D.C. Hosts 2011 Street Soccer USA National Cup, June 10-12

200 Homeless Youth and Adults from Shelters in 18 Cities Prove Ending Homelessness is a Team Sport: Players Vie for National Title and Spot on the US World Cup Team; Entire Community Encouraged to Attend, Play, Cheer.

WASHINGTON, June 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Street Soccer USA (www.streetsoccerusa.org) and its umbrella organization HELP USA (www.helpusa.org) will hold the 2011 Street Soccer USA Cup (SSUSA Cup) in Washington, D.C., from Friday, June 10th through Sunday, June 12th in the first-ever event at the new, 2,500 seat Kastles Stadium on the waterfront. The event is free and open to the public. Fans can watch, get active and play themselves, and enjoy live music and food.

Street Soccer USA is a sport-based organization focused on eradicating homelessness and poverty via onsite soccer programs and community building at social service agencies and homeless shelters across the nation. The SSUSA Cup brings together the 22-team league comprised of homeless men and women across the U.S. for three days of competition and camaraderie in which one team will capture the National SSUSA Cup title.  

The top 8 players from the male division and the top 8 from the female division, selected for achievements off the field in life as well as on the playing field, will go on to represent the U.S. in the 64-nation Homeless World Cup, which will be held in Paris, France this August, 2011. This year the first-ever all women's tournament will take place with teams from New York, Sacramento, Minneapolis, and Charlotte fielding all women's squads.

WHO:  200 homeless soccer players from 22 teams across the country, including local teams for Washington, DC and Montgomery County, MD will be welcomed by D.C.'s Mayor Gray to the nation's capital.

Players come from teen shelters, supportive employment centers, soup kitchens, refugee resource centers, and recovery houses in Ann Arbor, MI; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Ft. Worth, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Minneapolis, MN; Montgomery County, MD; New York, NY; Portland, OR; Richmond, VA; Sacramento, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Louis, MO; and Washington, D.C.

Lawrence Cann, Director and Founder of Street Soccer USA, will be available during the cup along with program grads turned coaches and mentors.

WHEN: Friday, June 10th – Sunday, June 12th, 2011

• Friday, June 10th at 6pm – Opening ceremony, parade, Celebrity Kick-Off, Musical Performance and Open Matches, at Washington Kastles Stadium – Mayor Gray to Welcome Teams—Press must RSVP! (Prelim Matches 9am-4pm)
• Saturday, June 11th at 8am to 10pm – SSUSA's Competition, Skill Competition
• Sunday, June 12th at 8am to 4pm – Championship Round Matches at 2pm, SSUSA Cup Championship Match at 3pm, SSUSA National Team Announcement and Awards Ceremony with Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton at 3:30pm

Full schedule available at www.streetsoccerusa.org. Game schedule upon request: [email protected]

WHERE: Brand new Kastles Stadium at 800 Water St., SW, Washington, D.C. – Free entry all weekend.

*Media check-in from 9am-8pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the Cup*

RSVP for credentials to Sarah Howe [email protected]. C: 202 465 6649

**Sponsors of the 2011 SSUSA Cup include: Nike, Howard University, Sheila Johnson Foundation, Washington Kastles, HELP USA, The Leonsis Foundation, Deloitte, Powerade, Hard Rock Cafe, St. Alban's School, DC United.**

SOURCE HELP USA