Coaching Course, Day 2 aka Sunburn Day 2
I had not yet acquired sunscreen in Kenya as the grocery store did not take my US dollars yesterday evening. The oppressive heat stays with you through the night as our air conditioning unit does not seem to work.
After taking breakfast of ndizi (plaintains) and two hard-boiled eggs with Nestle instant coffee around 6:30 am In the morning, we road on the motor bike once again to the coaching course. At arrival, Davis initiated the session by asking for a coach to run a comprehension check with the group. We tossed around a Kenyan soccer ball to each student as they recalled the previous day’s work.
I was amazed by their level of retention. Keep in mind, we had them working on the course from 9 am to 5:45 pm with only a couple of small breaks and an hour for lunch. The focus and dedication of the Kenyans is outstanding! I got to thinking why these students of the game may be so much more attentive and invested than many of the students that I have encountered in the United States. I believe that the answer is a product of the difference in environment between the lives of my high school students and the lives of the coaches in Kenya (a few of whom are the age of high school students).
In the slums of Kenya, the undisciplined do not survive. In the United States, the undisciplined take advantage of the hard work of others because life in the United States is not challenged on a daily basis by our implementation of discipline. We can live off of our parents’ money, waste our time accomplishing nothing as we are distracted by social media, underperform in school because we act like we are victims of a system that gives too much homework or expects too much or teaches in a “style” that is not the best for us, we sue people for burning ourselves with “hot” coffee.
In such a way, we make an undisciplined culture for our children, the perpetuation of which causes people to become depressed and indifferent when they cannot seem to accomplish their goals because they are presented with the “Hollywood” alternative version of reality that says that you should not have to work for things, you should be given things with your birth or through the lottery or by who you come to know. For some, it does not even come to mind that we are defining our own reality in every way every day. We have so many resources, and yet, we are so very poor at times.
Our classes today explored the ideas of player evaluation. We talked about expectations of each position and about key qualities of a footballer. Our practical (on-field) session involved each coach assigning to one player to evaluate for the duration of the match. At pre-game, half-time, and post-game, as well as during the match, the coach was spoke to their player, providing expectations, feedback, and sharing in their celebration of the game. It was a really cool experience to see each player smiling as they were the full attention of one coach for an entire game. How loved the players must have felt in the 1:1 player-to-coach ratio!
We celebrated each goal as if it were the World Cup finals. We jumped up yelling things in multiple languages, sprinting out to the great the player, making the young players giggle in appreciation. It is one of those moments were people are truly connected. Nobody was concerned with anything outside of celebrating that moment. There was no Facebook to check, no text to send, only a life to be experienced well with others.
By the end of the sessions, I was so sun-burnt. I had wrapped a t-shirt around my head for the second half of the day to prevent further sunburn of my upper forehead. The deep red of the shirt started to look more and more like a match for the color of my skin. But, after the session, in the evening, I exchange $100 USD for 10,000 Kenyan shillings at the ATM and purchased the only thing at the store with SPF, anti-aging creme. So when I am looking beautiful as I return to the USA, I would like to Neutrogena for seeing the need for (relatively) expensive anti-aging creme in the Manyatta Slums of Kisumu, Kenya. This mazungu will be looking like a lobster half his age in no time!
