The Bull Ring

Last Wednesday I arrived back in England after a life-changing four months in Mozambique, with a suitcase full of clothes and a head full of unbelievable memories. Originally I had planned to finish this blog, however I have since decided that I will continue to update on the development of the team and the youth players, and finish posting on my experiences when I was there.

First, the most spectacular of the venues we coached in by a country mile. If I knew more about the history of the area as a Bull Ring I could comment, but it's development and use as a training pitch seems more romantic.

What I do know is that in it's time, the Bull Ring was a hugely famous arena for Portuguese Professional Bull Fighting, and thousands would come from across the world to watch it. More recently though, as it is situated next to the second hand market, it was used as a toilet for the market workers, the 8 foot drop from the edge to the floor coming in particularly handy!

Bearing that in mind, it makes the job which was started by our very own Mr Man (Nelson Veremo) and continued by David 'Hardlife' Sande all the more remarkable. 4 years ago, Mr Man wrote a letter to the municipality to request permission to clean the area and use it as a training facility for the GDM youngsters. Since then, last year's club captain, Hard, has used it to coach the 'Giantkillers' with boys and girls aged from 9-17 learning their trade there.

It's most notable products to date have been Alex, who has this year broke in to the first team and Abu who is currently a key player for the U'17s team and one of those being earmarked for the first team next year.

Alex and Abu now regularly coach the Giantkiller kids, and during our time, took complete control as Hard was completing a coaching course in Zimbabwe.

Each Thursday we visited the Giantkillers, often alternating between taking sessions and assisting Alex as he showed great potential, highlighted by the success of the Giantkillers in the Arsenal Tournaments we ran during our stay. Recently Pingi, the club's Youth Director, has started up an academy for the U'11s and U'14s and many of the Giantkiller's players have been selected in the original squads.

Another of the Bull Ring's unique features is the acoustics. Instrumental in keeping in the atmosphere during the peak years of Bull Fighting, the design now means that everything we say is echoed three or four times.

As the first official GDM training facility, the Bull Ring is held in high regard by all visitors, and will continue to be used as a breeding ground for the future stars of GDM.

Costa Do Sol

During our remaining time here, I am going to try and show a small glimpse of the various places we visit and give coaching sessions. As I have mentioned before, the first team players are in charge of the junior teams and provide training sessions 2 or 3 times a week. We try and visit a different group each day and take a session for the kids.

One of the most unique groups is the one looked after by the club captain, Paiva and which is named Costa Do Sol, after the area. Whenever we arrive here and walk down the dirt track, past the houses where people are often outside cooking dinner or washing their clothes, we seem to gain a tail of up to 10 small kids, boys and girls. They are the same kids each week and some of them we have got to know very well.

First I have to mention Roy. The first time we visited Costa Do Sol, the kids raced for the footballs, and Roy didn't get one. The tears started to flow. At the time I didn't understand Portuguese well enough to understand why he was crying, but I was told it was because he didn't have a ball. We told him to go and play with the other kids, but he didn't want to. From then on, every time someone took a ball from him, he cried.

Since then, Roy has got a bit more brave, and if anything, a bit too brave. He has now turned into a bit of a ringleader and takes some calming down. One of my favourite things to do with Roy is ask him for the ball which he is hiding under his t-shirt...obviously the ball in question is just his belly, but it gets a laugh from him and all of the kids.

Another regular is Castellano, who has the meanest stare in Mozambique, yet is not as mean as he looks. His trademarks are his shorts that are always falling down, and dusting off our clothes when we get dirty from running around their dirt pitch.

Other favourites are Francisco, Milton and Nando, the latter two in particular who could easily be mistaken for brothers. Milton in particular loves to learn English and we often sit writing our names in the dirt with the kids. One week we were also treated to a special guest, 18 month old Tom Tom who we quickly nicknamed 'Sat-Nav'.

