More Than Futbol Belize: Day 7, Luke to Hospital and Last Day of Camp!

Kevin is always the first one up… a VERY early riser. We are talking “watch the sunrise” early. This morning, while the rest of us were still sleeping, Kevin woke up, made some coffee and then eventually when Luke woke up, Kevin was up for a big surprise. Luke said, “I need to go to the clinic.” Still feeling very sick, Luke knew that something was wrong, very wrong. By the time I woke up, Kevin had just arrived back to the condo and said that Luke was still feeling sick and he took him to the clinic. Now, the clinic had him on fluids and were treating him for being severely dehydrated as a result of his food poisoning. The plan was to get Luke hydrated while we ate breakfast, got ready for camp, and then when we headed into camp we would drop Luke a golf cart so that after he got patched up at the clinic he could stop into camp to at least say by to the kids. 

Luckily, we have an app called WhatsApp that allows us all to communicate with each other wherever we have wifi and makes it easy to stay in touch with family and friends from home. Hooked up to the wifi at our condo, my phone dinged with a message. You can imagine my absolute shock when I got a text from my father back in the US saying, “Luke is being flown to the mainland. You guys need to get to the clinic and figure out wants going on.” This is at the same time that we planned to leave for camp. So, my other brother, Scott, went with Dr. Carol and Kevin to the clinic while the rest of us went to get camp started. It being our last day, we were expecting our largest showing of kids and thats exactly what we got- thirty 5 and 6 year olds and 70 older kids. 

On our way into town Phil and I talked about the situation with Luke for a little and then I tried to make some light conversation. This may have been one of the most difficult experiences ever for me. I was tearing up under my sunglasses so worried about my brother, not being at the clinic or in Belize City with him was eating me alive. Instead, I was going to run the last day of camp and depending on Scott to get all of the information we needed and make the right decisions for Luke. I don’t know if I have ever felt that scared- my baby brother gets flown to the mainland hospital? *Deep Breath*

Once Phil and I pulled up to the school, I asked him to get the little ones started in their small groups with the other coaches while I ran into the school to call the clinic. They put Scott on the phone who did not have any new information. I ran back out to the field, put my coaching face on, and got ready to have the most fantastic last day possible for these kids.

We played a few different types of tag to encourage "working together." We played chain tag and under the bridge (freeze tag although you crawl under the frozen person's legs to unfreeze them. Finally, we broke the kids up and played a fun scrimmage at the end. As we were wrapping up the younger kids, Scott, Kevin, and Dr. Carol pulled up to the field and we all headed over to the main field immediately while the other coaches formed the coaching chain. This gave Scott and I a few minutes to mobilize and form a plan. We called my father back in the states and planned that while I finished out the last day of camp, Scott and Kevin would leave early and get the last ferry out to the main land. 

When the kids arrived there was a buzz in the air. They knew they were getting trophies and everyone was talking about it. Trophies and Soccer balls and what they might get to take home. We brought the kids together, divided them up into groups, and then sent them out to the field. Today each group got to play 2 stations. The small-sided scrimmage station and World Cup. These are the two most popular stations from camp this year and we wanted the kids to get plenty of chance to play their favorite games on the last day! The kids had such a blast, they were cheering, laughing, working hard, and working together! It was so great to see everyone having so much fun on the last day. After the stations, we brought the kids in to make teams for the scrimmage and Kevin and Scott said goodbye. The kids were so sad because everyone wants to be on coach Scott's team for the scrimmage and everyone loves playing with coach Kevin- there's always a good chance he will hoist someone up on his shoulders! Lots of hugs and goodbyes and one big group photo and off went Coach Scott and Kevin. 

Jose (We call him Ronaldo)- MVP

We split the kids up into 3 teams and started the scrimmage- first to score a goal wins. We played for a about 30 minutes and the kids had a fantastic time. At the end of the scrimmage, we brought the group in for trophies and they were so excited. We gave an MVP out for the boys and girls and a most improved player award. Arzenia worked hard all week long and was especially intent on learning and understanding new moves from the Coach Mel and Nikki. Jose was the best in camp last year but due to his attitude we could not give him the award last year. This year he was a great camper. He focused, always paid attention, even helped the coaches get the rest of the group settled at times. Not only did he deserve this award, but we were especially excited to give it to him after the huge improvement he made from the year before. Finally, Joseph won the most improved player award. 3 years ago he was one of the worst behaved kids in camp. He was throwing rocks at other kids, starting fights, using profanity, even hanging out with a drug dealer that was looming around camp that year. I really feared for his future. We were so proud to see such a positive change in him in the past 3 years. He listened well, worked hard, and had a bright smile on his face all week! 

We all said our goodbyes and I was very sad that Hosan did not come to the field today. He had been bothering me all week long to have some of my peanuts and, of course, I did not give him any. You can't just treat one camper without treating them all. So we had bought him some surprise peanuts but then he never came :-( I know that he wanted to be there so whatever kept him must have been important. I just hope that everything was ok! 

Saying goodbye is so hard. We have such a positive impact on the kids during the week and I know that if we had soccer every day after school all year long, they would be there. They get attached to us and we get attached to them and then we have to leave them to whatever situations they are facing. It's heart-breaking. Leaving the field on that last day was heart-breaking. 

As soon as we pulled away there was this terrible feeling of having to leave the kids then coupled with worrying about my brother. Luckily, we had heard back from the hospital that all of his bloodwork came back OKAY! Even though they wanted to keep him overnight for observation, it looked like he was going to be okay. 

Next on the agenda, my meeting with Mr. Coba. We found Mr. Coba back at the school and we talked at length about a league for the kids on the island, what that would look like, how it would run. There is always the temptation to start big because you know there is enough interest but it's so important to start small and have a very WELL RUN league and build from there. So we decided to start with 1 girls bracket and 2 boys brackets, each with 4 teams for a total of 12 teams. We will start the league just for Holy Cross students and the 12 teams will field about 100 players. If the first year goes well, we will look to add another school in and double the size. If the second year goes well, we will add the third school on the island. From there we can add high school division, adult division, even a little kickers division some time in the future. How exciting! So we are aiming for 500 kids in the league in 5 years and to have a full blown soccer program for all ages with different program options within 10 years. If all goes well, the sky is the limit and I am so excited to be on this journey! 

