A regular afternoon soccer match in Courtenay is bringing together people from different worlds, including a few North Island College students from afar.

For international students like Toya Mitsu and Lucas Banheti Zuffo, these matches in the Lewis Centre gym are a chance to meet others and act as ambassadors for the college by creating bridges between people, including several unhoused members of the community who play regularly.

“It’s pretty fun,” said Mitsu, who is from Japan and at NIC studying tourism and hospitality. “The people, they’re so nice to me. It doesn’t matter about winning or losing.”

Through the Canadian Street Soccer Association (CSSA), Grant Shilling has run the program in Courtenay for 14 years as a form of outreach, and now he’s looking further north to Port Hardy and Campbell River.

“Our motto is ‘If you're playing, you're winning,’ which has been my rallying cry for years here,” he said.

Shilling has helped get some unhoused people to the Homeless World Cup, and this year he is hoping a couple more players will be able to attend, as Canada makes its first trip back in 10 years. Fundraising for it is happening through the CSSA website.

For the local matches, NIC students are helping provide their own international feel. Mitsu responded to an NIC Office of Global Engagement newsletter item about the drop-in program, and he, in turn, told Banheti Zuffo about the soccer, often referred to as “the beautiful game.”

“I liked it, it feels good,” said Banheti Zuffo, who appreciates that the games are more casual than soccer in his native Brazil. “Each person’s like a character.”

Perhaps none more so than Kerry Corrigall, for whom home means living in a van. Donning a psychedelic rainbow outfit, he provides colour in the gym in more ways than one. One minute, he’ll be laying the goal flat on the floor to prevent opponents from scoring, the next he’ll be razzing the other goalkeeper about letting in an easy shot. 

“I come with compassion and humour,” he said. “I help people. I bring them laughter and joy.”

During the 60 minutes, there are no barriers, not even between teams, as players switch sides to mix things up, sometimes even forgetting who’s on which team, but the confusion only adds to the good times.

Colin Thompson, who works with unhoused people who play every week, jokes he’s a hockey player from Saskatchewan, not a soccer player, but he’s got his goalie mitts to play in net. While the numbers for games can range, the average turnout is on the rise. The students also bring a bit of international flair, as a few weeks earlier, the match had eight countries represented. Thompson sees these chances to get together as important for the unhoused players.

“I’m so proud to work with these people,” he said. “To see these people in a situation like this is fantastic.”

For Corrigall, these games provide a sense of community. He is also on a bit of a mission to take his game to a bigger stage this year.

“I’m trying to raise money to go to the Homeless World Cup,” he said.

On this day though, the goal is about getting together for fun and scoring a goal or two, even if it’s with one’s hands. As “golden goal” time approaches, when the next goal wins as the clock winds down, Corrigall picks up the ball, runs the length of the gym and scores a handball-style goal to end the day’s play. There are no lucrative transfer fees or endorsement deals at stake, just a lot of grins and chuckles.

The program will soon be starting outdoor soccer at the Lewis Centre on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. Shilling is happy to have the NIC international students come out to play too, as the games are all about social inclusion. Their visits also bring more of a “global” element, which can only help any local players who might find themselves lacing up for the next Homeless World Cup.

“You see more diversity here than anywhere else in the Comox Valley,” Shilling said.