4 of our goals scored. The scoring started off with the young gun Junior who easily put away a rebound of a shot from Jose Martinez. The two continued the scoring moments later when another close range shot from Junior was put in by Jose. The opposing team came back and tallied a long distance goal, but the team was not worried. We stood our ground and put together some nice passes to control possession for the remainder of the half. After a nice combination of passes in the midfield by Danny Martinez and Pablo the ball was slotted past the goalkeeper by Matt George. The scoring didn’t stop there, Michael McGregor aka Super Sub came on strong to put away a nice shot into the back of the net!



The second half was not as thrilling as the first but we continued to control the possession game. We strung some beautiful passes together all throughout the field from back to front with the help of the Danny Martinez and the McGregor brothers, Dave, Michael and Junior. There were some chances that could have been finished, but it is the first game of the season so those will be in the back of the net by next Thursday. Our opponents did their best to try and push men forward, but with the Tyler Scott and the scorer from the first half Jose in back there was no fear in our eyes. Even in the instance where they did get passed our defense our goal keeper Tim Cummin’s came up big with many close range saves. The end of the game finished 4-2 with the Street Soccer All Stars starting off the season 1-0.

Game 2 began with two quick goals for Street Soccer and a powerful field presence. Forward Jose’s quick acceleration allowed for threatening break aways which led to multiple goals. Without goal keeper Tim, Homeless World Cup veteran Dave stepped in the first half and achieved a shutout. In the second half he contributed further, receiving a pass across the top of the penalty box and powerfully placing it in the lower right corner of the net. Team AA came out strong in the second half scoring two goals. Vocal leadership and encouragement from Daniel in the net kept SS945 fired up to play quality defense and secure the win. Despite the slick surface of the outdoor turf and the falling rain, SS945 All Stars notched their second win of the season, under the leadership of newly appointed director Pete Fink. A big thank you to fans to who bared the weather to support the team! To find out about future games in the Charlotte area and get involved, contact Brittany Larson at blarson@urbanministrycenter.org

Vandy kamara suited up and cool as ever

Sent from my Windows Mobile phone
Lawrence CannDirector of Street Soccer/Advocacy5 Hanover Square, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10004Office: 212-400-7044 Fax: 212-400-7005 Mobile: 646-385-1714

This email contains proprietary information and may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please delete it immediately. Although HELP USA has taken reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this e-mail, the company cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of this e-mail or attachments.

Jarvis st. Rose comtemplates goals

Sent from my Windows Mobile phone
Lawrence CannDirector of Street Soccer/Advocacy5 Hanover Square, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10004Office: 212-400-7044 Fax: 212-400-7005 Mobile: 646-385-1714

This email contains proprietary information and may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please delete it immediately. Although HELP USA has taken reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this e-mail, the company cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of this e-mail or attachments.

Coach murray warms up goal ray torres for ssnyc

Sent from my Windows Mobile phone
Lawrence CannDirector of Street Soccer/Advocacy5 Hanover Square, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10004Office: 212-400-7044 Fax: 212-400-7005 Mobile: 646-385-1714

This email contains proprietary information and may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please delete it immediately. Although HELP USA has taken reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this e-mail, the company cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of this e-mail or attachments.

Getting ready to play. Jason suits up for his first match

Sent from my Windows Mobile phone
Lawrence CannDirector of Street Soccer/Advocacy5 Hanover Square, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10004Office: 212-400-7044 Fax: 212-400-7005 Mobile: 646-385-1714

This email contains proprietary information and may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please delete it immediately. Although HELP USA has taken reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this e-mail, the company cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of this e-mail or attachments.

SSNYC VS DENMARK

For future game times check out our schedule here

or copy and paste this http://www.chelseapiers.com/sportmgr/index.cfm?fuseaction=division.home&division_id=1157

The HELLP USA SSNYC team’s record is now 1 and 1 after last week’s loss.

25 students from Howard College in Maryland showed up to watch the first 20 minutes of the match before they had to head off to the airport after a week of volunteering and studying homeless services in New York. The group was inspired to make the trip after a student read about the SSUSA Cup in the Washington Post last year and brought the concept and the larger issue of homelessness up to professors.

Unfortunately it was the worst 20 minutes for our team. We never recovered though we took encouragement from a second half we totally dominated.

This week goalkeeper Ray Torres moved out into his old apartment and another player admitted to a long term drug addiction and began looking at options for recovery. That’s what it is all about.

Friday’s match is against Team Denmark (the league leaders at 2-0 with an average margin of victory of 9.5 goals) at 11pm at Chelsea Piers Warehouse. Visit our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14293280193&ref=ts for info about supporters meeting up before the game.

Street Soccer 945 Charlotte Kick Off

Street Soccer 945 Season Kick Off Party Charlotte, NC

Thursday, January 28th 6-8pm
The Attic/Madison's 200 N. Tryon St

Meet up with Street Soccer 945 supporters to help us kick off the season in style! If you like soccer, enjoy meeting new people and supporting a good cause - come on out! There will be complimentary drinks, appetizers and prize drawings. A $20 donation will help cover league fees and new team uniforms. Hope to see you there!

For more information, check out our invitation on Rock House Events: http://www.rockhouseevents.com/events

For more information and volunteer opportunities contact Brittany Larson at blarson@urbanministrycenter.org

Street Soccer 945 at the 2009 USA Cup, Kastles Stadium, Washington DC

SSNYC Starts off the Season With a WIN

After falling behind by two goals in the early minutes of the first game of the season, SSNYC rebounded quickly with 4 goals of their own. Once SSNYC decided to use the full space of the field and put the ball on the ground, the Chelsea Pier’s Select team couldn’t regain control of the game. After gaining the lead SSNYC never relinquished it, wining the game 10-7. Following the game the team was treated to dinner by one of the teams sponsors, Bar Italia, 1477 2 Avenue New York, NY 10075 (212) 249-5300.

Below is the first goal of the game for SSNYC. Dexter Burnett, who recently got his green card replacement approved, collects the ball at our half of the field and chips it to Anthony Adebiyi, who is in the process of getting approved by the Board of Education to become a substitute teacher. Anthony neatly flicks it past the defender to Tokunbo Ajiboye, who is currently working at a department store in Manhattan while finishing up his associates degree and plans on playing college soccer next year while achieving his bachelors degree. After collecting it, Tokunbo places the ball nicely in the side of the net.

Please come to support SSNYC in their next game as the team tries to continue the great start to the season.

Location: Chelsea Piers

Time: 6pm

Oppenent: Jack Morgan FC

Street Soccer NYC Starts Season

Street Soccer NYC in Action
Friday Night, January 8th at 7pm
Location: Chelsea Piers at pier 21
(www.chelseapiers.com for directions)

Thanks to Sponsors Ovest by Luzzo's, HELP USA’s Street Soccer NYC will be playing their first game of the season in the Men’s Chelsea Piers League this Friday, January 8 at 7pm on the South Field inside the Field house. Keep track of the schedule and updates on the blog.

HELP USA’s team features 14 residents of Wards Island’s Clark Thomas and Supportive employment center.

This fall, 10 of the 14 have found employment, two have recovered their green card, four have moved into housing, and another 6 are making plans to move out soon.

Following the game the team’s Fan Group will be going to our sponsors, Luzzo's, new restaurant OVEST PIZZOTECA, 513 W 27th Street 10001 NY, NY, for food and drinks.