Representing Florida, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, DC, Team YAP to Argentina joined 200 young people from 14 countries in Buenos Aires in May for Copa America Nelsa Curbelo street soccer tournament.
Guided by the principles of solidarity, collaboration and respect, the street soccer movement is active in 50 countries and uses street soccer to teach mediation and peace-building skills to young people living in vulnerable situations, particularly gang-affiliated youth. US delegate Eduardo from Florida described the event in his poem:
Passport
Here's how this story begins,
Where in the end everyone wins.
It started a few days ago.
When I arrived there was nobody I would know.
Yet as more time went by,
All my negative emotions started to die.
I was making friends left to right,
Soon we were like family, a delight.
We were having so much fun,
We played until we couldn't see the sun.
They taught me more than one thing,
At times they would make me sing.
Trying to find a place,
Yet we did it all at a steady pace.
In the end when it was done,
We had all come together as one.