Could be My Last

So it’s my last full week in Goma this week. I want to take this opportunity to write about my time here though because with how the internet has been lately, this may be my last post from Africa.

This is more so for me than everyone reading my blog as I’d like to log for myself everything that has happened in these last 8 months, but I am going to just make a bullet pointed list of the things that my organization, Promo Jeune Basket, has been able to accomplish in the past 8 months. I have just been happy to be along for the ride.

1. The whole organization of PJB was reformatted so as to have it organized as a professional basketball program. This includes a board, an administration, and a team of coaches who all work together on a daily basis.
2. We were able to develop two big time international corporate sponsorships (not allowed to name the names) and some local partnerships with other youth initiatives.
3. We built three new basketball courts in the town of Goma. The courts are all designed bigger and better than any existing basketball infrastructure in the whole province of North Kivu.
4. I was able to provide coaching training to the coaches, who in turn I watched grow a lot in their knowledge of the game along with their teaching methods and approaches.
5. The coaches became paid employees of the organization instead of just volunteers as we found funding to pay each coach 150$ a month.
6. We were able to visit the volcano, and the whole group of 10 players and 3 coaches successfully made it up the mountain.
7. We took both a boys and a girls team to Kigali to play international competition and take in the culture of the Rwandese city.
8. We were able to hand out over 30 scholarships. That means that 30 of our kids will be going to school for free this year, which takes off a huge burden on their studies and their families.
9. We entered a boys and girls team into the provincial league. The boys current record is 1-5 and the girls are 2-0. Though 1-5 is a bad record, when have you ever seen an expansion team with a winning record? We are building these teams for the future.
10. Created a PJB calendar, which was professionally designed and printed.
11. Created a new identity for PJB with official logo’s and core values in which the players and organization can ground themselves in.
12. Distributed countless numbers of shoes, basketballs, and meals to the players of PJB.
13. Partnered with a local library and hired a teacher to assist in our educational mission.
14. We moved into an official and permanent office.
15. Many more daily miracles that happened in the lives of our players and coaches as they worked together that cannot be quantified. PJB developed into a family

Overall, I know that my time here has been productive, and it sure has been rewarding. More than any of the accomplishments that we were able to succeed in this year I am forever going to be changed by the relationships I formed with my players, fellow coaches, and local friends. Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better? But because I came here, I have been changed for good.

Cerebral Palsy Baller

I was reading an article earlier today about a basketball player in some small town in Michigan who has Cerebral Palsy. He just finished his junior season in which he tallied 11 points over the course of the season. The problem with the boy is that he is 18 and will turn 19 before September 2012, which means that by MHSA rules he is ineligible to participate in athletics during his senior year.

            Currently there are many people that are pushing to make an exception or change the MHSA regulations for this boy because he started school late due to his handicap. At first I was enraged that a boy could be denied the opportunity to play competitive basketball for the last time in his life. He has been given a special opportunity to compete at his highest possible level and he has succeeded. It is sad to hear that his career will have to end before his high school career ends because of a state rule.

            I have been thinking about the story since I read it though, and I have found myself siding with MHSA. I understand that this boy has overcome overwhelming odds to fight cerebral palsy and still make his high school varsity team, but does that mean that he should have the rules bent for him? I understand that there are many other states with exceptions written into their rules regarding age and are successful with it, but this is a rule that should have no exceptions.

            First off I think that if exceptions are written in to the rules it opens up so much room for cheating and controversy. We know that somewhere some kid will have some minute handicap will be held back because he is a superstar and will have an extra year to dominate high school sports. No matter how hard the MHSA would try to cover their backs with the rules, someone would find a way to sneak around the gray regulations. When the regulations are black and white, they are not only fair but they also leave no room for interpretation and walking the line of right or wrong.

            Also, it has been seen through the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, and now the movements of handicaps to gain equal rights within education and the workplace. So, first of all, why should someone with a handicap be given the unfair advantage to play when above the age limit? Doesn’t that put handicap students at an unfair advantage over the rest of us?

            I don’t want to sound cold-hearted because I do feel really sorry for the kid and he is an inspiration to me and probably everyone else that has heard his story. This being said, I don’t feel more sorry for him than I do any of the other 19 year old high school seniors that are ineligible for high school sports. My heart breaks for every athlete who finds themselves in a situation where they can no longer play the sport they love for whatever reason. Some parents chose to start their kids at school late, and some parents are obliged to start their kids in school late, but it both cases the kids is starting school late and both circumstances the kids should be treated the same.

