Helping to organize the Mini World Cup at ISK was one of the most special things that I have done. It was just amazing to see so many young kids enjoying football and doing what I never got to do at that age. There were over 700 kids playing football and the tournament was held for two days. As captain of the Varsity football team I was asked to get a group of dedicated football players together that would volunteer to help organize and run the event. Together with the head organizer, Wolfgang Fengler, we split up the group to do different jobs during the Mini World Cup. Throughout the weeks before the event I remained in touch with Mr. Fengler. I was put in charge of the whole student team during the event and I was particularly in charge of the under-7 tournament on the upper field on the first day. All under-7 matches, including the finals, were played on Saturday. On Sunday I was in charge of making sure everything flowed for the under-11 tournament finals on the upper field.
Saturday was the toughest day since the entire under-7 tournament was going to be played that day and all the group games were going to be played for the under-9 and under-11 teams. We had to come to school at 8:30 in the morning so that we could have a meeting with the referees, organizers, and coaches, and by 9:30 the matches had started. It was a very hectic day since I was completely alone at the upper field under-7 field. Therefore I was responsible for eight teams. It was very stressful because I had to make sure the referees were ready on time, the coaches were ready on time, and the players were on the field on time. I had to record the scores and run them down to the main tent. I had to deal with complaints by coaches about the ages of players from other teams and I had to make sure that people knew where they were going and what was going on in general. I also had to make sure that we were following the schedule as closely as possible and that the final would be played on time. I was running around the entire day and I only managed to get a 10-minute break to eat lunch. This action went on until around 5:30 in the afternoon when the day’s matches had finished and I was allowed to go.
One of the biggest challenges on the first day was dealing with complaints that some of the players of the Kibera under-7 team had used older players in their last group match. I had to discuss with other organizers, with the coaches, and with the players themselves. Eventually we decided to disqualify the team because there were many complaints that suddenly new older players had joined and controlled the game and originally not all of their players had been available when some of the organizers went around to check ages of the players. Another factor that determined our decision was that we attempted to contact their team and team coaches for more than an hour without finding them and since we had to move on we could no longer wait. It was a tough decision to make because we did not want to be biased against any team and we wanted all players to have a fair chance. When the coaches were finally available, it took a long time to fully explain why they were disqualified and it took long for them to accept it. However, in the end we managed the situation well and the tournament flowed on smoothly.
Sunday was less busy since there were fewer matches to be played. We had to come to school by 9 this time and I was in charge of the upper field. We had to direct teams to the fields and we had to write down the scores. Since there were more people helping me this day the work went much more quickly and easily. Everything went smoothly and this led to a great under-11 final. After this final the awards were given out and the thanking speeches were made. Three of us got the honor of presenting the medals to the under-11 first place team, Sags Soccer A. By 2:30 we were allowed to leave.
The entire Mini World Cup was an incredible experience. It was greatly encouraging to see the passion and determination of the young football players. It was wonderful to see so many other people enjoy the sport as much as I do. The experience was also a good challenge for my leadership and organizing skills. Volunteering for this event really built my overall skills as a football player, as an athlete, and as a leader.
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