Phil has been around LTRC soccer for years and it was very helpful to have him in the meeting with Mr. Coba. Phil was able to offer information about how the leagues run at home and support me in my proposal to Mr. Coba- that the league I presented and the starting size, was appropriate for the beginning of this. 

At one point I turned to Mr. Coba and said, "We would like the name of the league to me 'More Than Futbol.'" If you ever have the opportunity to meet Mr. Coba, you will learn that he has the best poker face I've ever seen. So when I said this to him it was impossible to gauge his reaction. He just sat quietly for a moment and then said, "I'm starting to feel it!.... we can make a banner that says More Than Futbol and put two soccer balls on it with kids playing soccer and we can hang it up for the start of the league." I was over the moon when Mr. Coba showed this enthusiasm! We wrote a schedule for the league... one that would last 8 weeks and include quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a Championship/Third place game. Mr. Coba said that with our trophy donations we had enough for second and third place but we should get first place trophies. Phil stepped in and said that he would donate the trophies! Wow, thanks Phil! 

This is the start of something big. I can feel it! 

By the time we started heading back, it was almost 7:30. We pulled up to find Scott and Kevin still at the condo. Turns out they weren't able to make the last ferry and instead had been on the phone for hours with American Airlines trying to switch Luke's flights so he could leave tomorrow. We showered up and after 4 hours on the phone with the Airlines, Luke was set to go with the latest time out and earliest arrival- only 7 hours of total travel time. They planned to head out on the first ferry in the morning to get Luke from the hospital to the airport and on his flight home. Luke was doing much better at this point, still very sick, still not feeling well but thanks to the good care he got at the Belize City hospital, Luke was improving. 

Everyone was tuckered out by a long, mentally exhausting day. The group was still in great spirits, but with the amount of drama we had experienced this day, it may as well been 3 days in one. We decided to keep it low key and went to Lone Star, our neighborhood restaurant. Great food and great people. Marc, the owner, has been very supportive of the program and has kept in touch via Facebook through the year. At dinner, we even convinced Heimy, the restaurant manager, to coach one of the teams in our league! That's 1 coach down and 11 more volunteers to go! Dinner was fantastic and such a great opportunity to reminisce about the week... there were so many stories to tell and we loved hearing everyone's stories. We even figured out the "Air Drop" on iPhones and spent a lot of time sharing pictures of each other that we had all taken. 

Painted on with many other 
murals at Holy Cross School

We had a really phenomenal coaching staff this week. We really were a "TEAM" and the team spirit in the coaching staff was present all week long. Every person was such a great Ambassador for More Than Futbol. Often times, I overheard someone from the coaching staff talking to the locals about what we were doing there. It was great to see the enthusiasm and all of the coaches promoting the program! Thank you for being awesome Coaches! ... Zach, Katie, Phil, Dave, Mel, Nikki, Kevin, Luke, and Scott! Thank you also to Krista who traveled down with Dr. Carol to focus on medical work but did come many times to soccer camp and help us work with the kids! Thank you also to Dr. Carol for the great work that you do when you come down to Belize! 

Tomorrow, we have the day off to recuperate. Kevin and Scott will be taking care of Luke and then we will all fly out on Sunday. One more blog to come on our last couple of days and then I'm going to write a BLOOPERS blog! I can't wait... we are even going to have a "Nikki Moments" section.... dun dun dun. 

Thanks for following the blog! 

Good night from Belize! 

Belize 2015: Day 6... Swimming with sharks! 2 days of camp left!

Early morning wake up call today to go Snorkeling! This morning we headed out to Hol Chen and Shark-Ray Alley- 2 of the best snorkeling spots in Belize! We walked over to the tour offices and got fit for our fins and masks. Once everyone had their gear we walked to dock and boarded the boat with our Captain, Gavino! Gavino is both our captain and tour guide on this excursion. First, we went to Hol Chen. Holy Chen, is a marine reserve with all kinds of coral, and different kinds of fish. We all got in the water and although Zach gave it a real chance, he did not feel comfortable in the water and swallowed a little sea water right away so we loaded him back up on the boat and started on the snorkeling tour. Gavino showed us all kinds of fish, live conch, a huge green moray eel, and a ton more. It was really fun to see all of the life on the coral reef! 

Next stop: Shark-Ray Alley. Okay, this is my spot. I love Shark Ray Alley- before we even got there I already had my fins back on and ready to go! I jumped in as soon as Gavino gave us the go ahead and I landed right into a group of maybe 10 sharks. SO COOL! These are only nurse sharks- pretty docile. Everyone jumped into the water and we swam along side a ton of sharks and giant sting rays. So fun. Gavino came in last and then took us on a little shark tour. I couldn’t believe it when he actually let us pet one of the sharks! It felt kind of like wet sand paper? I guess that’s a good way to describe it. The shark was kind of thrashing around a little bit, clearly ready to say goodbye. We swam on and then Gavino grabbed another shark! We all started petting it again... then, I couldn’t believe it when Gavino asked if I wanted to hold the shark! This shark was maybe 4 or 5 feet long and Gavino handed him right over telling me to hold the shark’s top fin and then hug it with my other arm. It was so cool! I held the shark for only a moment before it really started wiggling. Then it started to swim away…. but I didn’t quite let go of the fin right away so I got a short little ride…. which was so cool. I’ve always wanted to take a ride on a shark! 

Snorkeling was awesome today and it was all over by 11am, which still gave us a couple of hours to relax before we had to head to camp. Everyone got back, some hit the pool, some showered- those seem to have been the 2 preferred methods of body cleansing this week. haha. Almost everyone in the group bypassed a shower at some point and just jumped in the pool. Phil, Zach, Katie, and I, decided to go into town a little earlier to pick up some lunch on the way. We stopped at My Secret Deli and got the stewed chicken, rice and beans and smoothies! It was delicious…. the perfect meal after snorkeling and before a big day at camp! We spent lunch telling ghost stories… Phil had one of the best ghost stories I’ve heard. Those paranormal shows have nothing on his friend! 

