Soccer (Mpira wa miguu)

May 14, 2014

In an effort to integrate more into the community, I went to play soccer with some villagers at a field near my house yesterday. They play most days and sometimes have matches against other villages. I have heard them before and knew that they played but recently I've been getting invitations from various people in the village (the guy making a new door for my house, some older men who hang out in dark rooms and drink the local alcoholic bamboo drink, the guy I buy tomatoes from...), so I decided to check it out.

I showed up early (or they showed up late...I don't even remember which is which anymore) and only a few guys had showed up. We started to kick the ball around and play a little keep away. This went on as more people came. One of them was constantly blowing his whistle to tell everyone to come.

When more people showed up we stopped playing keep away and started getting organized for a scrimmage. They put me on the non-red team (I was wearing blue), and asked me where I liked to play. I said midfield. That was a mistake. I am in nooooo shape to be playing center mid like back in high school, so I slacked off a little and played more of a forward/midfield combo.

As we were playing, a bunch of villagers (all men) came to watch. Most of them know me or at least who I am and they would get excited when I did anything. It was cool to have a cheering section, but I also felt like I had to prove myself a little. I made a handful of rusty mistakes, but I made a few decent plays too and I even heard some on the sidelines telling them to pass to me more or to play more like the European guy (me, apparently).

The villagers aren't bad! I definitely got a good workout and have some competition. But they lack a lot of the more refined skills that I have learned from some great coaches over the years. Things like "you don't always have to go forward." Or "play the ball on the ground." Strategy is pretty non-existent here. So I hope to bring some of that to them once I earn my spot with the team. They could really benefit from some new drills, more movement off the ball, less kick-and-run, and a more in-shape midfielder.....

Other than the villagers who I just started playing with, I've also been recruited as a coach for the school team. With them, I have automatic superiority as a teacher. So whether they like it or not, they do what I tell them. They have similar problems to the village team - a general lack of strategy - so I have been running some drills with them to make them think differently about the game. Things to make them think more as a team when defending rather than as individuals. New ways to handle corners and free kicks in the offensive third. Drills where the "goal" is a number of passes rather than an actual goal. I think for most of them, the purpose of the drills is apparent and they enjoy the different style that it forces them to use. For others, they just think it's funny when I make the losing team do push ups.

I'm hoping to help organize a friendly between the village and school teams. I'm still at the beginning of my relationship with both of these teams so we will see where things go from here.