Day 21

Day 21- Three week point!!

We have now been in Cape Town for three weeks! Time is going by extremely fast but I have to lamely use the phrase 'time flies when your having fun'! We're having so much fun out here and we're always doing something different and experiencing different environments,languages,nationalities,ethnicities and gender! For me personally this is really aiding me in what I want to do in the future in terms of gaining loads of experience in different environments and scenarios.

Today was such a hectic day! We left the apartment at 6:30 and somehow dragged ourselves on the bus and train looking like zombies! We were so tired and believe it or not we even missed our Vasco train station stop.. So we had to get off at the next stop and wait for a train which was going back Vasco way! It wasn't much of a problem though, we had heaps of time to spare which was good. I was deeply into my book surprisingly and jeff was daydreaming! When we got to Vasco we ran into a horticulturist who works at the learning centre and asked if we wanted a lift, as he was meeting Lina (The receptionist) at 8:05. We waited a couple minutes for Lina and then headed to the learning centre in the back of the 'Bucky' or in English terms.. Truck! We are becoming more and more like South Africans each day! When I mean in the back of the Bucky I don't mean sitting on seats I mean in the actual back of the truck! Felt so cool though, nice breeze and sweet african air to wake us up! I got it on film too which is another video I will look back as a memory!

We arrived at our scheduled time of 8:15 at the learning centre before making our way to a crèche called 'Ysterplaat Educare'. We did a session for 4-5 year olds which was kind of tricky and there was some kids who spoke different languages to Afrikaans and English so that made the session more of a test. There was a class of 50 so we took two 30 minute sessions of 25 kids in each and did fun races as we knew this previously worked so well and the kids react in a really positive way! Ysterplaat had another building for older pupils from 5-6 so we headed there for the next session and I have to say so far that has been my favourite session even above older groups we've coached! They were sooooo sooo buzzing and listened really closely and understood the drills first time round! Which made the session really fun to coach and obviously it's aesthetically pleasing seeing that your session is going well but also that the kids love something you have created and that your planning has paid off! I must say that i find it great that jeff and I both share the need to be organised and have sessions planned at least the night before.. All written out with diagrams and how many cones, balls we need so it's all ready to use the next day!

The next stop was in Guglethu which is a black township community. The facilities were very basic, the pitch which was literally sand or a kind of dusty dirt! But what I love is how the kids just play they really don't care. We were told that we would have 45 kids overall and that there would be 2 other coaches that could assist if we needed (who we had both met at Atlantic soccer club previously). So what jeff and I had planned was that we just half the group and have around about 23 each. However!! In the end 85 kids turned up! So our plan was thrown out of the window pretty much and we had to split them up in to 42 per session and do one session at a time! That was the only choice we had considering the facilities, equipment and the amount of coaches we had! We did an 'arsenal v spurs' warm up which never fails to amuse! Kids absolute love that! Then Jeff and I took a session based on dribbling and defending in the first session and then dribbling and passing in the second! To be totally honest it wasn't the greatest session but the place was absolutely packed and we were really thrown by the amount of people that turned up!

Roberto who is very important in the Atlantic soccer club took us back to the clubhouse to stuff us up with pizza and 'cool drinks'! (Basically means any cold drink, so a cold fanta would be a cool drink). This set up nicely for the under 19 game which was starting at 7:00. Coach Keith allowed us to take full control of his under 19 fixture which was a friendly against Sunningdale. So we took a warm up and then about 80 minutes of the game before we shot off home. When we had left we were 4-1 up, so I think we did a pretty neat Job and the boys really listened to our halftime talk and upped their game in the second half!

We got home about 8:45 and were welcomed by the smiling face of Rosie! She is genuinely one of the nicest people I've meant in my life! We always hope to come home to her at reception as she refers to us as her boys! Everyone around communicare say she's like our mum! Outside our door was oh laundry which we submitted in the morning which again was another nice touch to come home to! We got in and straight away had a hot bubble bath to chill out and then had some dinner!!

So tired but at least we start at 12:00 tomorrow! Much needed. Going to ready my book for a while and then go straight to bed! That's if my room isn't blown to pieces! The wind is crazy tonight in cape town!
All the best.

Luke