After lunch, we headed over to the field for camp. The whole group ended up doing different things for lunch and we all met at the school. Today we are down a coach again! :-(  When we woke up this morning Luke was still feeling pretty sick. What a bummer for him and a bummer for the kids. Looks like he was out for the entire day again. Even though he was still feeling pretty sick it looked like it was at least working its way through his system. 

Before long, the kids came running out of school and over to the field and the coaches did a great job of getting everyone organized quickly into small groups for passing, playing small games, learning moves, and getting some great individual attention. Today we did some soccer relay races and all of the kids really enjoyed them. After the first round of relay races we asked the kids, “What is Teamwork?” “How can we be a good teammate?” We encouraged the kids to cheer for each other and give high fives. We told the kids we wanted to see which team could win the relay and which team could cheer the loudest! Before the next round we had each team huddle up and come up with a super-cool team cheer! After all of the teams did their cheers, we had one final race. It was good to see the kids working together. We really want to encourage them to be good teammates and learn how to work together. Finally, we split the kids up into 2 teams and played a big game at the end. They love the big game at the end because they get to run around all together and because the coaches play! 

As the little kids ended, we made the coaching chain and prepared for the older kids. We had a huge turn out today and being 1 coach down was definitely a concern as we went out to the field. Luckily, everything went really well. We had a shooting station, small-sided station, world cup station, and I did a skills station. We also separated the boys and girls again today. 

I knew the skills station would be tough because the kids want to just play but it is important that we teach them some skills and, especially, the discipline to pay attention, work hard, and receive the benefit in the big fun game of knowing some new moves. The older boys did pretty well listening, the middle-aged group did a good job listening, and then once the little kids got to me, chaos erupted at my station. I knew they wouldn’t be able to do a dribbling skills today so I played Head-It, Catch-It, which is a game that all of the kids enjoy. I told one of the boys that he was “being a VERY good boy” because the rest of the boys were so rambunctious. After they overheard me saying it they all started running up and saying, “Coach Ali, am I a good boy?!?!?!” They all wanted an answer so I went around as they asked and said, “Yes, you are a good boy!”or “You are MOSTLY good” and then to a couple of the boys I said, “No, you have not been a good boy... but will you try to be a good boy for the rest of today and tomorrow?”... and they said yes! and it actually worked! They tried for the rest of the time to get along and work together! After about 20 minutes with these crazy kids I ended the stations and we set up the big game! Because it was pretty hot today and the kids took a long water break so it took a little longer to break the kids into teams, we did not start the big game until 4:50, only 10 minutes before camp is supposed to end!  Camp is supposed to end at 5:00 so the kids have plenty of time to walk home before it gets dark at 5:30. I let the kids play until 5:10… the latest possible time and even that is pushing it.  

It’s hard to believe that there is only one more day of camp left. Many of the kids were asking if tomorrow was the last day, if we would be back next week, and when we were leaving. We told the kids that we would be leaving on Sunday but that we would be back next year for another camp! Then the kids started asking if we were going to have camp on Saturday. I felt guilty saying no even though we would still be here. Saturday is a rest day for the coaches after the week of camp before the travel day on Sunday. We even had some of the group heading out on Saturday. I could sense that the kids were beginning to get sad that we were leaving soon... and this started to make me sad as well :-( 

We said our goodbyes and went back to shower up. Today, the plan is to shower quickly and head back in town so that we can check out the different street vendors that sell all kinds of cool jewelry and hand-crafted wood carvings, etc. We had fun walking around… I spent some time with my dear friend Paulina. Paulina is such a gentle soul and so tiny (I'm only 5'6"). She had a son at Holy Cross when we first started doing our camps up there. I have kept in touch with her via Facebook since I first came down to Belize and each year. Over time, we have formed a really nice friendship. I also had the chance to see one of the original campers, Rafael. His mother runs a jewelry store in town and I always stop by and buy a few things from her each year. As I started to catch up with Rafael, I asked him, “Are you still in school?” I was disappointed to find out that he had an incident in the high school and they would no longer allow him to attend. The next option is for Rafael to attend high school in Belize City (90 minute ferry ride) which means he would likely live in Belize City with family or friends while he finished school.
His Mom really wants him to do this but the problem is, Rafael wants to help his mother and help take care of his 6-year-old brother. His mother has a ton of jewelry that she needs to cart into town every day for her jewelry stand where she works from 7am-9pm at a table in the town center. After we talked about it for a little bit, Rafael promised me that he would go back to school, shook my hand, and I told him that when he graduated I would take him out for a Lobster Dinner. Rafael is one of my favorite players from our first camp and it’s been so great to be able to see him each year when we travel back… we have stayed in touch with a few of our high school players from the first year but Rafael is particularly easy to track down since his Mom is always working in the center of town. I really want to see him succeed. I believe that he can. We are Facebook friends now and I’m going to keep tabs on him (and he knows it)! I bought a necklace and matching earrings from his mother and then asked, "Could you make me a bracelet that matches?" Rafael said he would make me one as a gift! Very touching. 

We walked around town for a bit and then we headed over to Waraguma for dinner. Waraguma has two things that has made it a hot spot on the island. #1 they sell papusas. If you’ve never had one, you have to try one. It’s an El Salvadorian dish- basically, it’s like the dough of a tortilla (like what your Chipotle Burrito is in) and then they take whatever you want (chicken, cheese, octopus, lobster, etc. etc.) and they put it in the center of the dough and then form the dough over it so all it looks like is a pancake, then they cook it. #2 they have the lobster burrito! It cost $13.50 and has a whole lobster tail inside of it along with beans, rice, and stewed cabbage (?). It’s very good. I have to say that on this particular night it was okay… but we still enjoyed the dinner! For almost everyone at the table, it was their first papusa! Someone ought to start a papusa restaurant in Baltimore… if you read this and steal my idea, I  want a cut! 

One thing that has been unique and neat about this trip is that we have eaten the majority of our meals together as one big group. Usually, when dinner rolls around everyone is on a different schedule… some want to go into town, some want to eat at the condo, some want to go out to eat nearby. This time, everyone was on the same page most nights of the trip. We often spent a good portion of the dinners reminiscing about our day at camp, our favorite campers, crazy and funny things that happened, etc. It was fun to hear everyone’s stories every night. During camp, we are all in charge of different stations and we all have different experiences with different kids. 