            Im trying to find a good example to compare the situation to, but this is a unique problem occurring. That’s probably why it has struck up such a debate in small town Michigan. I agree with fans, parents and friends that I would love this kid to continue playing basketball on the team. I do not agree that MHSA should bend their eligibility rules for him though. If I have a kid on my basketball team with autism and he cant meet the 2.0 GPA requirement I wont bend the rules for him.[1] Though it is an unfortunate situation I am going against the very essential belief of my being and siding with the ruling organization to say that I don’t think this kid should be able to play next season.

Any thoughts?

---

[1] This is a different situation though because I would try to work with the kid and get him tutors to try and get that GPA up, but no matter how hard this kid tries, he can never stay 18 years old for an extra year.

Book Review

“Listen to me, eyes of mine, guard that which is thine” Serbian Folk Song

I just finished reading Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich by Mark Kriegel, and man was it an amazing book. I am a sucker of course for sports stories, and a huge Pistol Pete fan[1], and this book is a sports story about Pistol Pete, so of course I would say it’s amazing. The story goes way deeper than just being a biography and sports story though. The book ties together sports, family, creation, love, and pressure in a way that shows both the glories and the lowest stages of life.

            There was so much I learned from reading this book that I would have to write a book myself just to talk about it all. I can say though that I finished this book in a week. The book is about 320 pages long, and if anyone knows me, usually a book this size would take me over a month to finish. For the first time I know what it is like to pick up a book and not be able to put it down because each and every word kept my eyes glued to the script and my fingers flipping through the pages.

            The first third or so of the book taught me a lot about basketball. Press Maravich, Pete’s dad, is actually as much of a main character in the story as Pete. The story I would say is a true father-son story. The first part of the book focuses on Press who was really one of the early pioneers of the sport of basketball. I learned a great deal about the beginnings of the sport, how Press was a visionary, and really how the sport became what it is today.[2]

            The second bit of the book focuses on Pete. It is interesting the way the book tackles the life of Pete though because it tells the story as a boy who never really was able to escape the expectations of his father. We all know that Pete Maravich is the best college player of all time and one of the best basketball players of all time, but this story isn’t one of glitz and glamour. Pistol Pete’s life was one of a child star. From the first time that Press put a basketball in his son’s hands at age three he would forever be known as the Pistol. The story of Pete is a conflict between a person, from a boy to a man, trying to either accept his role as the Pistol or run away from that same role. The book was a painted a perfect picture of this struggle in Pete’s life that ruined him in the end.

            The last part of the book is Pete’s life after basketball. It involves the death of close family members and the life of new family members. Pete had a very complicated life while he was in the spotlight, but the same complications followed him even as he left basketball. His life playing basketball left him a little off, but he could never be sane without basketball. I like how this last little bit of the book shows the struggles of Pete’s kids living in “The Pistol’s” shadow. The way the book is written you almost feel sorry for the kids, but you end up almost proud of the kids as if they were your own.

            The book is more than just a portrait of a basketball family. It is a portrait of the struggles faced when living, or trying to live “the American dream.” It is a portrait of immigrant life in the early 1900’s, a portrait of a son constantly chasing the his own shadow which was created by his father, and it is a portrait of a man searching… just searching, for something other than what he was handed in life.

I was expecting to read a book about a basketball hero of mine, and just bask in his amazing-ness as I flipped through the pages. Instead I was put on a roller coaster through the life of a man and his son who developed the game in which my whole life is centered today. The rollercoaster was not the Millennium Force though which finishes with everyone cheering, laughing, smiling, high fiving their friends, and wiping the tears produced by extreme G-forces and pure joy. Instead the roller coaster was The Magnum, a great ride which is exciting and fun, but as you pull back in to the station you push impatiently at your safety bar to get out of your seat because it was a little too tight and the bumps in the ride left you a little queasy and gave you a small headache in the back of your head. This fact is why it was such a great book, because the life of Pistol Pete is one that you would look at from the outside and wish to have, but when you actually saw what rollercoaster his life was you would only ride it once or twice, then get as far away from it as possible.

