“I’m fifty in September but I can’t stop playing football”
|Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
“It’s been everything, it’s a dream”
Kim Roe represented Norway for the first time at the Nordic Homeless Cup in Stockholm.
“I’m 50 in September 2022 but I can’t stop playing football. I have bad knees, and I have a bad foot, but it gives me so much.”
Since 2009, street soccer has been a central part of Kim Roe’s life. Alongside the love and support from his mother, football became his constant.
“From 2000 – 2009 I used amphetamines every day. In 2009 I quit and since then I have been clean. I have been with the team since then and I am very proud of it.”
When Kim was using drugs he had a home, he explains he was living alone and “didn’t have any life.”
“My mother was always there for me. She always took care of me. With the police, with criminal activity, she was always there.
“One day I wanted to quit because I saw what it was doing to her. I was sure that if I hadn’t quit my mother was going to die. She was very low.”
|Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
Being at the tournament has given Kim a chance to make his mother smile.
“It’s been everything, it’s a dream. I’ve been with this team for many years, and I can’t describe it. It was a very good feeling. My heart was beating so fast when they were playing 'Ja, vi elsker dette landet' ('Yes, we love this country' – Norway’s national anthem).”
“Now she is so proud of me. I have so many videos to show her from the tournament. I love her, she is everything to me”
As well as his mother, Kim is also proud to share it with girlfriend and their two children, who are seven and ten.
“They are very proud of me. My son is playing football all the time. He is now looking up to me.”
It’s not only his children who he is inspiring. He’s also now using his experience to educate people about the risks of drugs and addiction and support those in addiction.
“I work trying to help people who are using drugs and I speak in schools, telling my story in many places.”
“I’m now a role model, they are giving me so much by letting me tell the story of my life and I am helping them to see the light.”
The Salvation Army are our partner in Norway, find out how they’re using football to end homelessness and tackle social isolation.
Words: Rebecca Corbett