After Waraguma, we headed over to the chicken drop. There is a bar that has a big fenced in gambling board. The board has a grid of squares with numbers inside and you can bet on a number. They drop a chicken into the cage and the first number to get pooped on wins! As we walked up they had JUST finished the chicken drop. What a bummer! Carol, Phil, and the kids went back to the condo while the rest of us followed the music down the beach! As we walked up to this beach bar that looked like a crazy dance party, we were surprised to find that it was completely filled with Holy Cross volunteers. haha. Volunteers unite! Another group of college-aged students was at Holy Cross working with the kids in the classrooms this week and they were having a good ole time at Señor Marlins! We danced around a little bit but faded fast. We made it back to the condo by 11:00 and I crashed so hard. I think the early morning snorkeling trip really tired us out!

Tomorrow is the last day of camp :-( 

Good night from Belize!  

Belize 2015: Day 5

Unlike yesterday, today we woke up to some BEAUTIFUL weather. We were so happy that after a morning of rain, we could have some nice, hot, sunny weather during our morning down time. Some of the TEAM went out to breakfast while others ate in and then we all relaxed at the tables in the Palapa, by the pool, out on the pier, etc. This morning, Luke woke up very sick with food poisoning. I didn't realize just how sick he was until he told me he couldn't coach today. Coach Luke is beloved by all of the campers and he loves them all back. If Luke is not able to coach then he is VERY sick. Still, Luke did not fuss very much, just laid down for the day and tried to let it pass.

For the rest of the group, it was a nice and relaxing morning... Until SUDDENLY and seemingly out of nowhere, it was a torrential downpour. Nooooo! We were supposed to leave for camp in less than an hour! Even though island rain is supposed to be quick-passing, the 11 hours of rain Monday night worried me that it could repeat today. 30 minutes passed, still raining. I told the volunteers that we would go rain or shine to at least tell the kids that we WANT to have practice even if we can't. Then right before we were about to leave, the sky cleared up and the sun came out. From then on out, it was a BEAUTIFUL DAY! 

We arrived at the school and a RUSH of Infant 1 and Infant 2 students came running over to us. Immediately, we got into the groove with the entire coaching staff. 30 kids is a lot different than the 10 kids we had yesterday. All of the coaches grabbed 2 or 3 kids and started passing with them, teaching them moves, and having fun in small groups before we played any type of larger game.Very small groups with each coach is so great for the kids to get a lot of attention and for the coaches to get an opportunity to make some special connections with the kids. What these kids really need is someone to believe in them, to encourage them, to love on them. When we have 2 or 3 kids to each coach, they really get some great attention and individual care. As always we ended the little ones with a big scrimmage and at the end we tell them, "If it's okay with your parents, you can come over to the field with us to play more futbol!"

Several of the kids have been taking us up on our offer this week. Enough, that they get their own age group with about 10-15 kids! One of the kids that never misses the opportunity for more soccer is Jose... if you've seen any of the promotional videos for More Than Futbol: Belize, then you know Jose- he is the one that blows you kisses! We love him :-) Another child that has been coming over every day (first to arrive, last to leave style), is Chloe. Chloe is a very special child with a huge light inside of her. She loves coming to play and seems to really need the extra love and attention. I talked to her about "More Than Futbol" and why we named the camp that. We took a small interview in this video where she lists "getting a drink of water" and "using the bathroom" as exciting parts of Futbol Camp. The circumstances that our kids are coming from are tough and camp becomes a fun place where they are loved and cared for, even in small ways that we would typically take for granted. 

We made our chain of coaches all the way over to the field and I went ahead with a few coaches to set up and greet the kids as they arrived. When I looked up and saw a big group walking in all together it  really caught my attention. Usually as they walk over they are more dispersed... whats going on here. As the kids got closer I saw a SNAKE. They were holding a snake and walking right towards me. Well, I am terrified of snakes so I said, "Stay away from me with that snake" which only made them speed up. This turned into a "Chase Coach Ali with the snake." All I could think was that, at the very least, I could outrun these kids... and I would if they kept chasing me! I'd run all the way back to town if I needed to! I yelled, "Coach Kevin, do something!" If any of the coaches are willing to pick up a snake, its Coach Kevin. So he stopped the kids, grabbed the snake and, with a mob of kids following him, he carried it far away to the bushes and let it go. Shew!!!! From this point on I really watched where I walked. Apparently, there are some snake holes in the bushes by the field? :-/

Once all of the kids settled down, we brought them in, divided into groups by age and got started with FUTBOL camp! We kept the same theme with all of the stations. Coach Nikki took the girls group on the side. Coach Scott did trapping out of the air. Coach Phil and Mel did shooting. Coach Dave did small-sided. Kevin and I did crossing and finishing. During the start of our drill, Kevin was standing behind the goal helping with the balls right next to all of the bushes. After about 10 minutes, Kevin came running out with bites all over his legs yelling, "The Ants are killing me over there! They're all over me!" Turns out that by cutting the field yesterday, we really disturbed the homes of MANY FIRE ANTS! Kevin had them even coming out of his shoes! Aside from Kevin freaking out, the kids were so cute- they came over to Kevin in a small group and started killing all of the ants on his legs and feet squishing them on his legs! The fire ants continued to be a problem for the coaches and the kids all day. We tried to keep them away from the bushes as much as we could. 

If it wasn't the fire ants then it was the burrs! You know those things that you occasionally step on at the beach and they hurt so bad! Well, the kids would step on a burr, reach down and pull it out like nothing, and keep running around in bare feet. It is crazy how tough these kids are!

All of the stations went very well and when it was time to break up the teams for scrimmaging, I was back in charge. When the boys took charge yesterday, they were all complaining after camp that the teams were not fair. Oh boys...     So I evened out the teams and the scrimmage went very well and was very fair. No complaints. We started the game a little earlier today so we got to play a longer scrimmage, which the kids really enjoyed. 
On the way back from camp we stopped and Robin's and I got some food. I was so hungry, I knew I couldn't wait until everyone showered and left for dinner. Robin's is a traditional Belizean chichen, beans, and rice. Robin's has a secret sauce that is incredible and his famous on the island for their flavorful chicken! You can get a whole meal at Robins for $8.00! 