---

[1] Really though… who isn’t? I remember as a kid even before I liked basketball my parents showed me the movie about Pistol Pete. The one that is loosely based on Pete’s 8^th grade season while his dad was coaching at Clemson. If any of you have seen it, especially as a kid, the parts where Pete is dribble blind folded in his basement or spinning the ball on his finger for an hour and flicking it through the hoop at the end, there is no way you couldn’t have fallen in love with the Pistol, or at least the idea of him.

[2] One thing I learned is that Pistol Pete, who was almost a machine built by his father, made the game what it is today. Many people could say that Magic, Bird and Jordan are the ones that changed the game, but basketball today has almost as much to thank to the Maravich’s for as it does Mr. Naismith. The Maravich’s were pioneers of the game, and because of them the game has forever changed.

Recent Struggles

So recently I have been quite down. For anyone that knows me I never get angry, never get depressed, never really get sad, but for some reason I have been down these past two weeks. PJB has really been making strides as we opened up two new courts in town, gave out 30 scholarships to our most deserving players and we even just rented a great new office for a year. So progress is being made for sure, and it is just increasing our potential to become a great basketball academy in Africa.

I have been down though because of the one reason I came to Africa, and that is to coach. I feel like these past couple months I have gotten so caught up in all the other aspects of a good basketball program that I neglected my duty to coach. This neglect also came from the fact that I have been trying to ease off on always coaching, to let the local coaches step into their roles again as head coaches and begin to really thrive from what they have learned throughout the year. My expectations were definitely not met.

Napoleon Bonaparte: “If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.”

I had great plans for these last couple months. I would be able to just oversee practices, work on my game as a player and focus on playing for our team as just a player and not a player/coach, and watch the players improve day by day. Instead I saw our boys and girls teams, in exhibition matches, play basketball like a bunch of inmates fighting over a bar of soap. The ball moved around with no purpose as on both offense and defense every player on the floor chased after the ball like it was an autographed picture of Justin Beiber in a crowd of adolescent girls. It was like watching middle school girl’s basketball, no offense to middle school girl’s basketball but you know what I mean.

The games were just evidence of the poor poor job the coaches were doing in teaching the game and if the coaches were doing a poor job that means that I am not doing my job. This is really what brought me down, and last weekend I met my breaking point. It got to a point where I was so stressed and angry I got myself sick. Then I read the above quote by Napoleon. I want the best for these kids and coaches here, so I could just do everything myself. That is definitely something I can do, and of course we will have the results I want because I will be doing everything!

I began planning and forgot about everything else except what I was going to do. I was going to train all the kids starting at 7 AM. I was going to demand the coaches to be at the office all day every day, and make them listen to my teaching all day. If the coaches didn’t do what I say they would just be suspended. That would be easy. That would make them listen, and at the end of the day I would get what I want.

I was ready on Tuesday to go in a lay down the LAW! Then I watched the Terry Fox; Into the Wind documentary from ESPN. This really got me thinking about what kind of leader I want to be[1]. There are many different types of leaders you can be in this world, and I’m not going to get into that lesson, but what kind of leader do I want to be?

There is always the Napoleon type leader who always wants to take things into their own hands. They don’t trust anyone because they are the leader and they are the only ones capable of getting things done. I find myself at times falling into this trap. There are the power hungry leaders, like the one here in DRC, Joseph Kabila, who gives up on their purpose or cause when there is struggle and just use their power to gain wealth and a name for themselves.

Socrates: “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”

Then there are the leaders that never back down and never give up because they are living for those that they are leading. This is the leader that I want to be. Terry Fox didn’t give up until he died in leading the cause of cancer. He didn’t give up when he lost his leg, he didn’t give up when he saw his efforts to run across Canada produce no fundraising, and he didn’t even give up when he found that he again had cancer that found it’s way into his lungs. Terry Fox was only 22 when he died of cancer, yet he was an example for leaders all over the world. He was a selfless servant to his cause, and in being so he changed the world.

This week I changed. Though pessimism is still alive in my mind I realized exactly what Socrates said, “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” In the same way I cannot make my coaches change their ways, I can only make them think about something different. I cannot make them come to my daily teaching sessions, but I can show them my commitment to the cause by being there daily. I cannot make the coaches make daily practice plans, and coach off of those plans, but I can do that and show them how effective it is. It is not within my power or my duty to make sure the coaches are always doing exactly what I want them to do, but at least I can try to make them think about basketball and think about teaching in a way that is different than before.

