More Than A Film: Team South Africa - Cliffy Martinus
|South African manager Cliffy Martinus has been bringing teams to the Homeless World Cup since it started in 2003
More than A Film: This series explores the real players and management teams at the heart of The Homeless World Cup, the tournament is the inspiration for the feature film, The Beautiful Game. If you’ve ever been to a Homeless World Cup tournament, it’s likely you will have come across South African manager Cliffy Martinus. He is a familiar face, bringing a team to the tournament almost every year since the Homeless World Cup began in 2003.
Cape town’s favourite clown
It’s a sunny Saturday in Rome and the team have come together for a mini tournament. When you spot Cliffy, you can’t help but laugh. He’s wearing a skin-coloured t-shirt with a picture of a six-pack on it and has taken control of the PA system. A born DJ and performer he’s getting the players to come together and dance.
Describing team South Africa as the “clowns” at the Homeless World Cup, it’s easy to see who the ring leader of the fun is.
“We bring our uniqueness of singing and dancing and showing off! And being the clown so that everyone can warm up to the whole process, and strangely enough for the last few years, even with different players each year, it’s a little vibe that we give off.”
Clifford Martinus, known by everyone as Cliffy (much to the upset of his parents, he jokes) has been a core part of the Homeless World Cup since it began.
He founded not-for-profit organisation Oasis, Reach for Your Dreams, in 2000. Its aim was to give people from disadvantaged backgrounds the tools to turn their lives around.
“It’s an extremely proud moment for me each time that I am able to bring people from Cape Town, Free Cape and Johannesburg, to the Homeless World Cup.”
“I’m extremely humbled by it. Where we came from, where I grew up, also where these people come from, they have nothing or very little. That I can facilitate it each year, with my wife, is a proud moment.”
Oasis don’t do it alone. Behind the scenes, there is a wide network of local charities and supporters who keep the team coming back year after year.
He says the excitement for the tournament really begins when they announce trials.
“It’s definitely crazy. We have up to 100 people coming for the final trials, to select only eight players.”
It only starts to feel real for the players after their paperwork is sorted and they are sat on the plane. For the majority it’s the first time they’ve had a passport, let alone been abroad.
When they arrive, attention turns to the tournament. The players realise they are there to represent South Africa. The first match kicking off is a key moment too and a time when emotions can run high. But despite the tense and nerve-wracking environment, Cliffy explains, it’s fair play and sportsmanship that always prevails.
“Every last one wants to go and win that trophy. There’s no debate about that. But it’s the camaraderie 5-10 seconds after the final whistle. Whoever loses, they lift their chins.”
|“The opposition and the winning team will grab the player and say: ‘unlucky for you this time around’ and we will do the little run and acknowledge the crowd on both sides. Those are the things that the Homeless World Cup is about.” Image: Anita Milas
The sense of community between the teams is something Cliffy says makes the Homeless World Cup unique.
“For me, it’s powerful. We don’t speak the language, but we connect. And that little tool called football brings them together. They can’t speak Chinese, they can’t speak Korean, they cannot speak Afrikaans or Xhosa or whatever, but they are talking.”
The team in Rome is made up of previous players who’ve represented South Africa from 2012 to 2019.
“It’s young people that have grown up in front of me with the Oasis football programme. Among them you find people that used to live on the street or people that robbed and did drugs and all of that, they are now coaches in the football programme in Oasis.”
Cliffy relates to the players he works with and can relate to the challenges they face. He grew up in a similar area and sees himself as no different to the people he coaches.
“I grew up in the slums of the Lavender Hill and the Mitchells Plain areas. Had it not been for the values that were instilled in us from our parent’s side, where would I have been? So those are the little teachings that we live by so that we can transfer that to people that we work with.”
“It’s never easy but it’s worth it when we say no to the wrong and try and fight for the right. So that is what this whole process is for me. Looking back from my own experience, passing that experience on to people that I work with. Nobody can tell me anything happening in any of Oasis’s programmes that I don’t know about.”
“I’ll say, ‘Well I used to sit on the street corner, I used to gamble on the street corners. But I made a decision’.”
Working with people struggling with addiction and caught up in violence and crime can result in tragedy.
“One that was in Brazil in 2010 with me and one that was with me in Glasgow in 2016. They’re no longer with us. But we think of them, and we trust that all that we do is still powerful. What happened to them could happen to many others also.”
“But the opportunity that we’ve given them was great. To be able to say at least we were able to afford you an opportunity before you leave the earth to be part of something spectacular.”
South Africa are one of our 70+ member countries. Our partner representing South Africa is Oasis - find out more about their programme.
Cliffy Martinus founded Oasis, Reach for your Dreams, in 2000. It works across South Africa, predominantly in Cape Town, helping people to overcome addiction, improve their mental health and find a community and support network. Cliffy has been bringing teams to the Homeless World Cup since it started in 2003.
Meet more of the South African team - read about Homeless World Cup players turned coaches Bongani Mathiso and Dillon Fletcher.
Words: Rebecca Corbett