De vrienden van United Through Sport halen geld op voor ‘sponsor een kind’

Onder uitstekende weersomstandigheden hebben de vrienden van United Through Sport voor het

tweede jaar op rij de Tilburg ten miles geboren. Negen vrienden, tien mijl, voor het goede doel. Het

begin van een mooie traditie

 

Het was duidelijk dat niet iedereen dezelfde voorbereiding had. Maar tussen 1 uur en 10 minuten en

anderhalf uur was toch iedereen over de streep.

 

De deelnemers hebben geld opgehaald voor ‘sponsor een kind’ een initiatief van United Through

Sport dat de eerste lichting jongeren uit de landen waar ze actief is naar de universiteit te helpen.

Voor 5 euro kan een jongere een jaar lang studeren. De vrienden van United Through Sport zijn

vastberaden om zoveel mogelijk jongeren te helpen. Daar kan jij ook bij helpen! Word ook vriend

van United Through Sport en United Through Sport koppelt je aan een kind. Je ontvangt twee keer

per jaar een update van de student en draagt direct bij aan zijn of haar geluk en toekomst.

 

Volunteer Teacher Jen talks to the Coaches in South Africa

Jeanette Morelan is a United Through Sport volunteer who has been teaching on our project in South Africa. She also keeps a blog, “The Blessed Life”, in which she has recently written about a day in the life of a UTS coach. Here’s what happened.

J: Why did you decide to volunteer with United Through Sport?

I decided to volunteer at UTS because I fully believe in their goals and wanted them to help reach them at 100%. By placing children in the townships in the center of the attention, United Through Sport is taking care of the future of South Africa. —Julian S.

I’ve always wanted to do sport-related volunteering, and United Through Sport really stood out to me. After seeing a video and some photos of the kids that UTS was working with, it sounded incredible and described everything I wanted to do as a volunteer. —Jess T.

J: Describe a typical day of coaching.

Coaches go to 3 schools a day and do 14 schools in a week. When we arrive the children are already waiting to grab the equipment and take it to the different sports areas. Every school is different, so even though we plan our sessions beforehand we have to be able to adapt to circumstances such as playing conditions and ability and their capacity to speak English. Every coaching session is really different! Traveling from different schools can be tiring, but we always give 110% as the kids want to learn and enjoy the sessions. As coaches we discuss afterwards what can be improved and our experiences so we can be more prepared for the next week. It’s a busy day, but we really enjoy it and love getting to have different experiences and meeting different kids. —Jess T.

Shower, eat, coach, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, repeat. —Robbie M.

I wake up around 8:30am to have a shower. At 8:45 I’ll have a simple breakfast, just a simple toast with cheddar cheese. After the breakfast we usually have about a hour left to relax/chill and I use this time to contact my family and friends in Holland. During a coaching day, we coach 3 primary schools. Normally it depends on the school which results you’ll reach. At some schools you are able to really improve the skills of the kids, sometimes it’s just a victory keeping them all in one place! After finishing the coaching sessions we go back to the UTS accommodation where we can fill in the rest of the day after dinner at 5:30pm. We have a lot of fun visiting different places in Port Elizabeth or playing pool or table tennis back at the house. At the end of the day I feel really happy that I can sleep and repeat this for five times in the week. —Julian S.

J: What’s your favorite part about being a coach?

I love the excitement on the kids faces as the UTS bus pulls into each of the schools. They all love the coaching sessions, and are so excited to see you each week. I’ve been surprised at how quickly I’ve become so attached to all the kids we coach, and was genuinely gutted to have to say goodbye at the end of 10 weeks. The amount some of them have improved week on week is unbelievable which is so great to see. —Jo B.

The enormous satisfaction that the kids show by smiling, hugging you as a coach before, during and after a coaching session just because you took the time to be with them. Also when kids make really big improvements. When you can spot some great results it makes it one of the best jobs in the world! —Julian S.

Sports Coaching South Africa

What are some of the challenges associated with coaching?

Coaching different numbers of kids on sometimes bad pitches (fields) with little equipment. —Lukas S.

I would say that the most difficult, and challenging, part of being a coach was keeping the kids under control and listening to my instructions. Whilst it was very frustrating, I found that this provided a good learning experience for myself as an individual. —Felix M.

The biggest challenge is to realize that some kids are already too much influenced by their environment to realize how important education and sports are. Sport creates on its own a great opportunity for people to develop themselves and to create a better future. Sometimes this is hard to communicate for kids that have never been taught the value of sports or education. It’s hard sometimes to try and convince them to leave their current ideas and way of living. —Julian S.

How do you think that United Through Sport is making an impact?

