OASIS Soccer Charity - Africa 2004

by Joel Rookwood

Soccerphile’s Joel Rookwood spent the summer running football coach education programmes in Africa, visiting different projects for street children in Uganda, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. This is his account of what happened…

Following a hectic tour of various English football clubs in order to collect kit to take with me, my trip finally began in mid July with a flight to Uganda. Armed with 100 football kits and 30 footballs as well as numerous merchandise donated from various English professional clubs, I set off for East Africa, alone and a little nervous.

I should not have been nervous, for the people I came into contact with in the Ugandan capital of Kampala during the early days of my stay there were some of the most welcoming I have ever come across.

An organisation called ‘Oasis’, whom I was in Bombay with on a similar trip last year, had set up my project, and were thankfully very well organised.

I began by visiting an initiative for Ugandan street girls called the ‘Bambejja Project’, where I met with the children, and ran two coaching sessions with the girls there. During the latter session, it soon became obvious that a crowd of interested onlookers had gathered, and after a conversation via my translator, it transpired that they were keen to have a go themselves. So we then arranged a session for a later day with these local boys.

It turned out that these boys were part of a local team, and were actually all excellent players, who seemed to enjoy the extended coaching session I did with them. Afterwards they requested some help at a local tournament that weekend. Regrettably I had to inform them that I could not attend, but offered instead to supply them with kit for the event. It was agreed that the equipment I gave them, which included bibs and cones from Adidas, footballs from Liverpool Football Club, and a team kit from Wimbledon FC, was to be used by the whole community. So in a very public presentation, with several officials and what seemed to be the entire community present, I handed over these gifts from the English sporting giants to our African friends.

During my stay in the capital I also coached the boys of various schools, although with each session, the numbers swelled well beyond that which was initially agreed. Local interest in the project seemed to be gaining momentum with every passing hour.

During sessions at some of the poorer schools, I handed over footballs and some signed Liverpool pictures to be displayed in their classrooms. Following this I also managed to get up to a detention centre, to coach boys with behavioural problems in what was a far less publicised event. This was particularly rewarding, and it was good to get the chance to meet with some of these boys who had some very tough backgrounds.

Later that week I was also able to work with the ‘Tigers Club’, a project that sees street boys in Kampala housed, fed and coached football. The head coach is a former captain of the national Ugandan team, and needless to say, a local hero. I had heard about this initiative several years ago and it was a privilege to be able to go and coach those boys, and also to meet with this very able and enthusiastic coach. I met with the boys and spoke about my past and my football, and how important it is for them to work hard and respect the other members of the club. Mealtimes were often simple but always entertaining, with steel drums pounded rhythmically by the palms of the young boys as the rest of us ate. I gave the project a full team strip donated by Liverpool and some signed pictures for the club, which was enough to see a visit from the national press.

My next stop was Harare in Zimbabwe where, after a brief safari, I did some more coaching. The family I stayed with were unbelievably hospitable, and a great source of information (and food) on African culture, including some of the more sensitive issues of life in Zimbabwe.

My first coaching session was with a project working with street children. There was a lot of interest around this visit, and I think everyone learned a lot form the experience. It was good to discuss African football with some of the coaches there, a conversation that was to hold me in good stead for the remainder of the trip.

The days ahead were spent working in schools, where I taught the children in the mornings and ran extensive and intensive football coach education clinics in the afternoons. Numerous coaches turned up and were surprised when invited to put down their clipboards, loosen their ties and participate. I ran the session to incorporate several aspects of coaching, including aspects of coaching behaviour and more technical and tactical issues.

During the evenings I had to participate in various PR exercises, such as television, radio and newspaper interviews. I was also the guest speaker at a sports dinner, and also had the honour of giving out the prizes, a challenge in itself given my lack of familiarity with some of the more complex African names!

Following this I did a coaching session with two separate teams of street children in different locations. The intention was that the two were then to play each other after I had worked with them both separately, and then the winners would be rewarded with a new kit for their team. Only one player had a pair of boots, most others shared a pair, or played in bare feet. After a well-contested match, a full team kit, supplied by Gillingham FC was rewarded to one of the teams. The handing over of the kit was caught by TV cameras, with two cameramen having come down to do some interviews with myself and some of the players. That evening I had to attend an event embarrassingly entitled ‘An evening with Joel Rookwood’, where coaches and players from Harare and surrounding areas turned up to fire questions at me on my life and experiences in football. I spoke about my life and my footballing experiences and then people questioned me on a variety of topics.

Then after a short weekend break risking my life bungi-jumping at Victoria Falls and white water rafting in the Zambezi, I travelled to Mozambique for the final leg of my journey. There I was to work in the coastal city of Beiria. During my time there I coached mainly teams of boys, and also ran a couple of coach education programmes for local teachers and coaches. I worked in numerous schools and teams during my stay there, and was able to supply footballs and kits to three of the teams. The kits I gave out were from Liverpool, Everton and Wimbledon football clubs among others, with my visit again failing to escape the media. Indeed I was able to publicise my visit during both newspaper and radio interviews.

The project in Africa proved an extremely challenging yet rewarding experience, one I learned a great deal from. As a former youth coach at Liverpool FC, I have worked in Western Europe and North America in the past, though I now work more closely with a charity called Operation Christmas Child. This organisation works with children who have been victims of poverty, famine and war in parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Next month’s visit to Beslan as part of this initiative, the area devastated by the recent terrorist attack, is sure to be another demanding and worthwhile experience.

The African adventure was made possible only through the support of various English football clubs. Those who gave so generously were delighted to receive pictures of the kits they had supplied in the hands of those who sorely needed them. With their help, I was able to personally deliver kit to some worthy and grateful beneficiaries, and I managed to establish links with several projects in what was a very successful venture.

I am currently at an initial stage of organisation for a similar initiative in South America next summer. I am hoping to take more kits and football equipment out with me again, to hand over to appropriate and deserving recipients.

If you think you can help with this project, please feel free to: contact us

Joel Rookwood

"The Onside In-Site" Copyright © From 2000. All rights reserved. Soccerphile Ltd.