Nando, Milton, Francisco and Roy

Me, Castellano and Sat-Nav

There is also a large number of girls who come to these sessions and one of the most memorable sessions of our time here was the Girls vs Boys match. In goal for the girls was Adam and I was playing as a free role midfielder/ very biased referee! Whenever the boys scored a goal, they had to play in a crab position until the girls scored, which went down very well, more so for the girls.

After a 3-3 draw, the game had to be settled on penalties and the girls came through comfortable winners, no surprise given that Adam, the girl's goalkeeper was in goal for both team's penalties.


As our last days go by we are realising how hard it is going to be to say goodbye to Manica and especially the kids that we have seen regularly for the past 16 weeks. There is no doubt that the kids at Costa Do Sol are among those that we will miss the most...

Uselessly Useful

This post draws inspiration from a post on the GDM official website http://www.fcmanica.com/, written by a man who can be an inspiration to us all. Schalk Van Heerden is the man who makes things happen, largely involved in us coming here in the first place, and involved in everything that takes place at the club. Due to his own work commitments with Youthzones, he cannot be here in Mozambique as much as he might like, but he is involved in everything nonetheless, particularly the recent task to persudae FIFA to place one of their Football For Hope centres right here in Manica.

Schalk's post on the FC Manica website discusses how we can help, and how most of the time it is not giving gifts or money that draws the biggest smiles. For Adam and I in particular, with this being our first visit here and it being such a short one, we are not going to rid Mozambique of the poverty it suffers, and we are not going to be able to completely change the lives of those we meet, but we can make a difference and we can leave a lasting impression. Since the day we found out we would be coming to Mozambique, we knew that our main focus would be the kids here, and that is how it has stayed. During the first month, we struggled somewhat with the coaching, and would be happy to let the coaches get on with what they had planned, which more often than not would be matches for an hour. However it was enough for the kids that we were there, and there would be times when there would be more kids crowding around the 'mzungus' than there were watching or playing in the game. The biggest smiles would come when we would keep the ball away from one determined toddler, or nutmeg one of the players, or when one of the kids would say 'good afternoon', or 'how are you' in English. Another favourite is also the dance off, of which I have competed in a fair few recently!

As Schalk mentions in his post, the kids are often so amazed by the alien figures of the two new white boys in town that they don't have to say anything at all. They will often sit there, holiding your hand, stroking the hairs on your arms, or somewhat painfully, and to their amusement much more than ours, pulling the hairs out of our legs! Often these kids are those that don't take part in the football training, and it is a good feeling to know that they are also comforted by our presence.

One of the only things that I have disliked since being here is the 'This Is Africa' attitude to timekeeping. I am all for a lazy day and a relaxed stroll every now and then, but when it concerns the kids, I think there is a standard to be set. Whether it be coaching sessions, matches, or tournaments, the one group of people who you can rely on not being late is the kids. If by the time we leave, we can say the same about the coaches (the players, although they wouldn't dare be late for their own training) we would be very happy. It is also important to note that this is not true for everyone as there have been some stand out contributions since we've been here and they will have their own post at a later date! But the training provided for the kids is the highlight of their days, as they have very little else.

One occasion that really highlighted this was the first session of the coaching course we are providing for the players, when Panache, who I'm sure you know by now, ran down the hill at 10 past 4. We had finished the session at 4 and when I asked him what time he had finished school, he told me 4 o clock. He had obviously run home from school, and got to the ground as fast as he could to get his fix of football, or did he just want to be with his friends and with the two new white guys in town? Another similar case is that of local superstar Nello, who on Mondays finishes school at 4 as well, but still gets comes to the pitch for 10 or 15 minutes of football. He is so popular in fact with the other kids that at our most recent session, when he arrived I offered to auction him off to the highest bidder of the 3 teams...he went for 10 metacais, or 20p, and I was told that I would be paid on Friday!!!

We are now coming towards the end of our trip, and have just over 3 weeks left in Manica. The time has flown and it is sad to think that with some of the groups of kids we only have 3 or 4 sessions left! However, there is no doubt in my mind that I will be back in the near future, and if the kids who I will never forget, remember me, I will feel like we have helped.