Ubuntu Clinics Week Two

Week One of the Ubuntu clinics from our local schools was a great time!

Week Two has begun with new kids and new schools.  Pray for us this week as we minister to these boys and many others!  

Some Reflections

The clinics we've been having over the last 2 weeks have been stretching my faith, my patience, and my understanding of these communities.  We've now completed 5 of the 6 sessions and the results have been varied.  We've had a few really talented players, and some really bad ones.  We've had some that work really hard, and some that are quite lazy.  We've had some kids that are respectful and do the right thing, and some that just want to goof off.  So all of that has been stretching.  
Last week we struggled to get kids involved from Masiphumelele, the black township near us.  I'm still not sure totally what the answer is there, but we need to think more strategically about how to get those kids involved.  
We are also continuing to learn how to best communicate information and who the people are that we can trust to do things for us.  It's all been quite positive, but I wish I didn't always have so much to learn!!  When will I start to know it all?!?! (And not just in my own mind!)  
Now we're wrestling with which kids to invite into the program.  There are a few talented kids with questionable attitudes, do we take the risk?  There are some kids that aren't great players, but have great athletic ability, do we trust that we can teach them how to play?  In "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell (an amazing book, by the way) he talks about people becoming experts in their field when they have reached 10,000 hours of practice.  Basically his premise is that if somebody starts with a certain threshold of talent that the difference is the time put into their craft.  So, we're wrestling with whether or not our task is to "discover" talented players or to "develop" talented players.  It's quite an interesting process and we have a lot of big decisions to make over the next month or so.  
We'd appreciate your thought and prayers to that end.  After tomorrow's final day I'll post some pictures of this 2nd group of kids.


Casey

Pictures of Elite Clinic

There are some pictures of the 1st Day of the Elite Clinic on our family blog here: www.caseyandsarahafrica.blogspot.com.

We've had some good players to work with there.  Hoping to uncover some more!

Casey

Elite Christmas Clinics

These next 2 weeks are really important for us.  We are hosting Elite Christmas Clinics for 3 days each week.  This week the clinic is in our area and next week it's in an area nearby about 30 minutes away.  For each clinic we have invited 25 kids that will be U-13 next year.  They have been nominated by their coach at school or from a local club.  Through this clinic we will be evaluating these boys so that we can select 16 boys to become the start of our High Performance Training Program in 2011.  That program is the start of us moving towards our full-on academy program.  We're excited to be working with some talented kids this week and to look forward to our future!
We'll keep you updated this week!

Casey

Follow-up with Fish Hoek

We had another follow-up meeting with the Fish Hoek Football Club on Tuesday.  After we met with their committee, they spoke about our proposal at their Annual General Meeting which generated questions and concerns, so they invited us back to meet with their whole committee.  We spent some time presenting ourselves to the full committee and then answered their questions.  Most of their questions were things we expected to hear, only a few were things we hadn't thought through.  We handled all of their questions pretty smoothly, but there was one interaction that was particularly encouraging.  One of the guys, who was clearly skeptical, asked what makes us different from any other academy that is in the other parts of this city.  At that point, the club chairman asked if he could answer that question.  I was really interested to see what he would say.  He responded by saying that our motives are different from the other academies.  Those academies are driven by greed hoping that one of their players will make it big and set them up for life.  They make promises to kids that they either can't or never intend to keep.  He shared that our motives are simply for the kids to be advanced.  WOW!  So amazing that he basically said what I would have said, but that it didn't come from me.  Somebody else, who is only just getting to know us, can already sense that our hearts are different.  This was the best moment of the meeting.  It left me feeling that if the chairman of the club feels that way about us then our chances of this being approved should be good.
So, now we're just praying that they would respond soon with a positive response.  We know that if they give us a year to try it out that they will be blessed by the opportunity and desire to have it continue.

If you're curious about how we presented ourselves to them, here is our powerpoint from the meeting.  It might help you know how to share what we are doing and planning with others in your sphere of influence.

