Monday, June 04, 2007
Football Coach?!?
Well this is awkward, as I have stated previously somewhere, perhaps on this blog, I do not really like Soccer. – Hereafter to be called Football – But, with that being said, as of today I am a Football coach. I am coaching the Haydom Stars. One of the guys on the team is a friend of Frances’ and he has been doing a player/coach thing for a while but needed to find someone to take on the coaching role. The team is very well organized and with George as the manager they also have a Secretary, a Treasurer and a couple of other executive positions.
It is very strange to take this role for a number of reasons, which I will list and then talk about why it is a great opportunity. The strange things are;
- I have a genuine lack of football knowledge,
- My being a mzungu (foreigner, white person) creates uncertainty and perhaps distrust
- I lack the Swahili necessary to communicate effectively with the team
- The limited time I will be in Haydom
These reasons can mostly be overcome with hard work on my part and an openness and patience from the team. I will learn about Football from the internet and from watching the games. I am learning and with the help of the team and George learn what I need to be useful. I can’t really overcome where I’m from and what I look like but I think that through being visible and getting myself known I will gain a certain amount of respect from the locals who are associated with the team and other teams. Being in Haydom for a short time is something I can’t help but I will have to come up with a plan for that. In business companies use succession plans and exit strategies to reduce the disruption when someone leaves the company. I am sure between myself and the team executive we can work it out. I will need to determine my short and long term goals for myself and the team and then work toward those so that when I leave I am satisfied and the team is as well.
The reasons why this is a good thing for me to do are many, but suffice to say that the role will enrich my Tanzanian experience greatly both while we are here and after we leave.
Today’s game was interesting. It was my first time on the sideline as the coach of a football team. I have been a spectator a few times and heard the banter of the crowd as they poke fun at the players and each other, but as the coach I am the brunt of the jokes and 99% of them I do not understand. Yes 99%, means 99 times out of a hundred; that’s is how many times I was the target of the crowd. And this was only a friendly game. I can imagine when it is serious I will be laughed at for the entire game and no one will even know the score. That is except for me. One good example, the joke I understood, came just after my team scored their second goal. I wrote a few notes in my book about what they did well that had enabled the scoring opportunity. But this one little smart A%& kid told everyone, in Swahili, that the coach had to use paper to figure out what one and one were so he could figure out the score. Don’t get me wrong it was very funny but with my limited Swahili my response was simply, “mbili (two)”. This was my only comeback of the two hour match but it made me feel better and brought a bit of added laughter, though I don’t know if the crowd was laughing with me or at me. Hamna Shida (no Problem)!!
It is very strange to take this role for a number of reasons, which I will list and then talk about why it is a great opportunity. The strange things are;
- I have a genuine lack of football knowledge,
- My being a mzungu (foreigner, white person) creates uncertainty and perhaps distrust
- I lack the Swahili necessary to communicate effectively with the team
- The limited time I will be in Haydom
These reasons can mostly be overcome with hard work on my part and an openness and patience from the team. I will learn about Football from the internet and from watching the games. I am learning and with the help of the team and George learn what I need to be useful. I can’t really overcome where I’m from and what I look like but I think that through being visible and getting myself known I will gain a certain amount of respect from the locals who are associated with the team and other teams. Being in Haydom for a short time is something I can’t help but I will have to come up with a plan for that. In business companies use succession plans and exit strategies to reduce the disruption when someone leaves the company. I am sure between myself and the team executive we can work it out. I will need to determine my short and long term goals for myself and the team and then work toward those so that when I leave I am satisfied and the team is as well.
The reasons why this is a good thing for me to do are many, but suffice to say that the role will enrich my Tanzanian experience greatly both while we are here and after we leave.
Today’s game was interesting. It was my first time on the sideline as the coach of a football team. I have been a spectator a few times and heard the banter of the crowd as they poke fun at the players and each other, but as the coach I am the brunt of the jokes and 99% of them I do not understand. Yes 99%, means 99 times out of a hundred; that’s is how many times I was the target of the crowd. And this was only a friendly game. I can imagine when it is serious I will be laughed at for the entire game and no one will even know the score. That is except for me. One good example, the joke I understood, came just after my team scored their second goal. I wrote a few notes in my book about what they did well that had enabled the scoring opportunity. But this one little smart A%& kid told everyone, in Swahili, that the coach had to use paper to figure out what one and one were so he could figure out the score. Don’t get me wrong it was very funny but with my limited Swahili my response was simply, “mbili (two)”. This was my only comeback of the two hour match but it made me feel better and brought a bit of added laughter, though I don’t know if the crowd was laughing with me or at me. Hamna Shida (no Problem)!!
