By Murilo Oliveria | Project Manager, Zambezia Province
The Foundation did a series of trainings in Mepuagiua, Lioma and Gurue Sede with increase of 25 new fields or "polos". 57 new coaches were trained in the "Craque!" Manual and "Desporto da vida" Project. Our aim was to have between 70-75 new volunteers but due to the holidays and the problems of communication between schools and communities some people wasn't aware of the training or was already on leave. Anyway, the number is really good and now DDV covers geographically the entire District and all the 19 ZIPs (Pedagogic Influence Zone) from the Ministry of Education. Apart from teachers, we also had a good number of students and community volunteers in the trainings.
The visit of Sarita, one of the Foundation's scholarship athletes, that is a runner turned soccer player, spent two weeks in Gurue, showing off her skills and cheering up the volunteers and children in the field (see photo #1). She also helped during practical sessions on trainings sharing her experience and knowledge with participants and giving tips and new ways to improve training sessions in the field. We all learned a lot and the inspiration of seen an real athlete was something that will be in the memories of these young players for a long time. Meetings organized with volunteers and community and interviews with the local radio station gave us the opportunity to explain the importance of women in sports and in schools, and the benefits not only for them, but, for society in general.
The overall result of the trainings was very positive. During the trainings the idea was to make sport for development concept not only a topic discussed, but felt by the participants in many ways. Exercises and practical sessions mixed with conversations and experience sharing allowed our new volunteers to get the necessary inspiration and motivation to start something different, to build in their own knowledge and give to children the opportunity of grow up with happier and meaningful experiences.
The work with the existing polos is still challenging but with some important victories. Most of them now agree with the importance of frequency for good results and are adapting to this reality. We also made a system of "rewards" for the coaches who maintain frequent activities to children, every month that a coach stays active with his/her children, he/she will earn a point, and those points allow the coach to receive small gifts from the Foundation like T-Shirts, clipboards, whistles, pens, etc. as a form of acknowledge and thank their effort for volunteering in the community. We are still working on that system and how it will operate and different small gifts can be added in the near future.
The competitions between the teams are heating up as matches are becoming a more frequent fixture in the lives of the players. Many coaches come every week to ask the Foundation to help them in organizing matches against other teams. This type of competition keeps the motivation among the children and coaches and also helps them to measure the team evolution in several aspects of soccer and teamwork. During these events the FLM – Gurué team is always present using the opportunity to reinforce health and motivation messages and give training and "in game" tips.
Sarita, in yellow, shows young players how to control the ball with her instep. She is a scholarship recipient of the Foundation
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