I went into our meeting on Wednesday ready to ream the coaches out for their poor performance. Instead I pleaded my case. I told them that I am here everyday. I came to Goma just to teach basketball and just to teach them. 24 hours a day I will be there for them, to teach basketball, help with their trainings, or just be a friend. If they want to come they can, if they don’t I will still be their friend. But like I wish for them to grow and learn as coaches, I too wish to learn and grow as a coach. I know that I cant do it alone, so I try to call daily meetings and schedule events so that I can grow and learn and experience. I can only encourage that the other coaches to want to learn and grow along with me. If not, I guess it’s my loss along with their loss…

---

[1] Just as a side note for those of you that haven’t seen the documentary, it is a must watch. Even though you probably already know the Terry Fox story, the way the doc is put together is great. I just remember the first time I flipped to it on ESPN, it was the last 15 or 20 minutes of the movie. I was with my girlfriend, and within the first 5 minutes of watching it a commercial came on and both of us sat silent, sniffling back tears. The power of Terry Fox’s story, but also the documentary is quite overwhelming.

Cultures of Resistance

“There are two super powers in the world: The United States and Global Public Opinion.”

I just finished watching a documentary called Cultures of Resistance. It has been a movie that I have wanted to look into for a while and I finally was able to watch it. The interesting thing is that Promo Jeune Basket is actually supported by the organization that made the documentary. The organization is now called Cultures of Resistance, but was formerly known as the Caipirinha foundation.

My copy of the documentary had no subtitles, and it is filmed all over the world in different languages. Though I could not understand the words of a lot of the stories, the message was definitely transmitted to me in the strongest way. The message and focus of the movie is the message that we as humans can resist in ways other than violence and war. When there is iniquity and struggle the strongest form of resistance in the human spirit comes from passion and love, not anger and hatred. Violence and war are forms of resistance stemming from hatred and anger. Art, poetry, music, dance, photography and the celebration of the human spirit are forms of resistance that are driven by passion and love. This movie celebrates the latter.

The documentary addresses so many different struggles in the world that I could spend all day writing about each one. The struggles include those in Palestine, Liberia, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Iran, and even the DRC just to name a few. Though I am familiar with most of the struggles, I just want to focus on the overall message that I took from the movie. What is stuck in my mind now is the strength that we as human beings attain through resisting, through saying no to atrocities such as war, and how that strength must be the driving force in leading us into the future.

This strength, this force of resistance is what we saw in the recent Arab spring. Though in some cases it resorted to violence, we watched a resistance take place. This resistance wasn’t one of violence though, it was one driven by public opinion and desire to see a better life for each and every person. The resistance of the people in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and the many other countries standing up against the inequality in their countries was nothing less than inspirational to me.

War leads us down a path to death and destruction. Near the end of the movie they begin to mention the World Peace Day in 2003 when the largest global movement of people (almost 15 million) was recorded in the streets of various cities around the world. They mention a New York Times article where the author wrote, “There are once again two super powers in the world: The United States and global public opinion.” A very powerful message coming from that time period for sure as the United States really represented war as they moved into Iraq and continued fighting in Afghanistan. Though I could go in many different directions with that quote (and rant for hours and hours) I interpret that quote as, “There are two super powers in the world: War and Public Opinion.”

It is the spirit of humans that guide the world into a happy and prosperous future, and public opinion is the mark that the human spirit sets itself within society. So there are two super powers in this world today. One super power is that which we see too often (and is gloried too much within too may cultures) is war, which will eventually end up destroying the world. War has never brought anything good upon the world. The other super power is one that is coming to life in as uncontrollable and immovable movement to make the world a better place and that is global public opinion. This film again is a remarkable document of the way the people of the world are standing up against war and conflict to make the world a better place. It is a film celebrating life, which is the focus of public opinion, and denouncing destruction, which is the focus of war and conflict.

To see what Cultures of Resistance is about go visit, www.culturesofresistance.org, and you can see clips from the movie. You can also see the mini feature that they did on my organization, Promo Jeune Basket. I don’t really know how to portray my thoughts right now except through writing, so while watching the movie I wrote this poem:

Got your face in the pillow you cant breath

You kick and kick and kick but no one can hear you scream

thinking to yourself does anyone care

look around and see that no one is there

stand up to look further You can taste the fresh air

no one is in sight but the air is pristine

your lips begin to move and the truth comes out

look down see millions with their face in the pillow trying to shout

what is it keeping them with their face down?

you begin to yell “with love we swim with war we drown”

