“It feels like a second chance”
|Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
Pete represented Finland for the first time at the Nordic Homeless Cup in Stockholm.
|Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
The day that Pete Nylund was asked to represent his country at a tournament isn’t one he will forget.
Pete first kicked a ball when he was three. As he was learning to walk, he was learning to play football. As any young player does, he dreamt of one day representing his country. But it felt just like that, a dream, with no real chance of it becoming a reality.
However, on a sunny afternoon in Stockholm, 41-year-old Pete stood alongside his teammates singing the national anthem. His dream had come true.
“This experience is fantastic, magnificent, it’s very important for me because I can represent Finland.”
Since he kicked a ball as a toddler, his relationship with football had grown and developed and it has given him hope during some of the darkest times in his life.
His struggles with addiction started at 14 when he was at middle school in Tampere. He was drinking regularly. Then came the drugs – amphetamines and as he explained, eventually “using everything”.
This began a habit and addiction that lasted more than twenty years. When the money would run out, he would turn to crime.
When Pete was convicted and sent to prison, he started to give up.
“I had no hope anymore. I thought that this was my life, and my life was over.”
While Pete was in prison, he started to play futsal. The five-a-side kick abouts reminded him how much he loved the game. His first step when he left prison, was looking for a place to find football and he quickly found Homeless Academy Association who ran drop-in football sessions. He hasn’t looked back.
“When I spent time in prison, I would always think it would be really nice to have some kind of hobby.”
“Leaving the drugs wasn’t the problem, but living in society like normal people live, that was the hardest thing. Because I haven’t been part of society since I was young.”
Playing football regularly helped Pete reintegrate into society and feel part of something again.
In 2022 he’s been sober and free from drugs for more than five years.
“For many people after using drugs or being in prison, it’s really important to be part of a group or part of a team and be part of society again.”
For Pete, representing Finland at the Nordic Homeless Cup, “feels like a second chance.” He smiles as he said: “Now there is hope again.”
Find out more about Homeless Academy Association’s work in Finland and how they’re using football to end homelessness and tackle social isolation.
Words: Rebecca Corbett