Volunteer Teacher Jen talks to the Coaches in South Africa

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Jeanette Morelan is a United Through Sport volunteer who has been teaching on our project in South Africa. She also keeps a blog, “The Blessed Life”, in which she has recently written about a day in the life of a UTS coach. Here’s what happened.

J: Why did you decide to volunteer with United Through Sport?

I decided to volunteer at UTS because I fully believe in their goals and wanted them to help reach them at 100%. By placing children in the townships in the center of the attention, United Through Sport is taking care of the future of South Africa. —Julian S.

I’ve always wanted to do sport-related volunteering, and United Through Sport really stood out to me. After seeing a video and some photos of the kids that UTS was working with, it sounded incredible and described everything I wanted to do as a volunteer. —Jess T.

J: Describe a typical day of coaching.

Coaches go to 3 schools a day and do 14 schools in a week. When we arrive the children are already waiting to grab the equipment and take it to the different sports areas. Every school is different, so even though we plan our sessions beforehand we have to be able to adapt to circumstances such as playing conditions and ability and their capacity to speak English. Every coaching session is really different! Traveling from different schools can be tiring, but we always give 110% as the kids want to learn and enjoy the sessions. As coaches we discuss afterwards what can be improved and our experiences so we can be more prepared for the next week. It’s a busy day, but we really enjoy it and love getting to have different experiences and meeting different kids. —Jess T.

Shower, eat, coach, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, repeat. —Robbie M.

I wake up around 8:30am to have a shower. At 8:45 I’ll have a simple breakfast, just a simple toast with cheddar cheese. After the breakfast we usually have about a hour left to relax/chill and I use this time to contact my family and friends in Holland. During a coaching day, we coach 3 primary schools. Normally it depends on the school which results you’ll reach. At some schools you are able to really improve the skills of the kids, sometimes it’s just a victory keeping them all in one place! After finishing the coaching sessions we go back to the UTS accommodation where we can fill in the rest of the day after dinner at 5:30pm. We have a lot of fun visiting different places in Port Elizabeth or playing pool or table tennis back at the house. At the end of the day I feel really happy that I can sleep and repeat this for five times in the week. —Julian S.

J: What’s your favorite part about being a coach?

I love the excitement on the kids faces as the UTS bus pulls into each of the schools. They all love the coaching sessions, and are so excited to see you each week. I’ve been surprised at how quickly I’ve become so attached to all the kids we coach, and was genuinely gutted to have to say goodbye at the end of 10 weeks. The amount some of them have improved week on week is unbelievable which is so great to see. —Jo B.

The enormous satisfaction that the kids show by smiling, hugging you as a coach before, during and after a coaching session just because you took the time to be with them. Also when kids make really big improvements. When you can spot some great results it makes it one of the best jobs in the world! —Julian S.

Sports Coaching South Africa

What are some of the challenges associated with coaching?

Coaching different numbers of kids on sometimes bad pitches (fields) with little equipment. —Lukas S.

I would say that the most difficult, and challenging, part of being a coach was keeping the kids under control and listening to my instructions. Whilst it was very frustrating, I found that this provided a good learning experience for myself as an individual. —Felix M.

The biggest challenge is to realize that some kids are already too much influenced by their environment to realize how important education and sports are. Sport creates on its own a great opportunity for people to develop themselves and to create a better future. Sometimes this is hard to communicate for kids that have never been taught the value of sports or education. It’s hard sometimes to try and convince them to leave their current ideas and way of living. —Julian S.

How do you think that United Through Sport is making an impact?

We can see the positive difference that it makes first hand on both kids’ ability to play sports and also their confidence and attitudes toward each other. When we recommend children to the Junior School of Excellence, we know that it could effect the course of their entire lives and we can see that they take the opportunity very seriously. —Imi P.

United Through Sport makes a difference by brightening the days of hundreds of kids each week by bringing them together for some time of sports and fun. When they’re with us, they can leave all of their problems and issues that they might have at home and spend some time receiving mentoring and coaching that they would have never had before as well as enjoying time with their friends. —Chris B.

What are some things that you have learned as a coach with United Through Sport?

To not judge a person before you know their story. Sometimes you get really surprised about what these kids have to deal with. I expect that if we as people from first world countries had to deal with their circumstances we would probably behave the same. —Julian S.

I have learned more things about myself whilst here in South Africa than I have about the place and its inhabitants. I know now more about my personal limits and strengths, and that people will listen to me if I just use the right words. This experience has been the most valuable of my life so far and I will always treasure it. —Felix M.

