departmental bulletin paper

Departmental Bulletin Paper

Text

Osaka Human Sciences. 2017, 3, p. 1-19

Poverty and sport : Stories from the Homeless World Cup

Okada, Chiaki

Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

English

Text

2017-03

The Homeless World Cup is becoming one of the famous sporting events held annually for participation of homeless people in the world. Over 600 homeless players from a total of 65 countries played in the 2015 event in Amsterdam. According to the Homeless World Cup Foundation, the sense of empowerment that comes from participating in street football helps homeless people see that they can change their lives (Homeless World Cup Foundation Official Website). The foundation has 74 national partners that conduct activities and programmes for poverty reduction or social development in each of the 74 countries. As the situation of poverty and even the definition of poverty vary in different areas of the world, the national partners have significant roles in providing domestic programmes based on their grass roots needs. The purpose of this study is to verify the stories sent by some media, such as 1) Web pages (Official Web Site, Facebook and Blog), 2) Images and Pictures (YouTube, Videos), 3) Dramas. Field studies were conducted from January 2011 to August 2015 on 54 related persons totally, mainly by personal interviews. In the first section, outlines of the Homeless World Cup and the Japanese team are given. Based on this, I verify the contents of these stories and discuss the characteristic of the media itself. In many web page contents, I can find the contrast between the tough lives and the bright smiles of the players in photos and videos. The balance of their severe present situations and the ambiguity with which they look forward to a better future shows us a glimmer of hope in the fight against poverty. Additionally, the life episodes of each player give us clearer understanding of poverty issues, and we can well imagine the importance of the Homeless World Cup for each player.In conclusion, the core significances of the Homeless World Cup are the image it projects, its role as a device and a hook to support the national partners in resolving issues related to poverty in each country, from the grass roots, using football. Moreover, the Homeless World Cup offers the opportunity for participating players to gain self-esteem, the trust of others, and hope and pleasure in sharing sport experiences.

10.18910/60592

60592

Poverty and sport : Stories from the Homeless World Cup

Okada, Chiaki

Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

English

2017-03

Osaka Human Sciences

3

1

19

https://hdl.handle.net/11094/60592

10.18910/60592

https://doi.org/10.18910/60592