Reality didn’t start to set in for 20-year-old Erin Backer until yesterday, she said. By this morning, she’ll be on a plane to Paris, representing Canada in the Homeless World Cup.
She’ll be joining five men and eight women from B.C. to compete with 64 other national teams vying in the annual soccer tournament.
Everyone who plays in the competition have experienced homelessness in the last two years, are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
A year and a half ago, Backer was living on the streets. Drugs had put her there. Drugs and, as she put it, “a kerfuffle of different stuff.” Kerfuffle, Backer said with a wry smile, is one of her favourite words.
“The last time I used my drug of choice was May 3, 2010.” Six days later, Backer turned toCovenant House in Vancouver to help her fight her addiction. “I haven’t used since,” she said.
Backer’s team, Portland Phoenix, is one of a number of teams that plays in the Lower Mainland and across the country in the Street Soccer Canada league.
A lot of soccer players in Vancouver come from shelters managed by the Portland Hotel Society– the society is also the biggest sponsor and supporter, said Kurt Heinrich, Portland FC’s communications manager. Along with other fundraising events, including the popular Rocker for Street Soccer, which raised over $10,000 for the team this year, the non-profit Portland Hotel Society provides most of the money for players to go to the world cup.
