Dozens of Canadian community groups, health professionals, and city leaders gathered at l’Université de Montréal on Friday, spotlighting an innovative street soccer program helping marginalized individuals overcome addiction, isolation, and homelessness.
The organization driving this movement is the Canadian Street Soccer Association (CSSA). This nationwide charitable network currently operates across four provinces with a roster of over 250 players. The association creates a sense of community through regular local practices, regional tournaments, and international opportunities like the Homeless World Cup.
The forum was hosted ahead of Saturday’s national tournament in Anjou, a street soccer match featuring teams from across Canada.
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Crucially, the game is just the hook. Beyond athletics, the organization builds an ecosystem of support around its participants, integrating hands-on training, long-term mentoring, and rehabilitation designed to permanently get people off the streets.
Hossam Khedr started the organization two years ago and has witnessed these transformations firsthand.
“We’ve seen a lot of players transitioning from isolation to include it in the community,” Khedr noted. “We’ve seen a lot of players who are getting their own homes now, transitioning from housing, transitioning to employment, transitioning to education.”
For many participants, the weekly soccer matches offer something desperately hard to find on the streets: a safe, predictable environment completely decoupled from substance use.
John Jacobson, a regular participant in the program from Vancouver Island, spoke candidly about his role within the group and the deep cravings for community that exist amongst unhoused populations.
“I’m more or less one of the sober and clean people that show up at soccer,” Jacobson explained. “Everybody seems to know that I don’t drink and I don’t use any substances, and then everybody wants to be a part of it, you know? They know it doesn’t have to be with anything, with the addictions or the alcoholism. And a lot of people, especially on the street, are really hungry for all of that.”
What sets the CSSA apart from typical sports leagues is its unconventional selection criteria.
“We don’t pick the best players in a soccer game,” Khedr emphasized. “We pick the person who is transitioning in their life. We pick the person at the right time. If someone is transitioning from shelter to housing, if someone is ready to go back to school, if someone is recovering from mental health and addiction, this is the perfect player to take with us to the homeless world cup because we know what happens when they come back.”
May Nakintu, a player and coach from Uganda, is helping to coach future team Canada players who are headed to the Homeless World Cup in Mexico City.
“Everything feels so surreal,” Nakintu said, reflecting on her journey since she arrived in Canada. “Sometimes I don’t believe what I’m going through, living our shared dreams, like some things I’ve done that I didn’t think would ever happen to me, like playing on the international stage, everything has been amazing. I never thought some of those things would happen to me.”
The national conversation moves off the stage and directly onto the grass on Saturday, as the Canadian Street Soccer Association hosts its National Tournament at 12:30 p.m. at Sportira Cage in Anjou.
