|
|
 |
|
No. 00270 |
May 17-23, 2003 |
|
|
|
| |||||||||||
|
|
Time for Healthier Bodies for the Beer BelliedBy lute wa lutengano I grew up like any typical African kid. I had my share of malaria. I had my share of strokes administered on my tiny bottom by either my parents at home or my teachers at school for one reason or another. But like any African kid, I also had my share of fun. Stealing peaches and apricots from the orchard of neighbouring farmer was one of those. The other, for me to be precise, was playing on the school band and singing in the school church choir. But the best fun, which everybody enjoyed, at least all the boys, was football. Every youngster used to play it. It was played everywhere, on the roads, gardens any open space and on the school pitch. Actually it was very normal to find several matches taking place in the same school pitch. All one had to do is focus on the ball being played by his team and make sure whenever he gets it he kicks it forward towards the enemy’s goal. Somehow, with about 66 kids or more on the pitch, this was possible. It was from these humble beginnings that I developed my interest in football. Actually during my secondary school days at the then Mkwawa High School, formerly St Michael and St George’s, I was one of the star goalkeepers. I initially played for the African Kibuyu Football Club, one of the two main clubs at the school and later crossed over to their archrivals, the Hot Spurs. Some years later, at Oljoro National Service, me and one Mr. Simon Jengo, now a Director in one financial department at the Bank of Tanzania, were the camp goalkeepers. Our Camp team managed to reach the finals in the regional competition. This was not good news for us, the players. For it meant we were poised to enter the zonal competition if we won the final against the then famed Kiltex Football Club. We conspired and lost the match by 2-1. The Afandes were outraged and literally left us grounded inside the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium in town. Some good Samaritans later gave us a lift back to Oljoro, some 15 or kilometres from Arusha where we collected our belongings and next day left the camp for good. From then on I have been an on and off football player. I somehow found myself fully engaged in field hockey, where I played up to national level. But that is another story for another day. I did dabble a bit in football a few years ago when I joined a team of elders, the Executive Eleven in Arusha. But then I lost interest. A few weeks ago my interest in the game was revived. This was after seeing the beautiful football pitch at the General Tyre East Africa Ltd.(GTEAL), along Njiro road. Somehow that pitch re-lit my latent interest in the game which has of late successfully won a bad name at national level in the country. I immediately approached the General Manager of GTEAL, Mr. Deven Lohani to allow a few of us, who are in our middle ages and are on the verge of becoming senior citizens, to sweat it out on those grounds every Sunday on the pretence of playing football. The dynamic Deven did not let me down. So come Sunday 15th June 2003, beginning 11 a.m. those passing along Njiro road will see a spectacle of beer bellies and balding heads sweating profusely while trying to kick an evasive ball towards the enemy’s goal. This will be an every Sunday event. I am sure this will not only be an entertaining event but it will also result in fitter and healthier bodies of the calibre of people that I belong to. So come and look and laugh! It is healthy. |
|
Last modified:
May 15, 2003. Webmaster: WDJMallya |
