After a 6 hour flight we arrived in Accra in the early hours of Friday morning we met Amusu who was the director of rugby in the Greater Accra area. He gave us the outline of the day and gave us the challenge to surprise everyone by singing a Ghanaian rugby song with Dieter leading a chant where everyone responded with ‘Huu Ha’.
We packed into our minibus and headed for Katobabi school. As we approached the music was blaring out and we were greeted by the sight of hundreds of children from 10 different schools in the area all very hyper and ready to play some rugby. We were split into groups 2 or 3 to coach an individual year in a certain school and begun our first session of coaching. The abilities of the groups varied from knowing no rugby at all to some very competent players; both boys and girls. All the schools were then called into line where they were they were addressed by Gifty, the Ghana RFU president. They were led in both a Christian and a Muslim prayer. It was amazing to see how accepting the kids were of each other’s religions. We then went back to finish our coaching sessions in preparation for the tournament that all the schools took part in.
The competition consisted of the Under-14's teams and younger playing touch rugby and the older teams playing contact. We were utterly amazed by the condition of the pitch; it being made of what seemed like gravely red clay (with the largest pothole we have ever seen). If ever a team in the UK went away and saw that they were playing on a pitch in this condition they would have refused or been told no due to health and safety. The teams played 10 minute matches while we and the rest of the schools cheered from the side lines. During the matches we had the opportunity to talk to the kids and many of them seemed determined to show us their school.
We had our own little guided tour of their classroom which would seat classes of 54 kids. They were so proud of showing us their library which was like a store cupboard with 2 book shelves. Throughout the day there were always several of us surrounded by kids. They were utterly fascinated by us and genuinely excited to be spending time with us. Rhys introduced them to a new handshake, Dieter and Mr Street did some side line training and Kevin and Ray got everyone involved in a little bit of coaching on the side. We were engulfed by kids the entire day wanting to just to play, talk and just spend time with us. All the girls were fascinated with Miss Malik and Miss Juszczyk’s hair as they all have their hair cut very short. All of us were amazed at how ‘touchy feely’ all of the kids were. We were touched, stroked and even kissed at times. The kids were always so full of compliments. The kids were amazed in how different we looked compared to them.
Mr Dean’s attempt of taking a bag of tennis balls turned into a mass bundle as the kids were so excited to get a tennis ball. Mr Dean had to rescue a child from the bottom of a pile as they scrambled to get the balls. Throughout the day the kids were supplied with water but in little sealed plastic bags. We were fascinated by this. As the results were announced Mr Dean and Miss Malik awarded the captains of each team with a medals, John Fisher wristbands and gumshieds for the whole team with the unit school taking gold and being presented with the ‘John Fisher Ghana Cup’. It was announced that this event would become annual for these schools with is a proud moment for The John Fisher School. The day ended with Gifty awarding Mr Dean and Miss Malik with a traditional rugby scarf and thanking us for our help throughout the day.
As we were preparing to leave the students begun to break out in the Azonto dance. It was incredible watching them and we attempted to join in with the celebrations. As we sadly had to leave we were held back by pupils that just wouldn’t let go of our hands. Even after getting into the minibus we were surrounded by children. We headed back to the hotel for much needed shower before heading out for dinner in Accra Mall.
An inspiring day.
