Derry trio set to star for Northern Ireland at Homeless World Cup in South Korea
Joanne Patterson, Eoghan Gillespie, and Alaaeddine Dhouioui will travel to the east Asian country for the annual competition
Derry will have three Northern Ireland representatives at the Homeless World Cup in Seoul, South Korea.
Joanne Patterson, Eoghan Gillespie, and Alaaeddine Dhouioui will travel to the east Asian country for the annual competition.
Set to kick off September 21, the Homeless World Cup Foundation is a social organisation that advocates for the end of homelessness through sports, and teams competing are made up of homeless people from their nation.
Adrian Curry, Coordinator of Street Soccer NI's Derry Project, is beyond proud of the three selected to travel to South Korea.
He said: “I’m looking forward to it.
“For me, I’m so excited and delighted; it is part of my life.
“We are a project in Derry that runs on a Monday from two o’clock to three o’clock from Magee Campus. We play football with people in the city, and on Thursday, from eight o’clock to ten o'clock, we also play football in Magee, and on Friday, we go to the gym.
“From all over Northern Ireland, we chose eight players for a girls team and a boys team to represent their country.
“Jo, she will be representing the girls side, and she has her own story. She lives near the Fountain.
“There is Dobbins; he was sofa surfing for a long time just through his friends.
“Then there is Alaaeddine. He was originally from Tunisia.”
The three recently met the Mayor of Derry at the Guildhall to celebrate their achievement, but they were joined by four other players from Derry who represented Northern Ireland last year in the Homeless World Cup in Sacramento, South California.
Mr. Curry said: “We are going to take the three that will represent us this year plus the team from last year.
“We won a tournament in Dublin about four weeks ago with four of the players that actually played on that Homeless World Cup team in America and finished eighth in the world.
“So we are bringing them all together to meet the mayor.”
As homelessness becomes a more poignant issue throughout Ireland and the UK, a tournament like this is vital to raising awareness.
And Mr. Curry believes clubs and organisations like Street Soccer NI are important in helping people struggling within our society.
He said: “We treat each other as a family; it is brilliant to see the achievement that it is in their lives and the boost it gives, giving them a vision.
“In my heart, I just want them to succeed and do well. Mental health-wise, check in on them and make sure they are okay. Be there to lift them up if they fall; it is just being there for them, basically.
“I’m so happy and glad to see them achieving something in their lives.”