Tears Before Bedtime...

Days 3 and 4 saw the Kicking Off team revisiting the eight schools to officially weigh in the teams and register their names.

There is a weight restriction of 40 kilos for the boys, although no weight restriction for the girls’ teams.

This has been introduced to prevent older students or adults swapping into the teams on tournament day, making it unfair on the rest of the schools – such is the desire to win the tournament!

Watching the boys being weighed gave us an insight into the importance of this tournament to the schools and the children who were invited.

Those who knew they were near the weight limit were so nervous - holding themselves bolt upright on the scales, their breath in (thinking this would make them lighter), and trying not to put all their weight on the scales.

At times it was difficult to witness, especially when they were over the limit and had to be told they couldn’t be part of the team. Many were stoical, but several were on the verge of tears and disappeared quickly to avoid being upset in front of their friends. It was obvious they were heartbroken not to be part of what is known to be a fantastic day, and seeing this was tough for us all.

When you hear stories of how these children live, you begin to understand how tournament day is a chance for them, for this one day, just to be children - on tournament day these 500 children can relax and have fun.

Schools can bring 16 girls, 16 boys and 23 spectators each – all of whom would receive medical checks, goodie bags, a meal, snacks and unlimited, clean water – without having to walk miles for it. However amazing this is, the realisation is that for every child that can attend, there are at least another 200 at the school that aren’t able to do so. This is another difficult statistic to process.

The more we spent time with these children, who smile so easily despite having nothing, who are affectionate and loving, joyful and cheeky in equal measure, the more we wished we could do more to open this experience up to every child. It is the more painful side of charity - for every child’s life you enrich there are always more children needing help.

The Tier 2 projects that Kicking Off is developing, in addition to the football tournaments, will really help Ghana communities long term. It’s amazing that the tournaments bring such joy to the children involved, but long term, Kicking Off want to make a different to everybody – children, adults and elders alike.

And we truly believe Kicking Off will do just that. As trustees, Carole and I are hugely proud to be involved, as well as inspired by the Kicking Off teams. Yet they can’t do it alone. They need your help. A simple donation of jut ￡3 makes a huge different.

One Man’s Dream is Another Boy’s Future...

On the Thursday, we went to watch a training session at a local football academy - an academy that Kicking Off is hoping to support in some way in the future, along with seeing where some of these boys live.

One of our trustees, Kath, a talented player herself, helped to run a training session and it was lovely to see these talented players training. Although how on earth they can run around in 38 degrees of heat was beyond us?!?

The academy is run by a young man called Nana, a mere 23 years of age.

Nana has 32 boys in the academy and he runs it alone – except for the coaching which is done, free of charge, twice daily, by an ex-Ghanaian national player.

Nana is up at 3am every morning to make breakfast for the boys; they have 90 minutes of multi-faith religious instruction, compulsory school, homework, as well as 2 hours of football training, morning and night. There are strict cleaning rotas, water collection duties and other jobs which the boys do without question. And they are expected to look out for their academy ‘family’ and take their share of the work. For the rest, Nana has dedicated his young life to cooking, caring for and parenting this group of 31 boys, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

When we arrived at the academy, the courtyard, initially, seemed very pleasant - there were neat rows of trainers and shoes lines up round the edges of the room and the walls had football themed images painted on them.

As with the uniforms earlier in the week, initially we thought they were all really well turned out, but again, looking more closely, some had one boot on and maybe one pump, some just one boot, and some had no shoes at all.

When Nana showed us the two dormitories where the boys sleep, however, we were shocked. 16 teenage boys to each tiny room, and no space in which to move. The chill out room was an empty space containing three wooden benches. There was no toilet, sanitation facilities, nor kitchen (all cooking is done on a charcoal fire outside).

The boys have permission to use the school toilets, 10 minutes’ walk away, and they are ‘lucky’ enough, we were told, to have a bore hole close by.

Nana’s personal story is one of hardship, but he tells how a close relative mentored him, keeping him out of trouble by teaching him how to play football and encouraging him to focus on this through everything.

When this man died, Nana decided that he wanted to do the same for other boys who, without a focus, could end up getting into trouble and would have no positive role model. It’s this dream that has kept Nana going. This dream that will turn around the futures of these boys, into futures of positivity and possibilities.

Some of his boys are orphans, some have families who can’t support them, and some are invited to attend following talent spotting at various tournaments; all are immensely proud to be there and feel the academy will give them a chance in life.

He receives a tiny amount of money from various sources, which he ekes out daily to feed and support himself and the boys.

One of our team, Mike, had been tasked with learning more about the academy, exploring ways in which we might be able to work together, through Kicking Off.

Mike spent 24 hours with Nana (from 3am helping him cook breakfast) so he could experience a whole ‘day in the life…’ and, on his return, he was obviously quite emotional. In addition to spending time at the academy, Nana had taken him to visit some of the boys’ families, at their homes. This is when he had realised that, in comparison with their home lives, Nana’s academy was a huge improvement.

In addition, the pride of the families was immense – seeing that their boys had the chance of a future. For us, this mismatch was so hard to grasp. Shortly after Mike’s visit, we heard that one of his team has just been picked for the Ghanaian national team – which is an amazing achievement, and must make Nana feel that his dedication and passion are so worthwhile.

All in all it was a tough couple of days emotionally – the realities of the life that Ghanaian children live are becoming clearer by the day, but so is the realisation of just how much Kicking Off is able to help – especially as we move to longer term tier 2 and 3 projects. #

Meanwhile, the excitement is rising for the tournament! We have just packed 500 goodie bags for the children, 30 for the teachers, resource packs for the winning schools – and are now looking forward to the big event on Saturday!

So, again, we ask you to ask yourself, what can you do with ￡3? It’s barely enough for a fancy coffee. It certainly isn’t enough to buy a pint of beer or a glass of wine.

Yet, by texting KICK to 70007 your ￡3 will give a child a medical check, provide them with a decent meal, clean water, and essential supplies for home; not to mention a care free day just to relax and be a child.

Thank you.