A taste of Victory!
I like soccer. No, I’m not one of those Euro-wannabes who can name all the clubs in the Premier League and calls it futbol, but all three of our girls play. We love taking in a Sporting KC game (shout out to GO Project Hall of Famer/Board Member, Alan Dietrich, and his Sporting KC soccer studs), and we spend a lot of weekends watching our daughters and their teammates run the pitch. We’ve seen some good battles over the years, but none with a taste of victory before the first whistle was blown…none like today in Malawi.
This afternoon, Pothawira’s team played McKenize, a friendly rival school just up the road. I found myself thinking about everything that needed to occur just to get these boys on the field.
They couldn’t be on an official soccer team if they didn’t have a bed to sleep in, food to eat, and someone to get them up in time for game. They couldn’t play for their school if their community didn’t have a school that they actually got to attend. They couldn’t play if they were sick or didn’t have a coach to schedule the game.
When family breaks down, the basics of childhood are threatened, and there’s a lot that must be rebuilt to give a kid a chance to be a kid again. For many orphaned and abandoned children, a warm lunch, followed by an afternoon soccer game is a pipe dream.
Thanks to many of you, and the dedicated church leadership here at Pothawira, for these kids it was simply Saturday…and that is a win that goes far beyond the scoreboard. That said, if you happen to score (watch the center striker in navy) pandemonium ensues…it’s fun to win on the field as well, and our team came back from a 2-0 hole to earn a draw…GO Pothawira!
To learn more about becoming part of the Pothawira family or sponsoring their run to Jr. World Cup victory (ok, that’s not happening…yet), please e-mail [email protected]