Vitality from Victory.
That’s what these 9 adolescent Kenyans brought. A soccer
camp brought together several
different schools from the surrounding area of
Kitengela, Kenya. It was a brilliant plan, in hindsight, but it seemed as if
the Mazungus were walking on an unspoken, undetermined battleground. Each
school represented a different tribe. All of which thinking, feeling, and
proclaiming superiority to the tribes. Not only was there a battle between the
Akumbas, Maasai, and the Kikuyu, but there was also an obvious tension when the
boys had to play with the girls. By the end of the camp, tensions lessened, as
familiarity had grown. It was announced that the last day of camp was set aside
for tournament play�”in essence to show off what they had learned the week
prior. I received the team I would coach in the tournament. They wanted to be
called the buffaloes. Coming from Wyoming, I thought, “man, what a boring
mascot to have� (though I wonder if I picked the giraffe or the lion their
sentiment would be similar to mine about the buffalo?). The tournament started and I honestly
was saying the exact 
opposite of what I truly believed. What did I believe? Not
a chance, would the buffaloes make it past for first round of bracket play.
Slowly, but surly did my little buffaloes gain momentum in
the first round. Man, you should have seen some of the saves our goal keeper,
Kennedy, made! I called him our ‘saving grace’. After the first game ended in a
sweet victory, I broke down the reality of the tournament to my team. I said,
“guys, if we win the next game, do you know what that means?� they all looked
at me with less than thrilled faces accompanied by subtle head shakes
indicating they hadn’t the slightest idea. “Guys, if we win our next game, we
get to go to the semi-finals!!� again, blank stares. Unsure of whether they
just couldn’t understand my North American accent or they just really had no
idea how a tournament ran, I asked, “Do you guys know what it means if we win
the semi finals?� a couple people of the kids were smiling now (probably
because this crazy white girl was excitedly making a fool of herself) but they
still didn’t understand. I said, “guys, if we win the semi finals that means we
get to go to the championship game!!� To avoid being superfluous, I went ahead
and shouted, “if we win the championship, we win the entire tournament!! It
means we beat every team out here! We’d be champions!!�
You should have seen their eyes light up, their fists pump
the air, and this new born passion to run fast, pass well, and win! Somehow
(obviously via hard work, skill, and my fabulous pep talk), the buffaloes made
it to the final game.
What did these little buffalo need for success?
Vitality…life! They needed someone or something to ignite within them passion,
something to strive for…victory! Someone to tell them they could do it!
Why did they need vitality? Well it’s not something that I
can really put into words, but I saw it in their eyes, in their endurance, in
their camaraderie. These once dueling adolescent Kenyan boys and girls were now
coming together in order to obtain a common goal.
How did they get their vitality? Well I mean, I started it
with overly excited hand motions, my enlarged eyes, and the stupid grin on my
face (even though I wasn’t completely convinced of their ability). But once
they caught the fire, they ran with it…they encouraged each other, giving
pointers, offering their input on how we could best win the game.
So as I said, my little
buffaloes made it to the final game. Even though they had played 5 games, those
warriors fought with all they had. The game was tied and it ended with a shoot
out. Kennedy made some awesome saves and our kickers tucked away a few goals to
keep us in sight of the championship. It was down to the last goal and we were
up one. The other teams kicker missed the goal post by 2 feet…I credit it to
Kennedy’s fierce goal keeper stance.
The buffaloes won the championship! And
the vitality that they possessed in order to get to that point seemed to
exponentially grow inside their being and the flood gates exploded… they
suddenly had enough energy to take a victory lap…I saw this unlikely group
obtain the biggest triumph of their year.
I’ve received vitality through their victory.