Inspiring

This story is way delayed in being told. This summer we had an amazing interaction with an awesome young man. My wife Sarah had the opportunity to speak at a few of Youth Conference Ministry's camps. Through that we were able to share a lot about the work of Ubuntu Sports Outreach. At the high school camp, Fun in the Son, they played a game all week called "Minute to Win It." It consisted of crazy activities by the students, but they were playing for a prize of $100 at the end of the week. The final day came and the competition even went to a tie-breaker. It was so intense, kids were screaming, and the two churches represented really wanted to win. You kept thinking, "Oh, if they win, they'll buy their whole church ice cream or something fun." Finally after a long competition, Daniel Nasrallah from Reynolda Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem, NC won the competition. They were so excited! They celebrated like they had just won the World Cup! It was really fun to see.
But less than 5 minutes later, Daniel was in front of me holding the milk jug full of cash. Cash that he had worked really hard to win. And then he gave it to me. He said that he wanted it to be used for the work we are doing in Cape Town. I was so humbled by this gesture. Yes, it was really amazing to get the financial help, but even more exciting was the support of his heart. This young man had played SO hard to win this game, and when he could have used his prize on himself or his friends, he chose to sew into God's work here.

We had lots of amazing interactions with people this summer, but this moment with Daniel was particularly inspiring!

Casey

Great Meeting

Mentioned this week that we had an important meeting. Well, that meeting went really well. We were meeting with the most organized local club, Fish Hoek AFC. I played there this season and enjoyed it, but up until recently hadn't really considered us partnering with them. We have started framing our vision with the problems that we are trying to solve and I kept using the phrase, "using unique sports ministry strategies". In an area like this the idea of working together with someone else is actually a really unique idea. People do their own thing all the time and avoid working together.
So, we spent time hearing from them about their history and current status. They have been around over 30 years and were one of the first clubs to integrate during apartheid. They were actually way ahead of the curve. Now almost all of their junior clubs are in Super League, which is the highest division in this area. We then shared about our vision, why we are here in the Valley, and what we see God doing in the future. They asked a few questions and then we shared about how we envision a partnership. More questions back & forth, and it felt like things ended really positive. So, now they go back to their board and decide what they want to do.
Michael and I are really positive about this potential partnership. It makes sense for us to partner with a long-standing, successful club. It honors the work and impact that they have had over the years, and we are convinced that we can take them to a new level. So, we're praying for discernment from God to know if this is the right partnership. Join us in praying!

Casey

Humming Along

Stuff with Ubuntu is really humming along. After great success with the community festival we have begun looking forward. It looks like we may start a 'high performance training program' as a bit of a beta program to lead in to the academy in 2012. It may mean we also have to start the beginnings of a club for those kids to have a place to play their games. It's really exciting to see the movement. Now we just need to have the right things come into place.
We had a great meeting with a guy yesterday that is just north of us that has a dream, not totally dissimilar to ours, and we might work together. He has done some work in schools and has been in the schools that I saw as our place of growth. Hopefully we'll work together on that to combine our strategy with his contacts and relationships. Then, he may know of some talented kids that we can put into our HPTP that would raise the level of our group. So, that was exciting.
We have a BIG meeting tomorrow night with the chairman of the most established local club in our area (the one I played with this season). We are open to working in partnership with them, but if they don't want to work together he has the power to possibly block our entrance into that league, which is the better of the two locally. So, we're hoping for a great movement there.
Pray that the right connections will be made and that people would lock into the vision God has given us. This is the time!

Casey

Festival Follow-up

This Sunday we had a Thank You Gathering for all the coaches, volunteers, and planning team. We hosted it at our house and had some goodies, but also wanted a chance to be in front of these people again. We shared the vision for Ubuntu Sports Outreach so that it would be clear why we exist and where we are going. We also showed them the video that you see on the blog. They LOVED that. So many of them wanted copies to show other people! Then we spent some time talking about the positives of the festival and things we can improve on.
We live in a very wounded community, so lots of our meeting time was spent with them fleshing out the problems of sports in Ocean View and the surrounding area. Most of it I had heard before, but it was good for the rest of our team to hear, and for them to feel 'heard' by us. They were basically saying that the festival really filled a gap for their kids and should continue. They really want the festival to happen more than once a year!! That was great affirmation that we ran a great event. We were so encouraged by our whole time together with them. I'm not sure yet that we are wanting to make that jump, but it's great to know that it's wanted.
As we continue to share the event's success with our host school and other community advocates we are hoping to generate more support, sponsorship, and partners for years ahead. Let's do it!!

Casey

The Festival in Pictures

Enjoy and Spread as we show you this area being One Valley together.