Yell and yell and yell until there is no other sound

the kicking ceases as the people take your words into account

Some stand up just to raise their fist

One by one I see the people resist

One by one the crowd begins to multiply

No longer will they lay down and just die

Instead stand and let the truth be their guide

You can feel the movement in your midst

The movement takes form led by the youth

A young boy sheds his bullet-proof

Drops his piece as a symbol peace

Begins dribbling his ball up and down the streets

A young girl takes her pen and writes what she sees

A movement of the young revealing the truth

No longer are our faces down in the pillow

People took the choice to stand and grow

But it wasn’t the kicking and screaming that got us out

It was the realization that love is what life is about

One person inspired many to stand and flout

This is the resistance our culture will show

Sweet Sixteen!

Thursday

After watching the games through the night of Thursday I am more depressed than I ever have been in my life. Not only did every team that I want to win lose, but Sparty bowed out and even worse I had to watch the last seconds of Draymond Green’s career. I’m sure that Dancing Bear will be playing basketball somewhere in the future, and I hope the NBA, but I’m not sure he will thrive in the NBA and will probably end up playing somewhere overseas where I wont be able to watch.

So before I get into a recap of what I saw I want to pay tribute to the 4 beautiful years of basketball Dray played in East Lansing. When he came in (before I saw him play) I thought he was some bigheaded Mr. Basketball from Saginaw that was overweight and was only Mr. Basketball in high school due to his size. Very quickly I saw differently. Even though he wasn’t a superstar as a freshman, he was good and he showed a lot of potential. He was fast for someone his size, very passionate when he played, had quick feet, and good touch next to the rim along with a pretty good mid range jump shot. Throughout his career he developed all those skills even more, and lost weight to become 2012’s Big Ten Player of the Year and a NCAA Player of the Year. If Anything I think he deserves the Senior Award, and if anyone else gets that I will be very disappointed, no one deserves it as much as him.

Anyway, Draymond has grown into one of the most versatile players in college basketball. He is a great leader with his passion and intensity. If there is any example I would ever want to give to players I coach I would show them Draymond Green. Even though he would play outside of his game sometime, he never did it in a stupid way; he would just do it because he was so aggressive. The mistakes that Dray makes aren’t due to a lack of knowledge or heart, but they happen due to him wanting to win so badly that he tries to do too much. I love that guy! Anyway, I can see him being somewhat of a Big Baby Davis in the NBA at best, or go play over in Spain, China, or Turkey never really to be heard from again in the States. I know that I will be a lifetime fan though, and no matter what country he ends up in I will know his career.

So lets get onto the games…

The night began with probably the best game of the night: Syracuse vs. Wisconsin. I must say that I was hoping that the buzzcuts would pull out the upset, but that’s because of the Big Ten affiliation and that I have not been impressed with the Orange’s uninspired play so far. The game proved to be an impressive one.

Wisconsin of course slowed the game down and was very patient against the zone. One thing that surprised me while watching the game was how poorly Boehiem’s 2-3 rotated. Wisconsin really put on a barrage of three pointers from all angles, but I didn’t think Wisconsin really worked too much against the zone. A lot of their 3’s came from the wing, of course in the waning seconds of the shot clock, but in a lot of possessions the ball never made it into the high post or short corner. The guards would just move the ball for about 30 seconds on the perimeter and than jack one up. This is surprising that ‘Cuses zone was so vulnerable without the ball really every penetrating the zone at all. It’s the poor defense of the Orange and good shooting of Wisconsin that kept the game close.

Of course Syracuse scored in all different ways and Wisconsin never took away C.J. Fine’s left hand allowing way too many easy layups. Syracuse played how they are expected on offense and they were able to pull out the W. The best part of the game for me was listening to Boeheim at the end of the game. He gave an interview that sound like he was saying, “This Wisconsin team is the best team we’ve seen in a long time.” It made me laugh because Wisconsin is a good team, but I wouldn’t even put them in the 10 best teams in college basketball, and Boeheim better prepare well for their next match because it will prove harder than the Badgers match up for sure.

For other thoughts on the game that really sum up the last play of the game (which I don’t have enough time or space to into), read this great article from grantland, http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7726923/bo-ryan-wisconsin-syracuse-sweet-16

Finishing right after the ‘Cuse-Buzzcuts game was the Lousiville-Michigan State game. From the beginning of the slugfest I knew Sparty was in trouble. The game from the very tip resembled more of a street fight than a basketball match. This wasn’t a good omen for MSU, as Louisville plays way more grimy than Sparty. State plays grimy in a very organized fashion under Izzo, but the Cardinal play a very in your face grimy under Pitino.