 

Park Pereyra Hockey Project a Success

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March marked the beginning of the United Through Sport Girls Community Hockey Project in Park Pereyra, Buenos Aires. Since the project began, the number of participants has increased almost by the session.

After the first couple of weeks, we were a little nervous about the low numbers of girls participating, but we needn’t have worried. Those girls who began attending at the outset told the others in the neighbourhood how much fun they were having and how worthwhile the sessions were. Before long, numbers started to increase.

Having been running this project for over two months, we are happy to report that this project now reaches over thirty girls aged between seven and fourteen . A huge thank you must go out to all the volunteers who made this possible and we hope

to have many more who want to participle in this project that continues to grow every week.

New Hockey Project in Pereyra Park, Argentina

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Following an incredibly generous donation of hockey equipment to United Through Sport Argentina, our Director, Alejandro, had a wonderful idea. He thought about hockey in Buenos Aires and realized that there simply were not enough opportunities in the area surrounding Pereyra Park. So, Alejandro said “ Why don’t we run our own Hockey School at the park for free and open it up to all the kids living in the neighborhood and the shantytown next to it?

I’m very excited to tell you that from March, every Monday and Wednesday afternoon, United Through Sport hockey volunteers will be coaching hockey. Everyone is invited to join in with this exciting new opportunity that pretty much sums up what United Through Sport is all about. So remember, if you’re planning to volunteer coaching hockey abroad, it is definitely worth checking out what United Through Sport in Argentina has to offer. We could use your help and we know you’ll have a blast!

Dutch Volunteers Donate Kit

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After ending 2014 completely satisfied with the amazing job our volunteers did in the projects in which they were coaching and training during the year, we didn’t expect anything less from 2015.

At the beginning of January we received the first group of volunteers from United Through Sport, Netherlands. Anniek, Carmen, Esmée, Lot and Marjolein on a 4 week hockey program and Remco on a 5 week football program. Their programmes were a little bit different from the ones we are used to during the year. They were about to start coaching at summer camps in different places across Buenos Aires City.

The summer camps are free for all the kids that belong to a lower class family. They spent the day at the summer camp, or as we call them “colonias” with their parents having to work hard for a better future for their kids.

So, we start 2015 with a challenging new program: a new group of volunteers working in a different area that we aren’t used to.

Week after week the volunteers from Netherlands showed how committed they were to their job as coaches. From the little kids to the youngsters, they develop a nice relation and make them enjoy every moment learning more about hockey and football.

End of January came and their projects were about to finish, but they couldn’t leave without giving United Through Sport, Argentina a big surprise. They donated more than 15 hockey sticks, balls (hockey balls and footballs), bags and sport shirts to be used by future volunteers.

United Through Sport Staff want to congratulate and thank Anniek, Carmen, Esmée, Lot, Marjolein and Remco for a great job, all the nice memories they left in the kids at the summer camps and the useful equipment they donated for the future volunteers arriving.

Volunteer to stay on as Intern in Buenos Aires

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United Through Sport, Argentina grew a lot in 2014. We received three times the volunteers we did during 2013. All as a result of the hard work of the organization, ensuring that every volunteer that chose Argentina for their volunteer programme was not disappointed. Our volunteers posted all over social media and told their friends and family about the great time they had on our projects.

Dhani-Perre Heath is a football volunteer from London who arrived in December on a 12 week programme and is now staying until November 2015. Yes, an amazing 30 weeks more than he had originally planned!

Dhani tells us that he is having a great time in Buenos Aires. He has met some amazing people and is learning from every coaching session he takes part in at Pereyra Park. He is also organising football games in a local league by hiring a pitch.

United Through Sport Staff in Argentina have named him as the new intern because he moves like a local in the city, his Spanish is improving, he knows how every project is working and he will now be staying until November.

So, we want to welcome Dhani to the United Through Sport working team in Argentina and hope he continues to work hard and have the time of his life in South America.

 

Christmas Surprise at United Through Sport Argentina

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In November, Kevin Hagiel from Germany travelled to Buenos Aires to support United Through Sport Argentina. He is a player and coach at FC St. Pauli Rabauken in Hamburg. He came to Buenos Aires for a 6 week Football Volunteer programme and did a great job. His Spanish was good enough to gain the kids attention and affections.

By Christmas Eve, Kevin had finished his programme, but he couldn’t leave before giving some special presents to the kids he had been coaching for the past 6 weeks. At the end of his final session, when all of the kids thought it was time to finish, Kevin revealed the special gifts that he and FC St. Pauli Rabauken had arranged for them. Sport shirts, shorts and socks were given to the kids. Christmas came early for the kids from Pereyra park and for Kevin too, who couldn’t believe how happy and grateful the kids were.

