Almost 1,000 football players will converge on a floating pitch at Darling Harbour, Sydney, as part of The Big Issue Street Football Festival, which kicks off this Friday (January 17). The floating football pitch will be located at Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour outside the Harbourside Shopping Centre.
The fourth annual event will run until the end of the Australia Day Long Weekend and include sessions for junior players, corporate and government agency teams and players from the National Youth League.
It will also feature the National Championships of The Big Issue’s Community Street Soccer Program, a grassroots program that uses football to help homeless and disadvantaged people turn their lives around.
The free festival is run by The Big Issue, a not-for-profit organisation that tackles homelessness through initiatives including a street magazine and the Community Street Soccer Program.
Event schedule
- January 17-25 : Junior competition: coinciding with school holidays, more than 700 junior players from 76 NSW clubs will take to the floating football pitch for the junior club competition.
- January 18-19 : Good Sports Challenge Cup: event partner the Australian Drug Foundation will host a competition for sporting clubs involved with the foundation’s Good Sports program.
- January 20-24 : Corporate Cup: 16 teams from some of Sydney’s largest companies including Perpetual, NAB and Herbert Smith Freehills will swap their suits for football jerseys in a corporate tournament.
- January 22 : A-League/ W-League Challenge Cup: A-League up-and-comers (U20s) and W-League players from clubs including Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners will put their skills on show.
- January 24 : Government Agency Cup: six teams including police and fire fighters will go head-to-head in the Government Agency Cup.
- January 26-27 : Community Street Soccer Program National Championships: bringing together almost 50 homeless and disadvantaged men and women involved in a national grassroots football program run by The Big Issue.
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