Why I am a coach

It's easy enough to count the number of players on a field at a tournament or to photograph the smiles on their faces. It is more difficult to evaluate how the relationships built through sports programs change people.

Last night we met with the soccer coaches and referees. I wanted to say thank you for volunteering and to encourage them before we start a busy season. It was also great to get a glimpse of the heart the coaches are developing for the players in their team. Their passion gives me hope that players will be changed through this football league!

HENG
This is how I formed one team: I was riding my bike to the tournament on Human Rights Day (December 10). I saw three kids. Two of them were collecting cans and one was riding his bike alongside them. I stopped and talked to them for a while, then asked, "Do you want to play football?" They said they did so I invited them to start training the following Saturday. Then I talked to another kid that I see herding cows back and forth from his house to the field. I asked him some questions and invited him to join the team. He also said yes.

These children are poor, may not got to school and don't have much in the way of leadership or direction. I think that most people don't value the kids who collect rubbish or wander around after the cows. For example, I heard the bosses at the recycling center speak harshly to a couple of kids when they brought their stuff to sell. People look down on them and don't know how to relate to them. Football is a way to relate to them.

I think that sometimes God gives us just one opportunity to meet with people and begin a relationship with them. If we don't seize the opportunity, it's gone. So I hope that if I see other kids in similar situations I will talk with them. Now the 'problem' is that there are about 30 guys who come to practice every Saturday and Sunday afternoons! It's too many! However, I am discovering that the more you know these guys, the more you love them and the more you want to help them.

TARITH (Pic)

I want the people in my team to know God more. Whether they are Christians or not, my goal for them is that they would know more of God. I want them to know more about soccer. I want them to know more about themselves; to value themselves. I want them to see that rich or poor, experienced or inexperienced, athletically gifted or otherwise, they have value as people and they are received & valued in their soccer team. This is why I am a coach.