We want to thank Kevin Hagiel and FC St. Pauli Rabauken for this amazing gesture. Beside Messi, Aguero and Tevez is a new name – and that name is Kevin.

 

Tennis Success for our Ghana Boys

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United Through Sport in Ghana Academy Boys, Coaches and Staff give their best wishes and congratulations to three of the Ghana Tennis Players – Emmanuel Wettey, Albert Nti and George Nyarko. The three boys, all aged 15 years competed in the Seniors Tennis Tournament at the Accra National Sports Stadium and all managed to reach the tournament’s third round before making their exits from the competition. This is an incredible achievement for our Academy’s Tennis players as their opponents were much older than them as well as being considerably taller as well – as you will see in the photographs below!

Albert Nti completed the trio’s campaign in the tournament on Tuesday afternoon as he went up against the Ghana number 2 seed, George Darko. Albert was defeated in the match but he played tremendously and put up a good fight – much to the surprise of his opponent who was almost twice his size! Albert was easily returning his opponent’s fast serves and had him running around the court to reach his shots. As the match got into full swing more and more people filtered into the court to watch our junior player in his challenging match as he was surprising every one with his talent and skill. The final score left Nti defeated 6-1, 6-1 by Darko.

Some of the other match highlights in the tournament included Albert’s first round clash against Francis Gbolonyo – the match went on for three sets with the final result seeing Nti victorious with a win of 7-5, 1-6, 7-4.

Fellow United Through Sport Academy players George Nyarko and Emmanuel Wettey met each other in the second round; the match ended with George Nyarko defeating his colleague 6-1, 6-0 – although defeated by a fellow colleague the pair displayed excellent sportsmanship and congratulated each other on a challenging match.

Nyarko’s tournament campaign came to a close after being defeated by the Ghana number 11 seed, Francis Akpese. The match finished up with Akpese winning 6-3, 6-4 and moving on to the final stages of the tournament in the latter part of the week.

The tournament was a fantastic experience for all three boys and proved a great opportunity for them to showcase their talents to the Ghanaian Tennis world.

10th Anniversary Boat Party Reunion

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United Through Sport is excited to announce our 10th Anniversary Reunion Party. We want to celebrate the ongoing hard work done by our staff and thank all of our volunteers for the support they have provided over the decade of operations that began in South Africa.

To show our gratitude, we are throwing a reunion party for all those who have supported United Through Sport’s cause over the last ten years. The night will take place on a cruise down the river Thames on the 20th December, from 20:00 until midnight. On board is a bar, dance floor and DJ, so everything is in place for a really fantastic evening!

Admission is in the form of a donation of £20.00. To book your place, click here and follow the “joining instructions” on screen. You will be given the option of putting your name with the donation – please remember to do this so we know exactly who has paid and who is attending. If you are a UK taxpayer then you will be eligible for Gift Aid, so remember to use this option when prompted (it means that the government will give us an extra 25% on top your donation, at no extra cost to you!).

Unfortunately, the contact details we have for a lot of our volunteers may be out of date, so if there is anybody that you think we might not have been able to contact please extend this invitation to them if possible.

If you need any further details, or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. You can e-mail Jack or Ia at the United Through Sport office on [email protected]

This will be a great opportunity to get back in touch with the friends you’ve made through United Through Sport and we would really love to see you all there!

Football trials in UK for Ghanaians

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After completing a successful first two weeks of the UK tour in Portsmouth, our three academy boys from Ghana, have moved on to Scotland where they will be spending the next month training with St Mirren. This will be a fantastic opportunity for the boys to broaden their perspectives on football in the UK and Europe.

Other top level clubs in the UK such as Chelsea and Manchester City have also taken interest in what we are doing as a charity so the future for these boys and the charity as a whole is looking very exciting.

 

United Through Sport Hosts Youth Rugby Tournament

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Having hosted the inaugural event last year; United Through Sport, the St. Lucia Rugby Football Union and Micoud Youth & Sport Council came good on their promise to come back with a bigger, better event this year.

With returning teams from Micoud, Laborie, Pierrot, and Babonneau plus the additions of newly formed junior teams from Castries Comprehensive, Pierrot and Laborie, the tournament was split into U17’s and U12’s championships.

U12’s winners being Becky Hughes’ Pierrot ‘Local Heroes’ who were coached and managed by United Through Sport volunteer and England International Becky Hughes. The U17’s Championship was won by last year’s runners up Laborie RFC.

United Through Sport would like to express a wealth of gratitude to SMJ beverages for the provision of water and other drinks to the Tournament and preceeding training sessions in the aforementioned districts.