When we arrived back, Dave and I decided to try Find My iPhone to see if anyone tried to use it. As soon as they do the phone locks and a message comes up asking them to return the phone. We were excited to see that someone had tried to use it and we could see exactly where they lost it. At this point, we didn't know if it was stolen but I had already mentally committed myself to the thought that my iPhone was gone forever. The one positive thing was that the place someone tried to use this phone was even farther out of town than we already were. This means it was likely someone staying at or working at a resort. So we called the South island security and they took us to the place on the map where the phone popped up and after a little CSI work, we found the caretaker for a property who had it! His son had found it on the road between 2 large puddles! I was so excited, I could not believe at all that my phone was found! Yay! 

After our phone excursion through Crocodile Country, we all showered up and headed into town. At this point, the town was all closed up and the only place we found open to eat was a pizza place. Lucky for us, this pizza was the real deal. Incredible! The boys wanted to hop around town so the girls took a separate golf cart and had a really nice dinner together. It was fun to have a girls night out- the only one of the week! After pizza, we headed home and turned in early. We need to get a lot of rest because when we wake up tomorrow at 7am we are going snorkeling with SHARKS!!!! 

Good night from Belize!

Belize 2015: Day 4

The first day is the most difficult day of the week because we have to create boundaries for the kids. Because they are not used to organized sports and stringent rules, the kids tend to retaliate a little bit. Once we get through the first day, the kids acclimate to the program and things begin to run smoother. After a night of howling wind and rain that would rival a small hurricane, we weren't surprised to wake up to a steady downpour. We don't want to lose any day of the week but if we had to lose one day of the week, the worst day to lose would be the second day. We would lose our "creating boundaries" momentum and then have the struggle all over again on Wednesday. I was so thankful when the rain started to dissipate around 11am. 

We had a nice lazy morning hanging out inside but now all of the volunteers got a little outdoor downtime (pool, pier, etc) before we went to the school. At 1:10 we loaded up the carts and headed to the school to begin our program with the youngest aged kids: Infant 1 and Infant 2- equivalent of 1st and 2nd grade in the US. I ran into the school to use the bathroom before we started and on my way out the kids started asking, "Is there futbol again today?!?!" ... "Of Course there is," I responded, "we have it all week after school!" A couple of minutes later the bell rang to end school and the kids started running over to the field. Due to the rain, the bad puddle on the field (that never seems to evaporate), turned into more of a small lake, making it impossible for the kids to cross. Coach Phil started collecting whatever drift wood he could find to make a bridge for the kids to cross! It was a little improvisation, but it worked! Here in Belize, if you can't improvise, you are not gonna make it. Life is "go with the flow" so if you want to introduce any type of organized activity the key is to go in with a plan and then roll with the punches and improvise. 

Lydia told us that a lot of kids didn't come to school today. Because the majority of kids walk considerable distance from home to school, it's difficult for them to attend when the rain is really bad because they would be completely drenched by the time they got to school only to sit in soaking wet clothes all day. This actually ended up working out really well for the little ones. Usually we have up to 30 kids but with only a small group of 10 today we were able to play games with the little ones where they all get their own ball. The favorite game of the day for them was "Musical Soccer Balls." The coaches formed a circle that the kids had to stay inside of and then we played music- during the music the kids have to dribble around but as soon as the music stops they have to sit on their ball. The last one to sit on his or her ball has to give their ball to one of the coaches in the circle and then join the circle. It worked out great, the kids had a lot of fun and we were able to play a few rounds!
After the little games, we broke up the kids into 2 teams and set the field up for a scrimmage. This is the time for the kids to go crazy, run around, and have fun. We have the coaches playing on the teams with the kids to help keep the game under control and protect the exterior edges of the field where there are several of puddles from the rain. These puddles are not as dangerous as the puddles back in the San Mateo neighborhood, but we are close enough to the neighborhood to still be pretty dirty/bacteria-filled. We try to keep the kids out of them as much as possible but sometimes as soon as the ball goes in there the kids go diving in after the ball before we get a chance to slow them down.
Before we knew it, the 1-hour sesh with the little ones was over and we created the coaching chain all the way to the field to make sure the kids got their safely and to create a presence for them right after they came out of school to say, "We are here and ready to play FUTBOL with you!"
They came running out of the school and were so excited to see that a lot of the kids who were not able to attend school, still came to play soccer. We had a great turn out for camp and after setting up the stations on the big field we were ready to rock! Dave was doing the "Steal the Bacon" Station, Phil and Luke had shooting, Kevin and I ran a station where the kids had to pass 3 times before they could shoot (with 2 defenders and a keeper) , and Mel and Nikki worked with the girls. We kept the girls completely separate from all of the boys and the stations. They were much more comfortable and content to have their own area and own drills with the female coaches.
Before we could start we had to break up all of the kids into teams for the day. This is usually the toughest part of the day. We have a lot of kids that pay very good attention but there are plenty that want to go with their friends or prefer one group over another. We simply divide them up into groups by age: Infant 1 and 2, Standard 1 and 2, Standard 3 and 4, and Standard 5 and 6). After sending them to their coaches I began to hear kids saying complaining that kids were sneaking into different age groups. Eventually I sort it out and had all of the kids in the correct group. This is something that will become easier for me during the week once I get more familiar with which kids are in which grades.
Once we got the stations started, they went great!  We spent a lot of time encouraging the kids and promoting the theme of camp "Teamwork!" "Work together!" Time flew by today- the kids' behavior was fantastic and the stations went smoothly.

A few minutes after we started we were so excited to see Mr. Coba show up with a weed-whacker! The field was so overgrown with weeds (knee-high in some parts) that sometimes in the scrimmage yesterday we could not even see the ball! Mr. Coba went to town and spent almost an hour clearing off a HUGE part of the field. This was fantastic. The kids were so happy! We had so much more space to work with! Mr. Coba is the Director of Athletics for the school. He was there on my first trip in 2012 but has not been there since because he has been studying on the mainland to further his teaching career. Mr. Coba is very involved in all of the school's sports team (voluntarily) and loves futbol! We were so grateful that he volunteered his time to come out and help us clear the field for camp. This is a mark of how much we have progressed with people on the island. The first year of camp, we had very little interest from the teaching staff at school, but now that we have forged a relationship over time, people seem much more willing to get involved and help out.

