“When I play football, my mind is free”
|Dorian Brunin represented Belgium at this year’s Wroclaw Cup in Poland Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
“I am thinking about nothing apart from football – all the problems are away.”
25-year-old Dorian Brunin represented Belgium at the Wroclaw Cup in July 2022. The Wroclaw Cup is an annual street football tournament organised by our Polish partner Stowarzyszenie Reprezentacja Polski Bezdomnych (Polish Homeless National Streetsoccer Team Association).
“It’s an honour, it’s a big chance for me. The players for our local team, they know they have the chance to play for the national team – but it’s a chance every two or three years, so now it’s becoming a reality, it’s just amazing.”
Since joining the team with Younited Belgium, life has dramatically changed for Dorian. The most significant change - it has given him something positive to focus on.
“[Football] gives me a chance to travel, to meet other people who are living the same life and to make friends. It’s also a chance to be seen playing football where other people are passing by.”
This is a big difference to when he was a teenager and living on the street.
Days can feel very long when you’re homeless.
“The day would start at six in the morning, I would have to find a shelter. The goal of the day is to find a place to spend the night, all day searching for food and searching for a home.
“I became homeless because of a drug addiction. It started when my parents asked me to leave the family home. I was 19.”
Dorian is now 25 years old and for the last four years he has been part of team Belgium.
Younited Belgium work in cities across Belgium helping people like Dorian who are in temporary housing, street homeless, and/or affected by substance abuse.
“When I play football, my mind is free. I am thinking about nothing apart from football – all the problems are away.
“At the beginning I was a bit shy, but after, little by little, I began to open to other minds and some of the players are staying as teammates, but others are becoming friends. We are speaking all year round.
“My dream for the future is to have a job, have a home and to stay in the homeless team, even if I have a job and a home.”
Find out more about Younited Belgium and how they’re helping people like Dorian to find positives in life again.
Words: Rebecca Corbett