We can see the positive difference that it makes first hand on both kids’ ability to play sports and also their confidence and attitudes toward each other. When we recommend children to the Junior School of Excellence, we know that it could effect the course of their entire lives and we can see that they take the opportunity very seriously. —Imi P.

United Through Sport makes a difference by brightening the days of hundreds of kids each week by bringing them together for some time of sports and fun. When they’re with us, they can leave all of their problems and issues that they might have at home and spend some time receiving mentoring and coaching that they would have never had before as well as enjoying time with their friends. —Chris B.

What are some things that you have learned as a coach with United Through Sport?

To not judge a person before you know their story. Sometimes you get really surprised about what these kids have to deal with. I expect that if we as people from first world countries had to deal with their circumstances we would probably behave the same. —Julian S.

I have learned more things about myself whilst here in South Africa than I have about the place and its inhabitants. I know now more about my personal limits and strengths, and that people will listen to me if I just use the right words. This experience has been the most valuable of my life so far and I will always treasure it. —Felix M.

 

BIBA South Wales Regional Golf Day

United Through Sport recently became the nominated charity of the South Wales British Insurance Broker’s Association (BIBA), nominated by Chairman Sue Davidge. BIBA is an intermediary organisation representing the interests of Insurance Brokers and is the largest of it’s kind in the UK.

April 17th marked the region’s first Golf Day which included thirteen teams from across South Wales. The rain held off and the day was enjoyed by all. Not only was there an excellent turn-out, but over £700 was raised for United Through Sport.

We would like to thank Sue and everyone else at BIBA for their ongoing support.

 

Military Batallion raises funds for United Through Sport

£1000 was raised in memory of LCpl Oliver Thomas who was sadly killed in Afghanistan last year. United Through Sport were invited to the memorial evening which was held on the 12th of February, where Trustee David Burton was presented with a cheque.

We would like to thank the Men and Women of 3MI Battalion for raising this money for United Through Sport.

We would also like to thank Olympic Gold Medal Winning Canoeist Etienne Stott who was on hand to lend his support. We wish him all the best of luck with his preparation for competition at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.

Christmas Surprise at United Through Sport Argentina

In November, Kevin Hagiel from Germany travelled to Buenos Aires to support United Through Sport Argentina. He is a player and coach at FC St. Pauli Rabauken in Hamburg. He came to Buenos Aires for a 6 week Football Volunteer programme and did a great job. His Spanish was good enough to gain the kids attention and affections.

By Christmas Eve, Kevin had finished his programme, but he couldn’t leave before giving some special presents to the kids he had been coaching for the past 6 weeks. At the end of his final session, when all of the kids thought it was time to finish, Kevin revealed the special gifts that he and FC St. Pauli Rabauken had arranged for them. Sport shirts, shorts and socks were given to the kids. Christmas came early for the kids from Pereyra park and for Kevin too, who couldn’t believe how happy and grateful the kids were.

We want to thank Kevin Hagiel and FC St. Pauli Rabauken for this amazing gesture. Beside Messi, Aguero and Tevez is a new name – and that name is Kevin.

 

Football trials in UK for Ghanaians

After completing a successful first two weeks of the UK tour in Portsmouth, our three academy boys from Ghana, have moved on to Scotland where they will be spending the next month training with St Mirren. This will be a fantastic opportunity for the boys to broaden their perspectives on football in the UK and Europe.

Other top level clubs in the UK such as Chelsea and Manchester City have also taken interest in what we are doing as a charity so the future for these boys and the charity as a whole is looking very exciting.

 

Academy Reach Finals for First Time

Our staff and volunteer coaches have been providing daily sessions in the SDA Academy in Castries during their recently concluded National school U19 post season play-offs. Under the guidance of United Through Sport coaches; Jamie Powell and Manish Patel, SDA managed to reach the finals for the first time in their history! Watched on by West Indies Captain and National icon, Darren Sammy, the team were unfortunately to lose in yesterday’s finals to Vieux Fort Comprehensive in front of live cameras and a large crowd. United Through Sport intends to continue its support of the SDA cricket programme, hoping to take the U15’s one step further.

National Development Clinic for Female Cricketers

United Through Sport Combine with St. Lucia Cricket Association in National Development Clinic for Female Cricketers

The St. Lucia Cricket Association is hosting a National Women’s Cricket Development Clinic this week, for national players and other young talented female cricketers. Our team are working alongside some of the region’s most respected coaches former players, including former West Indies Captain and Legend of Women’s Cricket Nadine George!

This two day clinic will cover all aspect of the game with the female players with technical and tactical scenarios and even media training. The United Through Sport Coaching team includes Director Joël Martin, Manish Patel, James Powell.