It has been about two months since the beginning of the tournament with this Saturday being the Championship weekend. The players (young, middle, and older age groups is what we call them) were off from school from October until January, so as coaches we decided to do a two month long tournament that would lead all the way up to a Championship that would have an awards ceremony and celebration to follow.
At the Championship, we lined the field and had an official ref who was actually dressed as a ref. It was a big day for the players. They were definitely really, really excited and pumped for the games. It actually made me laugh because you could tell there was a big difference between them just playing for fun and them actually playing for an award. Everyone wanted to win and they were determined.
It was kind of fun to watch and to feel their excitement. I think even some of them cried when they lost. They took it that seriously. I mean, think about it... Rwanda is nothing like America. Here we do not have rec. leagues or regular games.
You often end up just playing street ball, which consists of high kicks, no boundaries, dirty playing, and about twenty players too many. You also never play on lined, grass fields, and never have nets. You never really get to feel what a "real" season is like, nor do you get to feel what it is like to actually practice every day and be so dedicated to something that it exhausts you, especially come the end of the season.
These boys have no clue, so when they are actually playing for something or with a purpose they take it very seriously. For instance, right before I went to the U.S. for Christmas, I had two jerseys to give away, so what I did was I held a 2v2 tournament with my boys soccer team. You would not believe how much these boys wanted to win these two used jerseys. They were so determined. Well, when the winner was finally named and they were celebrating, I looked back and there sat the two boys who lost literally balling their eyes out in tears.
My heart just sank and I felt so bad for them because they had won every game up to that point and lost to the "under dog" team. It was so heart wrenching for them and I honestly think it is because there is not a lot of opportunities for them to actually work towards something like a tournament, to be apart of a team, and to actually experience the feeling of winning.
At the Championship, we lined the field and had an official ref who was actually dressed as a ref. It was a big day for the players. They were definitely really, really excited and pumped for the games. It actually made me laugh because you could tell there was a big difference between them just playing for fun and them actually playing for an award. Everyone wanted to win and they were determined. 
It was kind of fun to watch and to feel their excitement. I think even some of them cried when they lost. They took it that seriously. I mean, think about it... Rwanda is nothing like America. Here we do not have rec. leagues or regular games. 
You often end up just playing street ball, which consists of high kicks, no boundaries, dirty playing, and about twenty players too many. You also never play on lined, grass fields, and never have nets. You never really get to feel what a "real" season is like, nor do you get to feel what it is like to actually practice every day and be so dedicated to something that it exhausts you, especially come the end of the season. 
These boys have no clue, so when they are actually playing for something or with a purpose they take it very seriously. For instance, right before I went to the U.S. for Christmas, I had two jerseys to give away, so what I did was I held a 2v2 tournament with my boys soccer team. You would not believe how much these boys wanted to win these two used jerseys. They were so determined. Well, when the winner was finally named and they were celebrating, I looked back and there sat the two boys who lost literally balling their eyes out in tears. 
My heart just sank and I felt so bad for them because they had won every game up to that point and lost to the "under dog" team. It was so heart wrenching for them and I honestly think it is because there is not a lot of opportunities for them to actually work towards something like a tournament, to be apart of a team, and to actually experience the feeling of winning.
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