I apologize if the title of the blog spoils the exciting interschool soccer tournament from the Adaklu District in Ghana this past Friday, but I trust not too many of you were anxiously awaiting the results. Anyway, let me fill in some of the details for you.
Last Friday was a big day for middle schoolers at four local schools. The four schools, all very close to me, met for interschool sports. The day featured volleyball and soccer and included tournaments for the girls and boys. Obviously most importantly for me was boys soccer not only for obvious reasons, but also because I have come to like many of the boys on the team. I had been told the team would be leaving Helekpe at 6:30am in order to rest before its first game.
I arrived at 8:30 am and found the festivities just beginning. The beginning of the day featured a weigh in, yes that's right folks, every boy and girl who wished to play soccer for the day had to meet weight restrictions, which were surprisingly tight. I assume this is because there are a few twenty something year old kids in middle school and perhaps it would be unfair to let them play. The weigh in itself did not surprise me, as I had been warned that some boys were very nervous, but what did surprise me were the actions of the teachers/coaches. At one point one kid was surrounded by teachers all screaming and the boy himself had to weighed in three times! Eventually the district coordinator ruled the boy could play which led to much rejoicing from his teammates.
Helekpe would not play its first match for a few hours, much to my disappointment, so I made myself familiar with some of the local vendors buying popcorn from a nice girl for 10 pesawas (roughly 6 cents) and a half liter bag of water from another vendor as its standard 5 pesawas price. The Helekpe girls were playing at this point and I made my way over to see an action packed match. I will spare you the details except to say the game came down to penalty kicks. Again I will spare you the details except to say the came ended not with one team winning but rather an incredibly heated argument featuring both coaches, many spectators, and towards the end seemingly every male in attendance over the age of 25. Indeed the ended up calling the match a draw. I thought the result sucked but was happy when both teams ran off and formed, what I would learn over the day, the traditional circle of singing and dancing to celebrate their perceived triumph.
The boys got under way two matches later and in a rain shortened came managed to come away with a 1-0 victory. Not to much to report here except to say that the celebration by the Helekpe faithful was not dampered by the rain and went on for about 30 minutes after the match ended. Interestingly enough some of the players took part but none lasted more than ten minutes and the celebration only intensified with them not in attendance.
The boys played the winners of the other match two hours later in a rather exciting game. Helekpe got out to a 1-0 lead courtesy of a penalty kick by one of my best friends but were matched late by a determined Abouda side. The game went to penalty kicks as well. Again the penalty kicks were interrupted by a ten minute adult male argument but this time the district director of athletics would not call the game and when a young "Short D" made a PK for Helekpe-the title was ours! The singing and dancing circled was formed and a few Helekpe teachers were hoisted in the air.
I had to leave at this point to get home for dinner. But was pleasantly surprised about an hour later when the entire middle school paraded through town celebrating the win. Apparently they all walked the half an hour back singing and dancing the whole way! The win may have been impressive but to me the celebrating was definitely the highlight of the day.
Last Friday was a big day for middle schoolers at four local schools. The four schools, all very close to me, met for interschool sports. The day featured volleyball and soccer and included tournaments for the girls and boys. Obviously most importantly for me was boys soccer not only for obvious reasons, but also because I have come to like many of the boys on the team. I had been told the team would be leaving Helekpe at 6:30am in order to rest before its first game.
I arrived at 8:30 am and found the festivities just beginning. The beginning of the day featured a weigh in, yes that's right folks, every boy and girl who wished to play soccer for the day had to meet weight restrictions, which were surprisingly tight. I assume this is because there are a few twenty something year old kids in middle school and perhaps it would be unfair to let them play. The weigh in itself did not surprise me, as I had been warned that some boys were very nervous, but what did surprise me were the actions of the teachers/coaches. At one point one kid was surrounded by teachers all screaming and the boy himself had to weighed in three times! Eventually the district coordinator ruled the boy could play which led to much rejoicing from his teammates.
Helekpe would not play its first match for a few hours, much to my disappointment, so I made myself familiar with some of the local vendors buying popcorn from a nice girl for 10 pesawas (roughly 6 cents) and a half liter bag of water from another vendor as its standard 5 pesawas price. The Helekpe girls were playing at this point and I made my way over to see an action packed match. I will spare you the details except to say the game came down to penalty kicks. Again I will spare you the details except to say the came ended not with one team winning but rather an incredibly heated argument featuring both coaches, many spectators, and towards the end seemingly every male in attendance over the age of 25. Indeed the ended up calling the match a draw. I thought the result sucked but was happy when both teams ran off and formed, what I would learn over the day, the traditional circle of singing and dancing to celebrate their perceived triumph.
The boys got under way two matches later and in a rain shortened came managed to come away with a 1-0 victory. Not to much to report here except to say that the celebration by the Helekpe faithful was not dampered by the rain and went on for about 30 minutes after the match ended. Interestingly enough some of the players took part but none lasted more than ten minutes and the celebration only intensified with them not in attendance.
The boys played the winners of the other match two hours later in a rather exciting game. Helekpe got out to a 1-0 lead courtesy of a penalty kick by one of my best friends but were matched late by a determined Abouda side. The game went to penalty kicks as well. Again the penalty kicks were interrupted by a ten minute adult male argument but this time the district director of athletics would not call the game and when a young "Short D" made a PK for Helekpe-the title was ours! The singing and dancing circled was formed and a few Helekpe teachers were hoisted in the air.
I had to leave at this point to get home for dinner. But was pleasantly surprised about an hour later when the entire middle school paraded through town celebrating the win. Apparently they all walked the half an hour back singing and dancing the whole way! The win may have been impressive but to me the celebrating was definitely the highlight of the day.
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