Okay, back to futbol... wait not yet... another tangent: We missed Scott for part of camp because he had to get a couple of the girls to their ferry home. Apparently, there are some kids who take a boat into the island for school every day! They must be coming from a nearby island that doesn't have a school. A couple of the kids came to play futbol with us and then lost track of time and missed their boat home. Luckily, Scott figured it out in time because if they missed their second boat, there would be no way off the island for them to get home.

Scott made it back for the scrimmage which was good because it seems that all of the kids want to be on his team! The  guys did a great job rallying their teams- we had Dave and Phil coach one, Scott
coach another, and Luke and Kevin coach the third. Katie and Zach (the two Junior coaches), also participated in the scrimmages. Katie with the girls scrimmage and Zach jumped on one of the boys teams. With 3 teams we have 2 play until one scores or the game exceeds 8 minutes and then we rotate teams. The kids love this and today was very special because we had a huge field cleared to play on! Prior to the game starting up and Mr. Coba was cooling down from all of the hard weed-whacking work, I had an opportunity to talk to him for a bit about the futbol program. I asked the coaches to organize the scrimmage so I could continue the conversation.

Here on the island, anything that you want to get done (for the most part) needs to be face-to-face. Which means I have a small window each year to network and make strides forward for More Than Futbol. Mr. Coba was very interested in getting involved and I told him my vision for a league on the island to help give the kids more organized and more consistent sport presence in their lives on the island. The majority of sports programs available on the island are 1-day events. A 1-day futbol tournament, a 1-day basketball tournament. There is nothing in the form of a league where the kids get to play 1 game every weekend. With volunteer coaches, we have an incredible opportunity to have weekly interaction with the kids where they get to check-in with their coach (mentor), play futbol, and learn valuable life lessons with the game that we all love. To have a consistent presence, over time, with these kids would make an incredible difference in their lives. Mr. Coba seemed to like the idea. He said that he has a lot of connections and would like to help take charge of the league on the island. He asked if I would be able to meet with him on Friday to discuss the organization of this league after camp was over and I was over the moon to accept. I knew that, with patience, God would point me in the right direction to run this league on the island. It's been in the plan since we started and officially in the works for over a year. I'm just so thankful that I now have this connection to make it possible. Mr. Coba knows the town council, he can get us a field for free. He knows all of the kids and can organize the teams fairly and promote the league at the school!

We wrapped up camp for the day. Very smooth, very fun, and an enormous improvement from the first day in behavior and boundaries. The kids were on the track now. I know that the first day is hard and I expect, like every year, we will have the kids settled and doing well by the second-to-third day. BUT,  I have to admit, even though this is a pretty dependable pattern, I was still worried that it would be a struggle through the week with this large and rowdy camp. I was so happy to see today be so mellow and fun and easy. Yay!

I was also very excited to see Hosan come to camp today. He was one of our most poorly behaved kids in the first year and now he is one of my favorite campers! He is facing a tough life... I won't expand on that, but when it comes to tough, his is about as tough as it gets. Yet, he came to camp with a HUGE smile on his face, happy to see me and the rest of the coaches. I have particularly taken a special interest in him over the past few years so having him come out to camp today was very exciting... especially, after I did not see him yesterday.

After camp, we all came back to the condo and hung out around the pool, eventually showered, and headed back into town to Caramba. Today is my Mom's birthday and I have to miss it every year as it always falls on the week in Belize. For anyone who doesn't know my mother is known to me as "Mama Bear" and we are super-close so I am always missing her and thinking of her on this day. With the Caramba WiFi, Scott, Luke and I FaceTimed Mama Bear, sang happy birthday and took turns talking to her. Even though we are missing her birthday, we still have something special planned for when we get back :-). It was fun to have 3 of her 4 kids here facetiming together. Technology is truly amazing! :-)
Caramba is one of my favorite restaurants and a must-stop at least once during the week because they serve their seafood with the option of a Mayan/Native-Belizean sauce. It's spicy and nothing like anything we have at home. I look forward to it every year and it absolutely did not disappoint. We had a great "team"-dinner tonight. It's been really cool to see all o the coaches get on board with the concept of "Teamwork" this week. So much, in fact, that we started calling the coaching staff a team and whenever we are doing anything, even dishes or carrying equipment, we call it "teamwork." We have an awesome coaching staff this week and its been really cool to see everyone, despite being on the #1 ranked island in the world, still be all about the kids and the camp- MORE THAN FUTBOL!

After dinner, Carol and Phil went back to the condo with the kids while the rest of the group headed over to Fido's for... KARAOKE night! The DJ was so excited to see such a big group of people walk in for Karaoke in a relatively dead bar. After we took over and sang maybe 15 songs, I don't think the DJ was enjoying it as much anymore. LOL. Nikki started the night off and even though she does not have a voice that some might call "Pleasing to the ear", she definitely has the loudest. What she lacked in traditional vocal skill, she made up for with pure positive energy. haha. And boy did she use it for multiple songs. Between all of us we covered the spectrum from Sonny and Cher to Beastie Boys, to Queen, 311 and Whitney Houston. I went up second and sang "Whoomp there it is." Most people don't know that I can rap. While it might not sound like the "traditional" sort of rap that you are used to, the important thing is that I can say all of the words to the beat of the song. Add some dancing in and I was pretty out of breath by the 3rd verse. Great night, fun memories, good bonding experience for the TEAM! :-)

I was worried that I had dropped my phone somewhere earlier in the night but it wasn't until I got back that I was absolutely sure that my phone was gone. We looked everywhere, no luck. I was so bummed out. Dave was very helpful in looking for it, as was the rest of the group. Eventually, Dave and I used the Find My iPhone app to lock my phone in case anyone found it and to post on my phone a message on how to get it back to us to receive a reward. What a bummer. Oh well, it's just a phone. Nothing we can do about it now unless the Find My iPhone app works.

Good Night from Belize!

Belize 2015: Day 3, First Day of Camp!

