The day after Eminem.
After making our way to Ruyterwacht, it was time to coach Sunflower Creche. My favourite group, along with Ysterplaat Educare. We did a fun warm up incorporating animals, soccer actions and just a general active warm up to get them excited for the session ahead. Jeff took the game of statues, where whoever didn't stop when the whistle was blown.. they were out! I, on the other hand kept anyone who was out entertained. I kept them involved in the session by cheering on everyone, helping me referee who didn't stop and even let them all have a go at blowing the whistle. Well, I let one and then I got bundled over by the kids screaming "and me, and me, and me!" "my chance, my chance now." which was quite funny. They said it was the loudest whistle they had ever heard. It was my referees whistle which I bought in England so it is pretty ear-deafening. We then moved on to some kicking exercises and ten pin bowling, which the kids insisted we did! They really enjoy that game! This was our last session with sunflower creche and I have to say they have been an absolute pleasure to coach. One of my favourite groups. Such a lovely bunch to coach and the teachers have really educated them well and i'm sure they'll become lovely human beings in the future!
Joe could see were struggling from last night, after getting in at about 1:30 and then having to wake up at 6:45. Therefore, he said we could just chill out for a bit on the computers and just recuperate some energy. So that's how our afternoon was spent up until about 1:30
When 1:30 came around, it was time to head to the black township Gugulethu. This was our fourth session there and this time we decided to do some shooting. I used an exercise which I learnt from my dad when he used to manage our football team back in the day! Whitewebbs Eagles. It's a pretty simple set up but you have one goalkeeper in goal, the coach as the person who lays it off and then a cue of no more than 8 or 9 kids. Basically in the exercise, the boys pass it into me, I lay it off, they take a shot. Pretty simple, but effective. I made sure I got key coaching points across like don't lean back, get over the ball, foot placement and what part of the foot to use. When they passed it on to me I worked on right and left foot first time and two touch finishes. Afterwards, it was time for some left and right foot volleying. I wanted to incorporate some throw ins in my session, so I explained to them the 3 rules of throw ins and I also told them that I referee in England. The three rules are, feet behind the line, ball behind your head and feet must stay planted on the floor. Very simple, but believe me people get it wrong! I asked them to throw it to me using those 3 rules, I would then catch, throw it up and they would volley it. The boys are so athletic and agile so this was no problem. However, the boys struggled to get to terms with timing. They would often kick their leg out before the ball had even reached their foot, therefore meaning it would hit their knee or shin. I told them to never take their eye off the ball and let it come down which helped them out a bit. To finish off, I asked the goalkeeper to come off of his line a little bit, so the boys could do a few chipped shots or lobs. Which is not an easy task, but I was confident the boys could do it!
To finish off our session, Jeff and I brought both of our 10 man groups in and asked whether they would like to do some cross bar challenge for some fun at the end! 2 boys hit it out of 20 which wasn't too bad! Jeff and I tried and came very close. Inches away! This was our last session in Gugulethu and to be fair it's been a crazy experience. The first time we came 80 boys and girls turned up! But I have to say the thing that strikes me the most about our time here is the fact that the boys and girls make do with what they have, for example facilities and equipment. The pitch is literally sand which is full of thorns, glass and bits of metal but that doesn't deter their passion for football one bit. Boys and girls in the UK don't realise how lucky they are to have such good facilities given to them. The school we were coaching at would use a flat ball to play, tyres for goals and on a dangerous sand pitch with no shoes! Crazy.
Just before we left, we had some left over food and drink from lunch which we didn't want. Hake Fish and Chips. So we decided to give it out. As soon as we put it down there was a huge swarm of kids fighting for the food which was in a polystyrene box. The box was obliterated and the kids grabbed as much fish and chips as possible before shovelling it in their mouth. They didn't shovel it in to be rude but just because boys would chase them to try and rob it from them. Especially the older ones, they would chase the younger kids. We had a second box to put down and exactly the same thing happened. I couldn't believe how eager they were to just get a little bit of food for themselves. Sad to see!
A successful day, enjoyed it! So tired now though.
Jeff and I are gonna sit in and watch the end of Oblivion which has Tom Cruise in it. Been a good watch so far!
All the best
Luke.
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