Football Forward: Special Guests

Ubuntu Football Forward is a grassroots soccer program Ubuntu has started in January of this year. I'm excited to say the numbers of each age group have been growing significantly over the past months. With more and more kids attending each week, the program is really becoming a success. In even more recent weeks though, a local missions organization called All Nations has partned a college soccer ministry from the States (Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma) with Football Forward. They're a group of 12, very able-bodied, soccer-playing, Jesus-loving, college students assisting us each Monday and Wednesday at Football Forward. We've even been able to turn over the life skills and soccer lesson to them at each session which has been great. After months and months of hard work, they've allowed us to take a step back and look at the program we're running which has been cool. The kids at Football Forward have responded incredibly well to the college students as well as they've added tons of energy and really sought to elevate Football Forward as a program. All 12 of the Oral Roberts students are quite talented as soccer players so the kids have also loved that part of things.

The Oral Roberts students being here has also meant some other things. Because while Football Forward exists for many reasons, one of the main reasons is to love and invest in the kids of Ocean View. And more than just having extra hands on staff to make things run smoothly, having the ORU students with us has been such a blessing because of the way they love the kids. There are several kids, one in particular, who has just been tough to work with. He's had a lot of different hurt in his life and so despite our efforts to consistently love and be there for him he can be pretty resistant. But ever since the ORU students have been here he hasn't been able to help but smile and to be in a good mood as they've continued to love him (without even knowing this)! So that, among many other things, has been very cool for us at Ubuntu. They're also here for 3 more weeks which is a real treat!

Below are some photos of the kids with the Oral Roberts students from the other day's session!

Strandfontein Tournament Excitement

Check out the news and pics on the Ubuntu Football blog: http://ubuntufootball.com/?p=515

Big Mac with Chadley

Every now and then, one of us at Ubuntu Football will take one of our Academy boys out for a meal. At 13 years old, what boy isn’t down to devour a Big Mac and coke at McDonald's? It gives us the opportunity to spend some quality time with our players and talk with them on levels that we don’t get to at practice.

This past Friday I took Chadley to McDonalds after school to grab a bite. Needless to say, he was excited. Big Mac, fries and a chocolate milkshake—does it get any better on a Friday afternoon after a long week of school?! He was surprised that I paid for it with my money though. So I just told him that I’m proud of him and believe in him and that I wanted to treat him to McDonalds. He’s one of our boys who has done the best at Silvermine Academy. I’ve got to say, the most exciting part of our time for me was the questions he asked me though. He asked things like, “Can people who’ve murdered someone else still be forgiven and go to Heaven?” and “Where is Heaven? Is it above the sky in space?” They were some pretty heavy, Christian questions that I didn’t expect our 13 year old Chadley to be wondering about. But he was.

For me it came as encouragement. That as we pray and invest into our Academy boys with our lives that they’re now asking bigger questions and wanting to know the answers to them. As they continue to grow in faith, maturity and age I hope we can always be there to continue to feed them as young men. That we would continue to pour into them to our best ability but that God would do exceedingly more in their lives than we’ll ever be capable of. And Chadley is really one of those boys. One of those boys who we believe is going to be a great, great man one day.   
Kind regards,Austin

An Inside Look

So how does an ever-expanding organization continue to grow while still holding true to its vision? By meeting weekly.

Since the beginning of the New Year we’ve been meeting each week as a staff here at Ubuntu. For a couple of hours each Thursday morning we stop what we’re doing and meet. These meetings have not only brought us closer together as a team but have been highly beneficial to our operations as an organization. Because many different things must happen to keep Ubuntu running (marketing/business, Academy, football programs, transport) and growing as it is, each team member focuses a little more directly on certain areas. Meeting each week has allowed us to report back on those more specific fields and keep everybody on the same page with everything we have going on.

These meetings have also been a time to pray together as a team, hear from each other and also to share some laughs together. I feel like I’ve grown to love what we’re doing even more through these meetings too. I’m consistently shown more of Casey and Michael’s heart for Ubuntu each week at these meetings and how they want to impact the young men of Africa through it. Which has been very cool. Because as much time as we spend out on the field together it’s cool to be reminded of their heart behind it all as well.

Looking forward to keeping you updated,

Austin

And the Verdict is...

Exciting update written by Austin on the Ubuntu Football Blog.  Please check it out there... http://ubuntufootball.com/?p=409

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

At Ubuntu we’ve been training our Academy boys since the beginning of January. At our pre-season camp we set the standard high with timed runs and focused training sessions. Coming back from camp we continued with our high standards for 2012 and kept at it on the training field. The boys have been getting more fit and yet it’s still pre-season. Or I should say was. Because today marks the first official day that “club soccer” starts at Fish Hoek (the club Ubuntu has partnered with and plays at). That means on Tuesdays and Thursdays there’ll be 60-70 Fish Hoek boys at training in each age group instead of just our core group. Ubuntu Football Academy trains separately on Mondays and Wednesdays and the boys train with Fish Hoek on Tuesdays and Thursdays (which we run).

So that said, our level of expectation for the boys at tonight’s training is high. Last night at the end of practice, Casey reminded them that while all of the boys coming to play at Fish Hoek tomorrow evening have just been sitting around we’ve been training hard since the start of January. Therefore we expect our boys to stand out and to set the bar tonight. They should look sharper on the ball, be more fit, and really set the tone out on the field tonight. We also told them they should be outgoing on the field meeting the new players. On multiple levels we hope our Academy boys stand out. And a part of me wants to tell them, “You should come in with a little bit of pride knowing that you’ve been training harder and longer and at a higher level than the other players out there. That you should have some pride because you’re a part of the Ubuntu Academy so therefore you should put pride in the drills that will go on tonight. You should put pride in being first at the fitness drills. That you should make an effort to meet the new boys at Fish Hoek and make them feel welcome."  However, I also must realize that our Academy boys are still only 12 and 13 years old and still have lots of learning to do.

So as tonight kicks off the first Fish Hoek practice, in which kids from all over this area will be there, the rubber is going to meet the road. All of the training our boys have been doing since January is going to be displayed against all the other kids showing up for tonight’s first practice. Will there be a dramatic difference from our Ubuntu Academy boys and the rest of the boys? Only tonight will tell. So that said, I’m looking very forward to what tonight’s training session at Fish Hoek holds!

Will let you know how things go,

Austin

Holly is running a 1/2 Marathon

One of our old youth group students, Holly Bryce Rizk, who recently visited us in Cape Town, is running a 1/2 Marathon in April to raise money for Ubuntu.  Please check out her causevox site and support her endeavor!  Thanks, Holly!!

Casey