Football in Rwanda

Brinson and Aiden have thoroughly enjoyed playing football (soccer) this quarter on the KICS middle school team.  Although we played around a bit on the pitch (soccer field) in China, this was a whole new experience for them.  Soccer is a huge sport in Africa; actually it’s a huge sport everywhere outside of North America.  Children begin playing as they begin walking, and one can see ‘balls’, made of all types of materials, being kicked about in the streets, lots, and yards all over the city of Kigali.

KICS 2015 Middle School A Team

 The popularity of the sport means that KICS needs two middle school teams, A (varsity) and B (junior varsity).  For comparison, the high school boys’ basketball team had about eight players.  So, yes, football is king.  After a few weeks of preseason training, Brinson and Aiden both made the A team.  However, Aiden lost his spot as a substitute when he broke his wrist one game into the season.  Brinson held down the right midfield position for the entire season and made tremendous strides learning the game and honing his skills.  Pretty much all the teams KICS plays are comprised entirely of Africans, and although half of KICS’ team is African, the other half is mzungu (moo-zun-goo; meaning: ‘white person’) which means soccer isn’t their natural sport.  And which also means they lost nearly all their games. :0)