By Jonathan Morales

2021年10月29日

Lisa Wrightsman and Tiffany Fraser likely never would have crossed paths, but a 萨克拉门托 State soccer alumni team brought them together – changing their lives and the city for the better.

那是2010年末。 Wrightsman ’05 (Communication Studies) was getting sober after years of alcohol and drug addiction and homelessness and had just returned from Brazil, where she had competed in the 2010 Homeless World Cup. Inspired by the experience, she decided to establish a women’s street soccer team – an informal, often pickup version of the game – in 萨克拉门托, starting with the women in the transitional home where she lived at the time.

Fraser ’09 (Communication Studies) had spent the year-and-a-half post-graduation working at a financial firm and coaching part time – and trying to find ways to give back to the community. She had heard about Wrightsman’s work with street soccer and introduced herself at their next game.

“She came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I heard what you’re doing with the women’s team. I’m looking for a place to volunteer. 我能帮忙吗？’ ” Wrightsman said. “And I was like, ‘Yes, please. I don’t know what I’m doing.’ ”

事实证明，赖特斯曼和弗雷泽非常清楚自己在做什么。 Soon after they met, they launched 萨克拉门托’s chapter of Street Soccer 美国, a national street soccer organization serving individuals struggling with homelessness, at-risk youth, and other underrepresented populations. Wrightsman is the team’s managing director, Fraser the organization’s national chief of staff.

Their meeting also was personally meaningful – they were married in 2019.

The goal of Street Soccer 美国 is straightforward: Provide a space where people who don’t otherwise have access to team sports can enjoy a supportive atmosphere, have fun, and learn skills that are transferable to life beyond the sport.

该组织在萨克拉门托很受欢迎。 Approximately 500 people participate weekly in various co-ed, women’s, and youth leagues at their facility in O’Neil Park. 参与者从4岁的孩子到60多岁的成年人，从个人到家庭。

Their youth programs, based primarily in 萨克拉门托’s Oak Park and the Broadway neighborhoods, serve approximately 500 at-risk kids. 此外，去年他们还与加州风暴半职业球队合作，推出了“女士优先”（Ladies First）项目，每月为6-14岁的女孩提供夏令营，由全女性教练团队领导，教练团队通常包括现任和前任Sac州立大学足球运动员。

 

博彩平台的视频由菲利普·阿尔斯塔特和赫拉赫·阿韦斯蒂安拍摄

“We have been fortunate to be doing this long enough to not only, in the case of our adult players, see them progress and grow in their lives, but also to see their children progress and grow and learn,” Fraser said. “When you think about something so big and sometimes hard to accomplish like breaking cycles, we’ve actually gotten to see that occur multiple times.”

In the middle of the pandemic last year, they cut the ribbon on Union Pacific Street Soccer 美国 Park at O’Neil Park in the heart of 萨克拉门托’s Broadway district. 公园为该组织提供了专用设施，并允许成人付费联盟帮助支持其其他项目。

If that wasn’t enough, Fraser and Wrightsman also make their on-screen debut next year in 美丽的游戏, a Netflix film about the English Homeless World Cup team. 这对搭档不仅是主角的队友，而且还根据他们在街头足球和无家可归者世界杯（全球街头足球队之间的年度比赛）的经历为电影提供咨询。

The Wrightsman-Fraser partnership and their complementary talents have been integral to street soccer’s success in 萨克拉门托. While participating in the 2010 Homeless World Cup as part of a men’s team, Wrightsman experienced participants’ camaraderie and enthusiasm.

At the time, she had no money and little to her name – but she did have 25 years of soccer experience.

“My teammates were not experienced players, but they love the game,” Wrightsman said. “Being able to teach them how to pass properly and dribble and give them a tiny bit of coaching was like gold to them. For me it was, ‘OK, I found something I can give. 我想回馈社会。’ ”

The potential for a women’s team to have a positive impact in 萨克拉门托 was evident to Fraser from the first practice she attended, and she used her organizational, coaching, and fundraising skills to help make Wrightsman’s vision a reality.

“I had never seen such disorganized soccer before with people enjoying it,” Fraser said. “I understood what she was talking about in terms of the environment and how everyone felt included and excited to be a part of it, and motivated to do what they needed to do to come back again.”

《美国街头足球》的一个关键组成部分就是让人们能够接触到在美国通常是一项昂贵得令人望而却步的运动。 For many participants, it may be their first time playing a team sport – or, possibly, a first experience in a welcoming and encouraging environment.

“There’s a lot of really transferable lessons, like being supportive to another player, knowing what it feels like to have somebody supporting you in the right place,” Wrightsman said.

这种经历与赖特斯曼和弗雷泽作为萨克州立大学足球队的运动员的经历相似，他们都说，在那里他们学到了适用于目前角色的宝贵生活技能。 他们还发现了一个支持系统的重要性。

“On campus and within our team and the athletic department, there was an interest in having a community feel and a very connected feel,” Fraser said. “It didn’t feel too big and too overwhelming. 对我来说，这是一个我能真正融入其中并在其中成长的地方。 I’ve always appreciated that about 囊状态.”

Wrightsman had “an amazing time being a student-athlete at 囊状态,” but her personal struggles intensified after college as she tried to figure out who she was without soccer – and without her teammates to lean on.

But meeting Fraser and reconnecting with the University over the past decade, she said, has been “really healthy.”

“It is very meaningful to go back to the field and the campus with good feelings when you spent so much time there,” she said. “I’m glad that it’s a positive part of my life.”