SOURCE: Act Global
The top-quality pitches will host more than 500 players for seven days of football and fellowship in Mexico City's Zocalo square this week
For the fourth consecutive year, Act Global will be donating synthetic turf fields for the Homeless World Cup. This year's tournament will be taking place in Mexico City, where more than 200,000 spectators gather to watch players from 47 countries compete in the weeklong festival.
The Homeless World Cup is an annual tournament that unites homeless or socially disadvantaged people from all over the world to give them a chance to build relationships as well as reintroduce structure and support into their lives. This tournament is a culmination of a year's effort from grassroots organizations. The Homeless world Cup Foundation uses football to inspire homeless people to change their own lives while representing their nation. This event continues to grow each year, impacting not only the players themselves but the thousands of fans, volunteers, and members of the media that follow the festival. Due to that growth, the tournament has expanded from three surfaces to four to accommodate more than 400 fast-paced matches.
An estimated 100 million people are homeless worldwide, but over its history the Homeless World Cup has touched the lives of over 1 million, 94 percent of players said that the Homeless World Cup has positively impacted their life. 88 percent have improved social relations with friends and family. 77 percent have experienced significant change.
This tournament is a unique experience for homeless people worldwide to assemble over a love of football and have the chance to play as a team on a professional-level synthetic turf field from Act Global. Act Global's Xtreme Turf has been through verified testing and is dedicated to serving the safety and performance needs for all players, making this turf a durable yet safe field for the Homeless World Cup players.
"Being able to inspire people and bring about change is something that is very important to us," says Act Global CEO John Baize, "We are honored to be a part of such an inspiring event and we love seeing the growth and impact that has affected the players over the years. We want to thank everyone that has played a part in this event and I am looking forward to attending this year's Homeless World Cup in Mexico City!"
About Homeless World Cup
The Homeless World Cup is on a mission to inspire life change through the power of football. The annual football tournament brings together teams from partner organizations from around the world in a celebration of their hard work and the personal transformations they enable. The event also brings the issues of homelessness and social exclusion onto a global stage, raising awareness and changing perceptions of homelessness. Ninety-four percent of past participants say that the event positively impacted their lives. Founded in 2001, the Homeless World Cup and its partners now span 74 countries, and has impacted the lives of 1 million homeless people worldwide.
About Act Global
Act Global is a world leader in synthetic turf technology with an ISO 9001 Quality Certified manufacturing facility in Calhoun, Georgia, and field installations in over 90 countries. Act Global has supplied its Xtreme Turf synthetic turf to over 600 football fields. Act Global is a FIFA Quality Licensee and preferred supplier for World Rugby, the International Hockey Federation, and the United Soccer League. The Act Global UBU Speed Series is the leading brand for NFL and NCAA Division I football fields and has been featured in New York Met Life Stadium 2014 and Minneapolis U.S. Bank Stadium 2018. Act Global also produced and installed the playing surface at the New Orleans Superdome in 2017 and 2018.
