Football therapy for needy kids

THE soccer World Cup is over and all the tears of joy and sorrow have been shed, but in the heart of Katutura football fever remains high.

Hundreds of children gather each Saturday to play their beloved game. The game is played on a sand field.There are no nets in the goalposts and the balls are old and do not have enough air in them.But this does not matter to the children who gather to play soccer or to cheer for their favourite teams, which sport original names such as ‘New York Cats’ or ‘Starlings’.”I wait the whole week for Saturday to come so that I can play soccer,” said Osmond Owoseb while all his friends nodded in agreement.Soccer is part of Catholic AIDS Action’s after-school activities for orphans and vulnerable children at the Bernhand Nordkamp Centre (BNC).Mary Beth Gallagher, a soccer player, coach and referee, started to play soccer with a handful of girls in 2005.The activity soon became very popular and now close to 500 children regularly gather at the Katutura Youth Sports Complex.This is often the only source of healthy recreation available to these children.”Playing sports together helps the children to develop teamwork, co-operation and mutual respect for each other,” says Gallagher.Tinah Rajaal, a social worker and centre manger at the BNC, said: “During the past months I have seen how children have grown in self-confidence and people skills.It is a beautiful sight to behold when children who would otherwise be considered vulnerable are now able to appropriately assert themselves.”It is clear from the joy on the children’s faces that all that matters is that they are able to play soccer and for a while at least they can just be children and forget about their troubles.The game is played on a sand field.There are no nets in the goalposts and the balls are old and do not have enough air in them.But this does not matter to the children who gather to play soccer or to cheer for their favourite teams, which sport original names such as ‘New York Cats’ or ‘Starlings’.”I wait the whole week for Saturday to come so that I can play soccer,” said Osmond Owoseb while all his friends nodded in agreement.Soccer is part of Catholic AIDS Action’s after-school activities for orphans and vulnerable children at the Bernhand Nordkamp Centre (BNC).Mary Beth Gallagher, a soccer player, coach and referee, started to play soccer with a handful of girls in 2005.The activity soon became very popular and now close to 500 children regularly gather at the Katutura Youth Sports Complex.This is often the only source of healthy recreation available to these children.”Playing sports together helps the children to develop teamwork, co-operation and mutual respect for each other,” says Gallagher.Tinah Rajaal, a social worker and centre manger at the BNC, said: “During the past months I have seen how children have grown in self-confidence and people skills.It is a beautiful sight to behold when children who would otherwise be considered vulnerable are now able to appropriately assert themselves.”It is clear from the joy on the children’s faces that all that matters is that they are able to play soccer and for a while at least they can just be children and forget about their troubles.