Unfortunately, all the offers that I was stumbling upon on the web
required registering a few months in advance and a complex application
process. Not to mention that the majority lasted for more than several
months – which I couldn’t do because of my work responsibilities.
Finally I found Hatua Likoni which gave me the opportunity to follow my dream almost straight away. And ever more importantly, they cooperate with Likoni Community Football League (LCFL), the football league for U-12, U-14 and U-16 teams, of which I decided to be a volunteer.
Three weeks that I spent In Likoni were truly magical. In my everyday
life I am a journalist, I studied journalism and all my professional
experience is closely related with it. But I have another passion –
sport – which until very recently has only been my hobby. I spent
entire weekends watching league games and in the week I play with my
friends. Sport has always been a very important part of my life. As a
LCFL guest member I could finally share this passion with others. I
was able to show kids that sport can be a way of life, teach them
about sport rivalry and prove that thanks to systematic and hard work
we can fulfill our biggest dreams and goals.
I’m not a professional coach, I haven’t taught kids before. When I
went for my first training in Likoni, I was a bit confused. Dozens of
barefoot children, two balls and a pitch, which was nothing more than
a square between houses. But my anxiety disappeared immediately
after meeting kids who were training with so much joy and commitment.
After a second, I felt comfortable. It’s a cliché to write that both kids and coaches were incredible. But that’s the truth. They fascinated me from the very beginning. They did all the exercises with amazing curiosity, discipline and diligence.
With no experience whatsoever in running such type of trainings, I was
doing it alone after only one week. 40 kids, three different age
categories. How did I know what to teach them? During my first week I
was closely observing trainings conducted by Ben, who is the founder
of the LCFL and trying to remember the exercises proposed by him and
local coaches. I also watched hours of online content prepared by the
best sport channel in Poland, Canal+ (hello there!). Based on this, I
started to conduct everyday trainings in the team of my choice. I must
agree that I spent quite some time on preparing myself to the
trainings but I didn’t want let anyone down. Effects? On the first day
we started with simple ball passing and on the last one we were doing
Arsenal’s and Barcelona’s advanced tactics.
It might sound like a computer game but that was reality. I felt like
a real coach. And I was a real coach.
But trainings were only a key to learn about other, more important
things. I could observe the life of people living in completely
different conditions; something you won’t experience by going on trips
organised by travel agencies. Thanks to Hatua’s program, which
requires a lot of independence when it comes to arriving at the
trainings or eating out, I was able to come into contact with everyday
life of Kenyans. Was I scared at the very beginning? Sure! But with
time the daily travelling to the trainings, amongst ordinary people
living their regular lives, became my favourite parts of the day. I
can’t think of a better way to really know a foreign country.
If you have dreams, stop talking about them and start following them.
Just like I did thanks to LCFL and Hatua Likoni.
Writen by Kuba Jonczyk,
Hatua Likoni volunteer
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