I wish I could have slept soundly until 7:30 this morning, but my early mornings from Nicaragua have me getting up a bit earlier. Nevertheless, I didn't get out of bed until 7:30. When I did, I was excited to see the condo buzzing with energy! All of the volunteers were already awake, getting ready, making breakfast! We made eggs, had juice, and then at 8:10 we loaded up the carts to head to the school! When we arrived to the school, I walked into the main office where I waited in a Monday morning line. The secretary was busy registering new students. I overhead her say to the father, "the cost is $6 BZ per week and that includes all the meals and books." That is $3 American. The next person in line was a high school student who had a gift sent to the school for him. A family had sent him a silver chained cross. He was so excited because he had made the Dean's list in school. He said that he had been working really hard at it for a long time. I love to hear stories about the children succeeding here.
Finally, it was my turn and I told the secretary I was looking for Lydia Brown, that we were here for the soccer camp. It took me half the day today to get used to saying "futbol." It's easy in spanish because its a spanish word but here they speak english so it doesn't come out naturally at all.
Lydia, came into the office to meet me! It was great to see her again this year, looking spirited and energetic as usual. Lydia has moved from New Zealand to Belize (circa a couple years of missionary work in Cambodia). She, her husband, and her son all live on the island and Lydia works with all of the volunteers coming into the school. She is one busy woman! Lydia met the group and then directed us to the computer lab where we unpacked and inventoried all of the gear. With everyone's help this was a quick task. After we finished with the gear we did a quick walking tour of San Mateo with Lydia. the group had a great opportunity to see the living conditions that most of the students are coming from. San Mateo, like the school, is a community built on a swamp. The houses are on stilts on unstable land. The water, which is filled with trash and leaking sewage, is toxic and dangerous for the kids. In the first year of the school, 5 children died of infections related to the toxicity of the water- a cut on the foot or leg and then walking through the water. It's so easy for the kids to be exposed to this stuff- they run around barefoot a ton of the time and there are rocks everywhere. A cut on the foot is so easy to come by.

People in San Mateo use whatever they can get their hands on to fill in the swamp that there homes are built on. So there is trash everywhere- used as filling. Once it gets to be enough then they will put some sand over it. In the past few years there has been a lot of effort put into the roads in San Mateo. When I first got here, there were barely any roads at all and the majority of people used planks to get to the houses. Now, there are main roads throughout the entire neighborhood (still lots of planks, but now also lots of roads). It's great for the people in San Mateo to get around but it also creates a lot of problems with sitting water. With the roads containing a lot of the water from the main
 swamp, it is increasingly becoming fresh water. With that, there has been a huge spike in bacteria growth and a lot of the things that are getting transmitted to the children. Lydia said that the kids have been coming sick into school a lot with all kinds of things. Walking through San Mateo never fails to shock my system. Even after I've been coming down here for 4 years. It was also great for the volunteers to see the disparity in conditions from San Mateo to what the average tourist experience (like where we are staying).

After the tour the new volunteers went to the Cafeteria, while the veteran volunteers went to check out the field. It was supposed to be cleared but Lydia notified me that she had not yet heard back from the guy who was supposed to do it! Oh no! When we got there it was completely overgrown. We had very few areas that were even close to playable... as in, they weren't over grown as much. We figured out how to make it work for today and then head back to the school. After meeting up with the other volunteers we started our rounds in the classrooms!

"Good Morning Everyone! My name is Coach Ali and we are with More Than Futbol, a futbol camp that we will be having after school EVERY DAY this week! We are going to learn some awesome new skills and play some really fun games and WE WOULD LOVE if you would all come out and play with us after school today!" I then had all of the coaches introduce themselves and then told the kids where to meet us and that we couldn't wait to see them after school! Repeat x 10 classrooms and to the lunch hall... we reached all 440 students at the school.
After the announcements were finished Mr. Freddy had finally arrived at the school and helped us use the air compressor to pump up all of the balls. We decided to use the old balls that were from last year's camp (left behind) and put the new balls into storage since they were in better condition. It was fun to see all of the old balls with different recognizable player's names on them like "Diego Menegatti," one of my LTRC boys. Mr. Freddy's dog, Spike, was also there and looking to be in ROUGH shape! Like he had an infection or was attacked! We love spike, he is so happy and fun and plays soccer with us... he can actually dribble! When we asked Mr. Freddy what happened to him Mr. Freddy just laughed it off and said, "Oh Spike? He likes to chase the iguanas and the iguanas fight back." LOL. Oh Spike.

