Even though classes weren’t in session this month, hundreds of boys and girls flocked to the school almost everyday, ready to play soccer. Volunteer coaches came too, and held practices for each of their teams. Together they make up the KYSA Banana Zone youth soccer league. The Black Mambas, the Kangaroos, the Black Stars…each kid belongs to a creatively-named team in his or her own age bracket.
Instead of leaving idle kids as a target for destructive activities during the holiday, Banana’s youth are improving soccer skills, and learning about the value of physical activity, teamwork, and commitment. Through KYSA, these players are developing character traits and habits they can apply on and off the field.
And they are putting their training to work. In the middle of the month, the teams were mobilized to give back to their community. On a chilly Saturday morning, the kids reported at the soccer fields, but this time they exchanged their soccer balls for trash bags and plastic gloves. They were suiting up for one of KYSA’s community clean-up days.
Spreading out all over the streets, packs of players picked up any scrap of trash they could find, leaving cleaner markets, schools, and roads in their wake. That morning, KYSA kids wearing blue and yellow community service uniforms, were bright spots in Banana Hill, offering not only splashes of color, but laughter, positive energy, and hope for a better living environment.
Before the holiday ended, KYSA players put their soccer training to good use, too. After weeks of practice, KYSA’s Banana Hill teams had a chance to show off their skills at the KYSA 7-Aside Soccer Tournament held on August 28th and 29th. Welcoming 25 teams from Banana Hill along with 10 from Kiambuu, the tournament was a huge success. Each team proved their merit as they competed in game after game, until finally all the but the best were eliminated. The winners in each age bracket met in the final matches held on Saturday afternoon to determine the champions.
At the award ceremony following the tournament, the best players and champion teams were recognized with certificates. But the sea of smiling faces made it clear that each of the participants was a winner in the end. Empowered with a new sense of accomplishment and pride, these players know what it means to have lives "transformed beyond the touchline". And with stories like this from Banana’s youth, the buzz about KYSA won’t be dying down anytime soon.