The One Valley Festival

Well, it's over and it was fantastic! The first (and possibly annual) One Valley Festival was a huge success. We had right at 60 teams which probably equaled about 400 kids playing on the day. We had music blaring, around 30 volunteers running around keeping things going, and even some fun relay games.

The U7 African Bombers from Masiphumelele

I'm so thankful for all the amazing support we had from my partner Michael Jenkins, my amazing wife Sarah, and all the volunteers that spent their day refereeing the games, organizing the kids, leading the relay games, selling drinks & other merchandise, and generally just having an amazing attitude. Everybody was so willing to jump in and do whatever.

Two of our great volunteers, Ben & Robert

I also want to think Phil Mason from Reemaxe Sportswear for donating the game balls & the Western Province Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport that provided the inflatable field that the Under 7's played in.

After so much work beforehand you would think it would have worn me out so that I never wanted to see another festival again. However, I'm actually REALLY excited about doing it again. We learned so much about how to do things better, things we could add, things that would enrich the experience for the kids, and so on. Also, teams now know about it so they will be excited about it's return.

Some players from Juventus

There were so many great things about the day, and you've heard some from Michael & the girls from 7 Stars on previous posts, but I want to highlight a few more. We really emphasized to the kids that the day was about enjoying each other from all the different communities, and they seemed to really embrace that. We had almost no fighting or little skirmishes. The kids played hard & fair. And one of the great things was just having people from all 3 racial groups together as ONE valley. They played together and enjoyed each other. That's actually a really significant thing. We have some work to do to get the 3 communities equally represented, but it was a great start.

Getting After It!

Kieren & Sarah with one of our Favorites, Kaka

The Back of Our T-shirt

Another Guest Post

We posted a little guest blog about the festival on our personal blog at www.caseyandsarahafrica.blogspot.com. Check it out, it's from some girls in our community that played in the festival.

Casey

First Response from the Festival

I'm going to do a proper blog about the Festival ASAP, but wanted to go ahead and get this on here. Michael Jenkins, the co-founder of Ubuntu Sports, wrote this reflection about the festival and asked if he could do a "guest post" on the blog. Michael runs his own business so he isn't able to help with the day in and day out happenings of Ubuntu. We call him the Visionary Consultant and when he is able to be involved with things he's a real champion. Here is his reflection on the day:

On Saturday Ubuntu Sports Outreach hosted our first ever One Valley soccer festival. With close to 60 teams entered we had around 400 kids playing, but it was a small, ragged group of six to nine year old's who brought an ache to my heart and defined the day for me.
Despite our not having received a single team registration just three weeks ago, the day started with astonishing punctuality and a wonderfully large crowd of kids from 6 to 17 years old, standing to sing the national anthem. This is not usually done at public events in South Africa, other than international games, but it was a poignant and fitting opening to a festival held on our Heritage Day weekend.
About an hour in, games were in full swing with continuous soccer being played simultaneously on 7 pitches. I was tearing around the fields trying to find a certain under 7 team who were due to play. Sitting off to one side, I saw a small group of boys who looked about the right age. I asked what their team name was, to which they proudly replied "the Mighty Blues". This was not the team I was looking for, so I hurried off, but with a small itch of concern - I'd gone through the match scedule and I was pretty sure there were no Mighty Blues on our program for the day.
Going back over to them, I learned that these ten boys - a full under 7 team and under 9 team - had arrived at a festival to which their coach did not show up, and in which he had not entered their teams. I remember sleepless nights and waking up ridiculously early and tremendously excited on game-day mornings when I was a small boy. I could see by the growing disappointment in their eyes that these ten little boys had lived that same story on saturday. Theirs had involved walking without adult supervision a few miles to a field where their coach had not met them, and seeing games start without them hearing the call for the Mighty Blues to take the field. Anthony, Ben and Robert - all outstanding young men who were champions this weekend - leaped into action to mark out an 8th field. During the rest of the day we managed to bring most of the other under 7 and under 9 teams over to field 8 which became the home ground for the Mighty Blues. When I called them over for their first game, these kids leaped with fists punching the air in sheer joy at getting to play.

