Fortune favours the brave
|Robert Hare (centre, third from left) with his son Corey and the Street Soccer United team. Image: Anita Milas
“I got the go-ahead for the team last Tuesday, then we had trials, four hours training on Thursday and Friday then on Sunday our opener was against Brasil. We’ve three players from Iran, three from Eritrea, one from Senegal and one from Congo, and three don’t speak English. A colleague who was going to be looking after the tournament reserves is off on paternity leave – so now I’ve got two jobs. I’m a bit stretched and my head’s racing.”
For the coach of the newest team in the tournament, such challenges are a piece of cake, however. Street Soccer United came into being after a late call-off and Robert Hare, Street Soccer programme co-ordinator for Glasgow, corralled a number of those attending his sessions into a team.
“I deal with adults who are homeless, have been through the criminal justice system, have issues with addiction, long term unemployed, people who are maybe ostracised from society,” Robert explains. “We have a large intake of refugees so we created a team, an international team of refugees with no country to call their own just now, to take that place.”
For anyone else it might seem a bridge too far but for a man who has faced his share of challenges, it was a opportunity to be grabbed with both hands.
A professional footballer on leaving school – he turned out for Dundee United, Airdrie, Clyde and East Stirling – Robert’s unexpected retirement was not through injury but due to a prison sentence.
“I came out and built my life up again,” he says, “I had my son Corey and life was going okay. Then I split up with his mum, lost my house, was made redundant from my job and within five months three of my close friends committed suicide.”
Initially living back home with his parents, a family split saw Robert on the streets of Glasgow sleeping rough. On the brink of suicide he sought help from his former probation officer who got him into a Salvation Army hostel and, during his year there, Robert found the Street Soccer programme.
“I went there twice a week which gave me an outlet from my troubles,” he says. “Homeless World Cup trials came up, I got picked and was then asked to captain my country – such an honour – and we won the Cup in Paris in 2011!”
|“I could just be me, with the freedom to release myself onto the pitch, to express myself without being judged. And that’s what the Street Soccer programme is about – total social inclusion, no matter what you’ve done.” Image: Anita Milas
For Robert, football second time around was his saviour. “I could just be me, with the freedom to release myself onto the pitch, to express myself without being judged. And that’s what the Street Soccer programme is about – total social inclusion, no matter what you’ve done.
“I can see that in my players. They come to our drop-in centre, play five-a-side but up until last Wednesday they didn’t know the rules, didn’t know each other, there was the language barrier, then they were thrown into this!”
‘This’ has seen the team achieve above and beyond, not just as human beings but results on the scoreboard.
Robert adds, “Ten days ago they were looking forward to coming to watch this tournament now they’re participating and in the last 24. It’s a massive achievement.
“But as I said to them today, just enjoy – enjoy the occasion. We’ll be here right to the end and once this tournament is finished I know these guys will still attend our drop-in sessions – this is just the start.”
Robert’s supporting his players to turn their lives around but who’s supporting Robert now?
“Getting involved with Homeless World Cup in 2011 and captaining Scotland to the trophy, that re-created a relationship with my mum and dad,” he says. “They saw me start to turn the corner and make my life positive again.
“And my son was the mascot for Scotland this week. He’s here every day with his mum and they sit with my girlfriend, and my mum and dad are down. I’ve got great family support. I’m really fortunate I’ve still got my family.”
Fortune, indeed, favours the brave.
Words: Isobel Irvine
Images: Anita Milas