Last weekend, teams from 16 cities around the country descended on Washington to participate in the 2009 Street Soccer USA Cup, and DCist’s Martin Locraft was there to capture the action. But these weren’t your typical weekend footballers: 160 homeless men and women made up the teams that battled it out at a specially converted Kastles Stadium. Street Soccer USA, one of many organizations focused on eradicating homelessness and poverty via the beautiful game, put together the tournament, which was tightly contested. And rightfully so: the best eight players from the tournament would be selected to represent the United States in the Homeless World Cup in Milan this September. San Francisco ended up lifting the Leonsis Trophy (named after Caps owner and big Street Soccer USA supporter Ted Leonsis) after a thrilling affair against Minneapolis, but local sides were also competitive – Montgomery County’s entry finished in third place.

For those in search of a good primer about the accelerating movement to use soccer to lift people out of homelessness, we highly recommend Kicking It, a stirring 2008 documentary about the 2006 Homeless World Cup which Leonsis funded and produced. And check out StreetSoccerUSA.org and HelpUSA.org for information on how you can help the cause.