Tim and Natasha are a terrific couple who arrived during the morning and offered to hel

p however they could. These are people in ministry in our communities who have more than enough of their own work to do, and who are not connected to Ubuntu except through friendship and a shared heart for the communities we work in. They stepped into the gap and became the coaches of the two Mighty Blues teams. It was beautiful to see these little guys getting warm-up drills, high fives and pep talks - and loving every minute. I was inspired by how one couple giving a gift of their time on Saturday, brought such tremendous joy to a precious group of small boys, turning what could have been a day of bitter disappointment into one of the best days they have had this year. It reminded me that although we so often pursue happiness through getting, it's in giving that we find it.
On Saturday, often a single coach was responsible for up to five teams. The one major difference between running a festival for kids from township communities and festivals in affluent communities, is the overwhelming ratio of kids per rare adult who is able to give his time to their sports whilst fighting for the survival of his family in the most dire circumstances. We were helped in that regard to have a magnificent and large team of volunteers who were just AWESOME on the day. As a tribute of gratitude to all our volunteers on Saturday, I have such a strong conviction that Jesus is incredibly pleased with what you helped make possible for so many children that He loves beyond words. Thank you!


Casey spoke in the closing awards ceremony and thanked those who helped so much on the day, but I need to add a word of thanks to him and Sarah. It's hard to explain what a great job they did (and are doing) to anyone who has never tried to run an event in this kind of context. And if you have, then you don't need an explanation - you know already!
Finally back to my new favourite team - the Mighty Blues... For a moment I was angry that a coach would allow children to arrive at a soccer festival in which they had not yet been entered. And then not turn up himself! Then I wondered if I'd be giving my time to coach a team of 6 and 7 year olds if I lived with the challenges he faces daily. The fact is that when life gets really tough, hugely important things, like investing time in children, so often get overlooked for the urgent things like food, shelter and survival. Ubuntu exists for children like the Mighty Blues. Our mission is to train and mentor Christian men who will in turn be coaches and mentors, discipling children through time spent with them on a soccer field. The Mighty Blues reminded me of Jesus' words that we can love Him by stretching out hands to the 'least of these'. They reminded me once again of the innocent joy and enthusiasm soccer brings to young children, and what a simple and effective way it offers us to introduce them to the love of Jesus through his people loving them. They reminded me of just why Ubuntu has such an important role to play in South Africa; that many children just need adults who love Jesus to also love them.

Big Day Tomorrow

The big day is upon us! The One Valley Festival kicks off tomorrow morning at 9am. We're so excited to finally see what all the planning produces. We have about 50 teams signed up to play on the day, 8 vendors, a great lineup of family games, and the spirit of the Lord with us. Please join us in prayer for the day and we will update you next week on how GREAT the event was.

Casey

ONE VALLEY FESTIVAL- Update

Ubuntu Sports Outreach (www.ubuntusports.org), in partnership with other local churches and ministries is hosting the first ONE VALLEY FESTIVAL @ Sun Valley Primary School on Saturday, 25 of September. The purpose of the event is for all the communities of the Southern Peninsula Valley to enjoy a day together while celebrating the success of the World Cup. The event will primarily operate around a 5-a-side soccer tournament. Teams can register by printing off the form here. You then return it to Casey Prince in Ocean View.

The event is designed to be fun for the whole family. There will be music, family games, food vendors, and craft stalls. We are also having an inflatable field that the younger age groups will play in! And Peninsula Beverages will be providing a mini- Coke field. Please bring your entire family and spread the word throughout your neighborhood. It's going to be a great day!

If you have any questions call or email Casey Prince at 082-071-7165 or ubuntusports@gmail.com.

To access the registration form click here: registration form.

To print the indemnity form that everybody must sign click here: indemnity form

Looking forward to you joining us,

All Nations Connections Church

King of Kings Baptist Church Living Hope Community Center

Ocean View Baptist Church Ocean View Methodist Church

Revival Ministries Simon's Town Baptist Church

Ubuntu Sports Outreach

What we Hope

I took this picture last Sunday at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) where we go to Hillsong Church Cape Town.

This is what we hope is a byproduct of the outreach of Ubuntu Sports, to be a wound healer in hearts, families, and communities. We know the power of a mentor, raised self-esteem, and a relationship with Jesus. This will transform kids, families, and communities; and consequently heal a lot of wounds. Pray that God would give us the opportunity.