Once all of the gear was ready to go, we went back into town for lunch to My Secret Deli. Oh yeah. This is one of the BEST spots on the island. Great food, great smoothies. It's one of those special places that looks unassuming from the outside but makes incredible food. I was a little worried because, although Secret Deli is one of the best spots on the island, it takes them a long time to get food out. I asked the owner, "If we order quesadillas, how long will that take?" and he said, "at least an hour." Well jeez, quesadillas are so easy to make. This isn't good. Then he suggested the food in green writing on the menu. Turns out they have a whole section of stewed/slow cooked food that comes with beans and rice. Sounds like a plan. We ordered all of our meals quickly, food came out quickly, was SUPER delicious, and we paid up and were out of the restaurant in an under an hour! We even ordered the delicious, chalice-cup smoothies!
After lunch, we had 20 minutes before we had to be at the school so we walked down to the beach, enjoyed some sea breeze and then started back up to the school. We got all of the gear out and got ready for the "Infant" Classes to get out of school. "Infant 1" and "Infant 2" are equivalent to 1st and 2nd grade in the US and they get out of school at 1:45, an hour before all of the older grades. Once school was over, the kids trickled out and came straight over to the field. First we had 4, then 8, and then they continued to multiply. In the past, we have done a coach or 2 with a group of kids but today we changed it around and put 2 or 3 kids with each coach. This worked out fantastic. The kids got a lot of attention, all of the coaches were engaged, and everyone had a great time! After about 25 minutes of working with the kids in small groups, we broke them up in 2 teams and played a scrimmage.
Once, the time got close 2:45, we ended with the little kids so that we were ready for the big kids to come out. Then, we created a chain of coaches from the school all the way to the field, which is about a 5-10 minute walk. First, we wanted to make sure that we snagged the kids out of school before they went home and, we also wanted to make sure that they felt safe walking to the field. Around 3:00, all of the coaches in the chain started walking in with the last remaining kids and I was a little surprised to see that we had a very small group. Maybe 30 kids. We did a "Welcome to Camp" talk that included the usual, "We are so excited to play futbol today!" and the rules (BOUNDARIES) for camp.
We anticipated that today would be a very tough day before we even arrived at camp. Usually, the first day is very difficult to organize the kids. They have very little experience in organized sports and are often left to their own device and not big fans of taking instruction or following rules. This makes the first day particularly important. We must lay down the law to start camp so that the kids know that  #1, we want to have fun but in order to do that #2, we must follow the rules. No profanity. No physical harassment between kids. Above all, work as a team, support each other!
The coaches went to their respective stations and before we knew it the size of camp doubled as kids started to trickle in. Many of them ran home to ask their parents if they could come before arriving at the field. This is part of the deal in Belize- you HAVE to be able to improvise. You HAVE to be able to go with the flow and adapt. At the same time, you HAVE to be patient in introducing drills. Expect the kids to have varying levels of focus. Expect the groups to have 1 or 2 kids that act out. That's why there is help from your coaching partner or, help from Coach Ali. I am so used to working with kids and managing various behavior issues over the last 10 years that I have no problem dealing with a kid who is misbehaving our causing their group trouble. If they look like they are upset, I come down to their level. If they look like they are trying to act big and tough, then I stand up and tower over them as I talk. I always start by reiterating the rules, then asking them what happened, then talking about how to handle the situation better. Usually, they respond well and then return to the group functioning better. If they are not responding well to our conversation then I will draw a hard line, reiterate the rules one more time, and tell them that we can't allow them to participate if they continue to disrupt their group. They key is not getting upset or frustrated, but maintaining a firm, stern, attitude without emotion.
Generally, the players did pretty well. We did have a few behavior issues today with disruptive kids but now we know who they are and the best way to deal with them is actually to give them more attention, include them in the demonstrations and make them feel important in a positive way and cared about. Every year, we seem to have kids like this... and almost every year we see a positive turn-around.
Coach Phil and Luke took the shooting station, Coach Dave took the possession station, Coach Nikki took the skills station, and Coach Mel and Krista took the teamwork station. The focus in all of the groups is Teamwork. This week, we really want to focus on teaching the kids how to work together. With the many hardships they face in life, it is so important for them to be able to support one another, be a good friend, and be strong for the situations that they find themselves up against. We focus on all of these concepts and especially teaching a sense of self-worth to the kids through encouragement and building their confidence.
My favorite station today was the Teamwork station because today we did the human knot. All the kids get in a circle and then hold hands with 2 different people in the circle. Then, when we say Go! the kids have to unknot themselves without letting go! It was just so fun watching them work together, holding hands, laughing, communicating!
The kids were doing well, a little rowdy, but generally doing well. About halfway through, when the kids were getting thirsty, we started doing water bottles. I wrote every name on every water bottle to make sure that we didn't have any repeat customers. Once one group got their water bottles, it wasn't long before everyone was crowding around trying to get a water bottle. I was worried that this was going to disrupt the flow of camp but once we sent everyone back out with their groups to the next station, it seemed to improve camp. The kids were paying very good attention and working hard on all of their stations. Seemed to be a much needed break.
We played for about 20 more minutes at our stations and then stopped for a scrimmage. We had a boys scrimmage and a girl scrimmage. The girls had less numbers so we just broke them up into 2

teams on the side. The boys had a very large group so
we broke them up into 3 teams. It was exciting to see the kids get all pumped up to play. What's most entertaining, however, is the competitive energy of all of the coaches! Scott had a team, Luke and Kevin had a team, and Dave had a team. Phil helped to referee/guard the swampy area of the field for the ball rolling into it. Nikki and Mel were with the girls. The girls have really started to take a liking to the female coaches and have become a little clingy, so we are going to keep them with Mel and Nikki for the rest of the week!

Once the game was over, we said some closing remarks and headed back to the condo. Everyone jumped into the pool and hung out around the pool for a couple hours. Once the group mobilized for dinner we walked down to our neighborhood friendly restaurant- Lone Star Grill. This is owned by Marc Unger and his wife who have been great advocates for the More Than Futbol program on the island. They help promote it with the local retirees and they also help us house our gear. We are planning to start a league on the island for the kids to participate. Until we get the details smoothed out, I need someone to hold onto the equipment for me! Marc has graciously offered to do so! It's so nice having a positive connection on the island who is a little independent from the politics and the school. Marc and his wife are retired Boston Police and moved to the island a few years ago. They have been a very reliable and trustworthy source for us throughout our trips here on the island. Not to mention, Lone Star Grille has GREAT food!
When Scott and I, who were trailing behind the group, got to Lone Star, we found out that the restaurant was closing. Marc was outside catching up with the guys and I gave him a big hug when I saw him! He directed us to go down to another restaurant he know that is open until 10:00. Not having much time, we scurried out and headed down to El Divino. It was delicious. I had shrimp on a skewer and penne pasta with alfredo sauce. You really, truly cannot go wrong on the island with seafood no matter where you go. Yum. We had a great time recapping the day, what seemed to work, what seemed to be difficult, and the game plan for tomorrow. Having the girls separate from the boys really helped the girls to be more outgoing and they had a really good time with Nikki and Mel, so we are going to leave them with the girls tomorrow. We did that for the second half of the session today, but that is definitely something we continue with tomorrow.
We also talked about having a dance competition between Zach and Katie- a dance-off. Set to go off on Friday night. Katie will be coached up by the 5 female coaches and Zach will be coached up by the 5 male coaches!
After dinner, we headed back to the condo where I sat down to write the blog and all the guys went out to go night fishing on the pier.

Today was just exhausting. The first day always is... especially, with such an early start to the day. Despite this, I was just so proud of the coaching staff today. Everyone stepped up their game. We have a great group of coaches this year and I'm so thankful that every one of them is filled with a ton of energy and love ready to unleash on the kids. All of the coaches really care about the kids and want to make a difference- that mentality is absolutely the best you can ask for.

Tomorrow we have the morning free and after a long day today, I bet that all of the coaches will just relax by the pool, go fishing or play corn hole in the morning. I anticipate a low-key morning tomorrow before we leave for the school at 1:00.
But for now... I'm hitting the sack!

Thank you to everyone for following the blog!

Good night from Belize!