After 20 hours on a plane (New York to Dakar, Senegal to Johannesburg, South Africa to here), I've made it to Maun, Botswana. I've only been here a few hours and in that short time I've already experienced enough to completely obliterate the 500-word limit my editors have given me. I'll do my best, gentlemen.
Ashley Hammond, the leader and organizer of our journey took some time during our refueling stop in Dakar to chat about the program and what to expect. "Ash" first came to Botswana in 2003. The camp he ran there with just a few kids from one school was so enriching to him that he immediately began plans to start an annual program.
This is the fifth year of the clinics, which have grown to include eight schools and over 200 kids. Ashley's enthusiasm for this program and for Maun is palpable - his face lights up whenever he speaks about the kids or the culture of the people we'll be spending time with. He says that no one can visit Maun and not fall in love with it - so far I can't argue with that.
Quick thought: A few words on Johannesburg, where we spent one evening on the way to Botswana:
On the drive from the airport to our hotel, we passed a Toys 'R' Us, a Lexus dealership showroom, a Woolworths and a Las Vegas style casino hotel (Emperors Palace!). After we checked in, our group ate as a steakhouse called "The Spur," which was decorated in Native American artwork. We were all aware of Johannesburg's status as a true international city, and this was a great example of how small our world can be in certain aspects.
We arrived in Botswana on Sunday and met Jorden Scott, the lead organizer for Ashley's camps in Botswana. Jorden lives in Maun two months out of every year - in February he sets up relationships with local schools, and in June/July he makes the final preparations for the week of clinics. His key local colleague and our defacto guide is B-Man, who we met minutes after getting off the plane in Maun.
B-Man plays with Shorobe FC, one of the local clubs in the area, and he's tremendous on the field. After checking into our hotel our group climbed into a van and drove over to the Maun Sports Complex, where our clinics will run all week. We played a quick match on the state-of-the-art turf in the 5,000 seat soccer stadium - luckily both B-Man and Jorden were on my team. Since no one at MLSnet.com was watching the match, I'll say I scored about nine goals (give or take 8*) in our comfortable victory.
Maun is a small city of about 60,000 and we plan to see as much of it as possible in the next few days. I can't wait to start the clinics!
Here's our traveling group:
Ashley Hammond (head of Ashley's Soccer Camps)
Shea Hammond (his son)
Annie Goor (his daughter)
Adam Switzer (ASC staff coach, Glasgow Rangers supporter, my hotel roommate)
Emma Sawyer (ASC coach, Colchester, England native)
Jerome Rankine (your humble narrator)
Ronnie Levering (friend of the Hammond family)
Dwight Jackson (Montclair Kimberly Academy student, seems to have really enjoyed watching "300" on the plane ride over)
Billy Levering (MKA student, Ronnie's son)
Charlie Carden (MKA student, I can't find a sport he doesn't play)
Ben Goldberg (Montclair High School student, my coaching partner in the clinics)
Ian Lefkowitz (MKA student, another multi-sport athlete)
Joe Walter (soon to be starting goalkeeper at Princeton University)
Check back tomorrow as we meet B-Man's family and the chief of Shorobe, his village. We also start camp!
*take.
Jerome Rankine is an account executive and in charge of fan development for Major League Soccer. He is keeping an online diary of his time in the African nation of Botswana with the Football for Life program, which is designed to teach soccer and life skills to kids.