ONE VALLEY FESTIVAL

Ubuntu Sports Outreach (www.ubuntusports.org), in partnership with other local churches and ministries is hosting the first ONE VALLEY FESTIVAL @ Sun Valley Primary School on Saturday, 25 of September. The purpose of the event is for all the communities of the Southern Peninsula Valley to enjoy a day together while celebrating the success of the World Cup. The event will primarily operate around a 5-a-side soccer tournament. Teams can register by printing off the form here. You then return it to Casey Prince in Ocean View.

The event is designed to be fun for the whole family. There will be music, family games, food vendors, and craft stalls. Please bring your entire family and spread the word throughout your neighborhood.

If you have any questions call or email Casey Prince at 082-071-7165 or ubuntusports@gmail.com.

To access the registration form click here: registration form.

Looking forward to you joining us,

All Nations Connections Church

King of Kings Baptist Church Living Hope Community Center

Ocean View Baptist Church Ocean View Methodist Church

Revival Ministries Simon's Town Baptist Church

Ubuntu Sports Outreach

World Cup Recap

This is way overdue, but its time for our World Cup recap.

We had a great program going on in Ocean View at the turf field that we were given permission to use by the city. We met for a total of 6 sessions working on different skills each time. Our main content came by using words that were being used a lot during the World Cup to talk about Jesus. Here is a sampling:

Ke Nako= it's time, it's Africa's time; GOOD NEWS

Used it to talk about the Good News of Jesus coming to live among us

Waka, Waka= joyful, full of life

Talked specifically about John 10:10, that Jesus came to give us life & life abundantly.

Ayoba= amazement

Used it to talk about some of the miracles of God.

Jabulani= to celebrate

We talked this day about us celebrating the things God is doing in our lives.

It was a great way to put the truths of Jesus into a context that they were being bombarded with. Hopefully, as they continued to hear those terms they connected them with Christ.

These pics are from the Jabulani day. We worked on shooting that day, and if they scored they had to celebrate!

Alright so a lot has happened with Ubuntu since our last post, but lets get everyone updated. The new volunteers, Ben # 1, Ben # 2, and Antony have become familiar with the dynamics of our ministry. Their special gifts and qualities have been an asset to the ministry of Ubuntu. So far we have been running soccer practices with different schools. We have had practices with the primary schools from Simons Town, Kleinburg, and Capricorn. Also since then the World Cup has taken off and we have incorporated that into our ministry. In the past couple of weeks we have had soccer clinics in Ocean View. Each practice we have focused on a particular skill linked with a popular soccer term. Also the Edward brothers from Raleigh visited helping us with our ministry. The first practice we had comprised of short passing and the word we used was Ke Nako (Which means "its time" or "the good news"). We talked about the the gospels and how Jesus is the good news who has come to save his people. The next clinic we focused on Long passing and used the word Ayoba (which means "amazing). We discussed how Jesus preformed amazing miracles like raising Lazarus from the dead. The third clinic we focused on ball handling and talked about Waka Waka (the hit Shakira song which means "full of life"). We discussed how Jesus came to give us life and have to the fullest. The most recent clinic we focused on shooting and linked up with the word Jabulani (Which means "celebration"). This was fun day because after the kids would score goals we would have them preform their best celebration dances. We also talked about palm sunday and how the people in Jerusalem waved palmed branches to celebrate the coming of Jesus. We also continue to hangout with the kids in Ocean View, take them to McDonald's, play games, and just laugh with them. Also we had a bible study with kyle, reagan, and kaka today which went really well. We will have another clinic tomorrow and talked about the word "Ubuntu," a familiar word to most of us. But for now tune in with us next time as we discuss more of our exciting adventures happening in SA!

Kicking Crime

Our friends, Ambassadors In Sport, have a program called the Hope Academy here in a prison in South Africa. They were highlighted last night on ABC News Nightline. Check it out, it's a great story, and they are great friends. Cheers, Casey

Our third and final volunteer is Antony Burton. Antony is also from Raleigh, North Carolina, and knew the Princes throughout high school. Casey served as his Youth Pastor in high school and his soccer coach at the neighboring Millbrook High School. God will be able to use Antony through his background in soccer and his love for God. He has been faithful to the Lord’s calling and we can’t wait to see God work through this young man. Towards the end of July, he will also be taking classes at University of Cape Town in history and international studies, which will supplement his studies at North Carolina State University. Like Ben, Antony will be serving until November and we are excited to have him aboard.

