After breakfast, Scott, Burama and Yacouba left to attend some meetings, so Sekou, Drew and I were left to hang out outside of Burama’s. We sat, talked, I made tea, and kids came to visit and sit with us. I was nervous about how the second day of the tournament was going to end up, so I went back to our hut after lunch to take a nap.

When it was time to start the matches, Sekou came and woke me up, and we started walking down the path to the school. On the way over, we passed one family compound where a tiny boy, no older than 3 or 4, was sitting and playing by himself. The moment he saw me, he stood up, and without a word, came directly to me and grabbed my hand to walk the rest of the way by my side. I took this as a sign from Uncle Richie (I know only some of you will get this reference, but to those who understand, it’s a very important one.) and I knew that things were going to be alright.

Another initiative in the village that Sekou and I decided to incorporate into our Dissan project was to start a girl’s league. Over the course of the past couple days, three teenage girls had come by to talk with Scott about wanting their own game. I was thrilled by this idea, as I had wanted to start a program for the girls, but wasn’t sure about the right way to go about it or what activity they would like to do. Scott and I had previously discussed having a volleyball or tetherball league for the girls, but when he asked these three what sport they wanted to play, their immediate response was football. I was delighted, but as the boy’s tournament drew closer, it seemed as if the girl’s game wasn’t going to get organized in time for this trip.

Sekou's clinic with the girls.

While we waited for the tournament to start, Sekou ran a small clinic with a group of girls that had come to watch the games. To the surprise of many of the spectators, the girls played a lot better than what had been expected, and adhered to all the rules of the game. Very satisfied with Sekou’s impromptu clinic with the girls, I was optimistic about how the rest of the day would turn out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the black and white sets of Cheshire High School jerseys approaching the field. When I looked up, I noticed that one of the players was wearing a head wrap. Upon closer inspection, I was shocked to see that it was the girls who had suited up to play the first match!

The girls team photo.

The girls played a hard fought match.

During the discussion that Issa, Burama, and Yacouba had last night, Issa had listened to all of the goals I had hoped to accomplish for this tournament, including having a game for the girls. Without me even knowing, he helped organize the game, and it was an absolute success. The girls, most of whom played with bare feet, played a hard fought, entertaining match, well exceeding the expectations of the spectators. There were big smiles on the faces of all the girls playing and those of us watching. When the match ended 0-0, the girls lined up to take penalties, and it was intense. There even needed to be two extra penalties to decide the outcome, and when the winning penalty was converted, the team and crowd erupted in cheers. You could see how seriously these girls took the match, as the losing side was visibly heartbroken. But not long after, they were all wearing smiles and laughing together again as we handed out notebooks, pencils, and pens to all the athletes.

The youngest brother in my Malian family is a very outgoing and charismatic teenager who I immediately took a liking to. He is looked up to by his peers and is a mediator of many issues within his peer group. He’s also a great soccer player that farms, like his father. This means he is a nonschool kid who doesn’t get the opportunity to participate in games like this too often. The boys game started, this time with mixed teams of school and nonschool kids, but soon after the start, Sekou informed me that it was the final match. Confused, I looked around the field for my brother, and noticed that he was amongst the spectators instead of playing. Last night, we had decided to start the tournament over, creating fair, mixed teams, and that was not what was happening.

To the winners go the spoils.

I brought this to Sekou’s attention, who immediately went to talk to Issa. After a lengthy discussion, everything got sorted out, and the match that was being played became the first semi-final. This match went to PKs after a goalless draw, and the next semi-final promptly started. I made sure my brother was on the field, and he played brilliantly, eventually scoring one of the PKs in the shootout to take his team to the final.

Unfortunately for the blog, I was running around and talking to people during much of the action, and don’t have much colorful commentary to put up about the games. Suffice to say, all three were highly entertaining, and thoroughly enjoyed by the hundreds of kids who came out to watch. There are also a few absolutely awesome videos of the final’s shootout and the celebrations, which I will be sure to post as soon as I’m back in the States tomorrow. I promise that it’s worth the wait.

PK's during the championship match.

My brother’s team ended up being the champions of the tournament (I promise there was no match fixing), and being so well liked by all the other kids in the village, was chosen to accept the trophy, which made me unbelievably happy. It was also making a huge statement by giving the trophy to a nonschool kid. Upon receiving the cup, the team and about a hundred other kids took a victory lap around the field and then back to the village as night fell, chanting what sounded like, “BE OH BE” (which roughly translates to, “GOAL AFTER GOAL”),  over and over again. The celebrations and chanting went well into the night, as the team paraded around the village with their followers to each household. Another emotional moment for me.

Exhausted and very pleased with how everything turned out in the end, I showered, ate dinner, and sat with Issa, Yacouba, Scott (who had just returned), Burama, Drew, and Sekou to discuss the events of the day. I expressed my gratitude to Issa for working so hard to accomplish the goals I had laid down for the tournament. As a gift, I gave Issa a Little Eagles jersey, which he excitedly accepted. I then surprised him by giving him the remaining notebooks, pens, and pencils from the tournament to use for his literacy program. He was delighted and thanked me by saying that a strong, wonderful partnership had been formed today, which I couldn’t agree more about.

The pandemonium that ensued after the final. Epic.

This day was a very good sign in many regards. This was a huge step for the prospect of future girl’s soccer programs in Dissan, and it is something we will be working on over the course of this year. This also cemented my trust in Issa, and created the partnership we needed to be able to run Little Eagles programs in the village. Another massive day for the Little Eagles!

-S

We're on the way to the airport so I'll finish up the blog when I'm back in the States! See you all soon!