“Football is a life education for everyone”
|Prince Moho captained the French side at the tournament in Fuenlabrada. Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
French Captain Prince Moho won goal of the semi-finals, but it’s not only up front that the Cameroon-born player is leading his team. He represented France for the first time at the tournament in Fuenlabrada.
Since 2017, Prince Moho has been waiting for a chance to play for France. He joined Collectif En Jeu after they saw is natural talent and asked him to come along to local tournaments.
Finally in November 2022, it was his chance – he could finally represent France in an international tournament.
“The atmosphere in Team France is unimaginable, it’s like a party, we really enjoy coming together and having fun together and that’s what matters most for us.”
It's not the first time Prince has represented a country internationally, as a youth player he travelled to other nations in Africa representing Cameroon.
“I was born in Cameroon and football was my passion from when I was a child. I thought maybe I might be able to play professionally. I also played semi-professionally in other countries in Africa, but then I had problems with my age and agents, and I stopped playing at that level.”
Shortly after, he decided to go to France. It took him 4-5 years to start playing football again, but when he started, he didn’t look back. He was playing in lots of different teams in the 3rd and 4th tier of the French leagues.
|Prince Moho with Homeless World Cup co-founder Mel Young after winning Goal of the Semi Finals. Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
But a lot happened to Prince between leaving Cameroon and joining Collectif En Jeu, and it wasn’t all good.
“Before I was living in Clermont-Ferrand, life was difficult. Particularly workwise, I was in a challenging situation. Professionally things were difficult and financially I was struggling, I lost my job, then I lost my house.”
Prince was relying on emergency shelters. There is an emergency housing number in France – 115 – which you can call to get housing for the night. But it only secures you a bed for one night, the next day, you need to call again.
In Clermont-Ferrand there are also local charities that supported Prince and other people who were homeless during the day, giving him access to showers, food, and basic supplies.
“It was very hard to have stability without a job and without a house, but thanks to being involved with Collectif En Jeu, I’ve been able to get a work contract for helping people to get back on track. So I’ve been able to work since 2017 through that scheme.”
Prince joined a programme called ‘Job’chantiers’, which helps people to reintegrate into society. Through them he got a job with Vélos Boite Insertion, a company that repairs bikes. ‘Job’chantiers’ are also helping him to get his license to drive HGV trucks.
He’s also now playing for a local team, UGC Clementoise, where he also works as a football coach, training the U15, U13 and U11 sides. It’s his first year of coaching, and so far he’s enjoying it.
Now the lessons he’s learnt from football he can pass onto future players.
“Football is a team sport in all aspects, in the strategy, in the coming together, in the play. It’s many people coming together with the same goal. For me it’s a life education for everyone, it helps also to encourage people to respect each other and fair play.
Long live the Homeless World Cup, it is genuinely helping people”
Find out more about Soccer de Rue and Collectif En Jeu in France and their street football programmes.
Words & Images: Rebecca Corbett