Here are some more things about Antony:

Why did you come to Africa: Trying to fulfill the exciting opportunity the God has set out for me and experience new parts and people in our world.

Most inspiring scripture for you: Isaiah 41:10

Add to Mt. Rushmore: FDR

Favorite thing about South Africa so far: Everything

Favorite Book: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Mentor in your life: My Brother

Favorite Movie: Shawshank Redemption

Favorite Clothing: Corduroy Pants

Favorite Soccer Player: Wayne Rooney

Favorite National Team: England

Favorite Club Team: West Ham

Favorite Soccer Coach: Brad Meyers & Casey Prince

Nike or Adidas: Nike

Favorite Food: Steak

Thing you miss the most about home: Family & Friends

Favorite band or musical artist: Radiohead, Elliott Smith, & Kanye West

The second volunteer is new to all of us, but he fits right in like family. Ben Pflederer is a 19-year-old, USA soccer fanatic with a gnarly beard that makes him look like Moses. He comes from Indianapolis, Indiana from a family of four. He is the son Kevin and Debbie Pflederer. He currently attends Vanderbilt University in good old Nashville, Tennessee. He loves soccer and Jesus. What do you need more for Ubuntu, a ministry orchestrated around Jesus but uses soccer as a tool to draw in kids. At Vanderbilt, Ben is currently undecided with his major but with his great wisdom he will do great things in college. We can’t wait to use his excitement and unique humor for the Ubuntu ministry.

Here are some more things about Ben #2:

Why did you come to Africa: Trying to trust God by following him and learning what he has to teach me.

Most inspiring scripture for you: Luke 9:23-24

Most inspiring quote: “One of the greatest lies that you can live by is that life is a story about me.”

Add to Mt. Rushmore: Denzel Washington

Favorite thing about South Africa so far: The natural beauty. It’s incredible.

Favorite Book: Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper

Mentor in your life: My parents, David Brown, and Andy Blasius

Favorite Clothing: U.S. Soccer Jersey

Favorite Soccer Player: Michael Bradley

Favorite National Team: USNT

Favorite Club Team: Chicago Fire and Fulham FC

Favorite Soccer Coach: Bob Bradley

Nike or Adidas: Adidas

Favorite Food: Buffalo Wings

Thing you miss the most about home: Sanitation

Favorite band or musical artist: Jon Mclaughlin

We want to introduce our newest volunteers who have recently arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. Andy Chenlo has been here for about 7 months so we decided to pull in some more help for Ubuntu Sports Outreach. Our first volunteer is no stranger to the Prince household, the one and only Ben Cash. He is planning to stay in South Africa for about 6 months helping with Ubuntu while at the same time taking classes at the local university. Ben Cash is the son of Roxie and Tom Cash, with two brothers and a lovely sister Caboose (Emily). He also graduated from Millbrook, however he did not play soccer. But with lots of optimism, he plans to learn as much as he can while in South Africa. After graduation he headed off to UNC-Wilmington to study and surf. He studies Communication Studies and Journalism while at college. In Wilmington, Ben helps out with a local church in the youth group. Ben loves kids and loves God so he will be a great asset to our ministry. He will be serving with us until November, so we are excited for the adventures to come.

Here are some more things about Ben Cash, known here as Ben #1:

Why did you come to Africa: God is funny when he throws you into these unexpected adventures. You don’t have to really understand why he works the way he does, you just have to answer the calling that he places in your heart and fulfill it. Africa was an awesome opportunity for ministry and school that was presented to me. I want to match the calling of God to the needs of the South African people.

Most inspiring scripture for you: Galatians 2:20

Most inspiring quote: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." -C.S. Lewis

Add to Mt. Rushmore: Benjamin Franklin

Favorite thing about South Africa so far: The people are awesome and approachable. Also, it gives you an innate sense to not have expectations of the way people should act which makes it more exciting to share the good news.

Favorite Book: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Mentor in your life: My brothers

Favorite Clothing: Zip-up hoodies

Favorite Clothing Brand: Fila

Country you would most like to visit: Ireland

Favorite Movie: The Hurt Locker

Favorite Food: Loaded Mashed Potatoes

Favorite Drink: Chocolate Milk

Favorite Dessert: Strawberry shortcake

Thing you miss the most about home: Warm ocean water. The water here is FREEZING!!

