Wallace Tournament One Successfully Delivered

The teams gathering for the official welcome

Now the mayhem of Saturday has died down I can take a moment to gather my thoughts and reflect back on our first Wallace Tournament of the year. At the end of every six week placement, the students bring together the teams they have been coaching during their time here for the renowned Wallace Tournament. All five placements, Chipata, Fountain of Hope, Mtendere, Munali and St Patrick's rallied together the teams they had in football, basketball, netball and volleyball to not only celebrate all their hard work but for a chance for the children to challenge themselves against the other placements. This year the Olympic Youth Development Centre offered to host the tournament so rather than using our normal venue of Munali, we had the fantastic facilities of the OYDC where they had a 3G football pitch, purpose built netball and basketball courts and a volleyball court which differed greatly to the venues many of the children had been training at each week. 

The alarms were set and most of the students were up before 6am to complete their final prep before heading to their placement sites to meet their teams. Myself, Steph and Jenny, the staff member, had our taxi booked for 7:30am and before we knew it we were on our way to the OYDC to sort out the facilities before we welcomed over 350 children. A slightly stressful morning followed but the placement sites had soon arrived and the chants had begun as the excitement of the day was clear for all to see. Many of the children attending had never had the chance to experience the OYDC which made the day even more special and more memorable for them as well as all of us.

A team talk for Fountain of Hope's U12s Team

The official opening welcome was given by James and a mass song led by Sara before the sports begun. We had competitions running for U12s, U15s and girls' football, U12s, U15s and girls' basketball, mixed volleyball and U15s and U17s netball. As with most tournaments the start was delayed as we tried our best to deliver it on British time but we had to remember we were in Zambia and things are always much more relaxed and chilled. As I didn't have a particular team or area to oversee I volunteered my services for officiating and lent my hand to support the football tournament. 

The winning penalty for Team Munali

One thing that surprised me more than I expected was the level of competitiveness demonstrated by not only the UK students but the teams they had coached, with some of the children even cheating despite our motto of ‘fair play’. It seemed that winning was fundamental but I think this aspect made the day more enjoyable as each game was closely competed with teams only nipping it by one or two goals. The competitions continued as the day progressed, and despite some stressful moments running around, the children absolutely loved it as all of them were beaming with smiles whenever I walked by. As the day came to a close I was nominated the ref the U15’s football final and what a game it was. Despite the game finishing 0-0 and going to penalties you could feel the tension on the pitch as the teams pushed for the win but acted carefully to ensure they didn’t risk giving away a goal or making a mistake. The penalties themselves were probably some of the most tense penalties I had ever witnessed as both teams missed the first few, with Munali edging it 2-1 overall. 

The teams proudly collecting their winning medals

The medal ceremony soon followed as the winning teams proudly made their way to the front to collect their medals and be recognized for their success. To make sure every child who took part had a memento from the day, we had Wallace Tournament wristbands made which every child eagerly took as we handed them out. Overall a tiring but successful day as the students were not only able to see the fruits of their hard work but the children were able to come together to compete and put their practice into action. Another day in Zambia that I will never forget and our first of three Wallace Tournaments successfully delivered!