Soccer - Part 1

I must start today (July 13^th) by acknowledging that it is my beloveds birthday today and it is a beautiful daybreak here in Africa albeit hovering around 4C⁰.

Well today after supper, Trenton time the U11 soccer team will be playing their regular weekly game.  I expect a game report in the morning.  (Mike !!)  By the way how did they last Wednesday?

I see the schedule for the Kingston tournament has been released and in my mind there is no way the team should not be in the semi-finals and final.  Time will tell.

Are the backpacks and warm-up clothes in?

Much like Canada, soccer is a very inexpensive game and it is very easy to start up a game.  All through the village there are make-shift soccer fields with rocks or wooden posts as nets everywhere.  A ball of some description is kicked back and forth and there does not seem to be any out of bounds.

Gordon brought an old soccer ball with him from Trenton along with his soccer cleats that will be too small by the end of the summer.  Neither item is going to make the return trip to Canada.

Thus to Gordon’s great delight he can play soccer constantly and he has a gang of about 8 or 10 small kids who play in the open area between Mma Binnie’s house and her mother’s house about 200 feet to the west.  A tree serves as a goal post at the south end and 2 bricks as the goal post at the north end.

There seems to be a lot of talking going on as the ball moves back and forth from one end to the other.  Language is universal in sport and they all seem to be getting along really well.

Gordon has introduced the kids to the concept of high 5’s and they now give each other high 5’s when a goal is scored!

I should note that the playing field like almost all of Botswana consists of a dusty, sandy surface with a few small clumps of vegetation that could not be called grass.  They joys of living in a semi-arid semi-desert.

Thus invariably every movement or kick is accompanied by a puff of dust as the very fine, loose surface of the ground is disturbed.  Needless to say that although it happens quite frequently one does not really want to hit the ground since it is quite solid and hard beneath the fine dust covering.

Overall, Gordon and the other kids will play for as many hours as you let them and if it were not for our constant trips in the car he would be playing soccer from sun up to sun down!  He gets quite agitated if it appears if we are not going to get back to the village before dark.  That means he will be missing out on his soccer game.