Favorite band or musical artist: Need to Breathe, Monk & Neagle, Punch Brothers, and Jurassic 5

Things are Heating up!

This week things are really going to be heating up. They will start team tryouts at Capricorn Primary on Tuesday with their coach, Grayson. Really excited about that. We will also start at Simon's Town Primary on Wednesday. We are having issues getting their coaches trained, so Andy and I will be getting things started there. Ukhanyo Primary should get started this week with Desmond and Tondazo. And hopefully Marine Primary will get started later this week with Pastor Freddy and Edmund.

We are training coaches from Sharon AOG in Capricorn this Saturday. They will be working at Christian David Primary School. We still need a church partner for Zirilda Park Primary. And I think we have to reconsider our church parter with Kleinberg Primary in Ocean View. It doesn't look like it's going to work out for them. But, God willing, that will happen this week!

Cheers,

Casey

Training Update

Our first training went well on Saturday. Had the guys that will coach at Marine Primary and Ukhanyo Primary. We mostly focused on ministry stuff. This weekend we should have most of the rest of the coaches there, along with these guys. We'll be focusing more on the soccer stuff and actually walking through the first 3-4 Ubabalo lessons. We'll talk through the Life Skills components, give them actual drills & games to use to further develop the life skill idea, and then talk about the Bible devotion. I'm really excited about using the Ubabalo curriculum. It was created locally so it will be culturally relevant and creative. You can check it out at: www.ubabalo2010.com.

We hadn't shared the news that we have 7 schools signed on to be our partners. That's amazing news!! They are Marine Primary (Ocean View), Kleinberg Primary (OV), Ukhanyo Primary (Masiphumelele), Simon's Town School, Capricorn Primary, Christian David Primary (Capricorn), and Zirilda Park Primary (Capricorn/Sea Winds). We met a pastor yesterday to try and find the church partner for Christian David. Now we need to find the partner for Zirilda Park. Pray that God would provide these churches. These schools and keen and excited!

We'll give you an update again next week after training!

Casey

April News

We are starting training for our first wave of coaches this Saturday. Over 2 weekends we'll focus on ministry and soccer coaching. I'm really excited to be closer to the point where boys lives will be impacted by the coaching mentor involved in their life. There are some nerves in finally getting started, but mostly just serious excitement.
Pray for the training and also that we will find 2 more churches that want to invest in the Capricorn area. Some schools were slow to the table there, so we are looking hard for churches. We need churches for Zirilda Park Primary and Christian David Primary. Both need men mentoring boys there.
Ubuntu is busy planning a festival for the entire valley for May. This area is so divided by demographics, culture, and frankly color of our skin. We are using the World Cup as our "excuse" to draw all the communities together. We have gathered leaders from different churches all over to help drive this thing. We made some big decisions this week and crunch time is on. We're really excited about "ONE VALLEY FESTIVAL: Celebrating the World Cup Together". Pray that things would come together quickly as it is scheduled for the end of May!
Keep updated on our family and the amazing work that my wife, Sarah, is doing on our blog: www.caseyandsarahafrica.blogspot.com. She is doing amazing work with women in Ocean View.

Cheers,
Casey

Spreading the Word

Our good friend Jock does leadership training and consulting. He was recently at a meeting for a healthcare company. Their dinner one night had a sports theme and they were supposed to wear the shirt of their favorite sports team. Well, Jock work his Ubuntu Sports Outreach shirt! How awesome is that?!?! What a great way to spread the word about the work we are doing!

Casey

TREC Experience

Last week Andy and I had an opportunity to be part of a coaching course called TREC: Training, Resourcing, and Equipping Coaches. This was provided by our friends at Ambassadors in Sport. It was a 5 day coaching experience that mixed a normal coaching course with sports ministry training. There were about 4o students from all sorts of different backgrounds. Obviously there were a lot of South Africans but also a few other Americans, an Englishmen, 3 Germans, and an Australian. The diversity made for such an interesting environment.

Although the soccer was very basic, because it was Level 1, it was such a great week. TREC is something that we are hoping ALL of our Ubuntu coaches will go through eventually. Because of that we thought it was important for us to experience it first.

And, you can be encouraged, I did score a '1' on my coaching assessment, which is the highest score, so I do know what I'm doing!

Casey