Kaya FC

The boys don't have as many opportunities to play soccer as they did in Angola. Not as popular of a sport at school and lack of public fields are probably the two biggest reasons. I signed the boys up for soccer training here in the Fort with Kaya FC (Kaya means "We Can"). They participate in the academy which is basically training/practices without tournaments or playing against other clubs. They have a more intense elite program which the boys are not doing. We have the option to go twice a week at a close by turf facility, but have typically been going only on Saturday mornings. I know it's tough because there's a lot of conditioning and drills in the heat and humidity, plus they don't really have friends from school on their team. But I'm hoping that they can learn from the experience both physically and mentally. One day I could tell something was not right with Toby. After practice he told me (after I had to kinda pry it out of him) that one of the kids called him an "idiot". Needless to say I was fuming inside. But we talked about sportsmanship and character and not letting what other people say affect us all the time. I definitely learned some things from the experience. Probably lots more to come. Makes me appreciate sports like tennis, and volleyball, and golf where you're less likely to be called an idiot (at least not as often as soccer, or football, or basketball). Anyways, I think the boys are benefitting a lot from the training and I enjoy watching them grow in the sport. One of the Philippines National Team games happened to be on TV and I saw Chris Greatwich playing (director for Kaya FC). I've had a few good conversations with him which is how we got involved with the club.

http://www.kayafcacademy.com