The game looked wide open in the beginning of the first half as both teams played lock down defense and neither team could put the ball in the hoop. The point at which Louisville began separating themselves is when they began knocking down threes with about 6:00 minutes left in the first half. Going into half time I think the Cardinals hit four three pointers to put themselves up 23-18 as the teams header to the locker room. Now I missed the first part of the second half because I was watching the Buzzcuts three point barrage, but I have heard and can imagine what happened. Louisville began throwing more refined hooks and uppercuts by Dieng protecting the rim on defense and Behanan hitting the offensive boards hard. Michigan State usually isn’t known for it’s stellar offense, but it is known every year for its work on cleaning the glass, but Louisville dominated them on the glass. When I saw the stat recap about half way through the second I saw State losing the rebounding battle by about –10 I knew that the game was over.

The next two games: Ohio State-Cincinnati and Florida-Marquette games were two that I was very excited for because I knew anything could happen in the games. Cincy looked strong for the first little bit of the game, but the more talented Buckeyes really handed it to them after letting them stick around in the first half. Ohio State’s scoring came from everywhere. What’s surprising is that their best scorer in my mind, Will Buford, was the only starter not to score over 10 points. Cincy, other than the beastly Yancy Gates, was just too undersized to match up and play good defense against Ohio State.

The Florida- Marquette game went differently than I thought it would. I really thought that Marquette was the better team, and even though I knew Florida is much better than their seven seed ranking the Gators proved to be the better team. I thought that the only way that Florida would win the game would be if the Golden Eagles threw the ball away a lot, and really just beat themselves. The game actually was one where both teams played average games. Neither team did anything to lose the game or put themselves ahead o the other team by a lot. This is why I think Florida proved themselves to be the better team.

Bradley Beal showed that he is one of the best guard NBA prospects in college basketball as he went for 21, 6, and 4. His size and skill really make him someone who I think will go high in the draft, maybe top 5. Like I said though, there is no real statistic that can show why Florida won the game, but they shot a little better, had a couple more rebounds, and played a little bit better defense. Even though statistically the Gators and Eagles were pretty close, Florida came out on top by 10 points.

Most disappointing fact of the night: We will not be able to watch Draymond Green and Jae Crowder go at each other in the Elite Eight.

Senior of the night: Even though it kills me to not pick Draymond, Jordan Taylor showed that he is the most experienced point guard in the country and is the only player that I think should give Green a run at the Senior award.

Best player to watch run back on defense after scoring on offense: Next year watch Derrick Nix run back on defense after a put back. He looks like Don Vito freaking out after getting abused by Bam. He’s probably the goofiest in this category, just ahead of Shaq Daddy.

Funnest player to watch play of the night: Justin Jackson from Cincy was great to watch; getting some great hustle blocks on unsuspecting Buckeye victims. It was just exciting watch him run all over the court without abandon.

Players of the Night: Gorgui Dieng, C.J. Fair, Bradley Beal, Lenzelle Smith Jr.

Final Four teams of the night: Louisville and Ohio State

So that was Thursday…

Friday night I missed watching all the games because I started getting sick from not sleeping, and its not the greatest thing in the world to be sick in Africa. So I decided I needed to sleep last night and hoped to catch replays of the games, but of course there was no electricity during the day, so I had to settle for box scores. Today is a sad day for Matthew as I saw what I expected: two great games in the UNC-Ohio game and the KU-NC State game. I’m just sad that neither NC State or Ohio pulled out the upset. Instead of me blabbering on about what I think about games that I didn’t even watch, I will just get on to the teams that I think will win in the Elite Eight and make it to the Final four, and it should be no surprise.

Final Four teams of the night: Kentucky and North

ISC basketball court inauguration

Today Promo Jeune Basketball inaugurated it’s second new basketball court (le Terrain Zinga Teta) in the month of March. I an write with the utmost pride today, and all the members of PJB can stand tall as we have surpassed the greatest of expectations that anybody (including ourselves) could have imagined. Even speaking with our Director, Dario Merlo, he said that he always dreamed that he would be able to provide a great basketball court for the players of Goma, but never did he imagine two great basketball courts.

In the same way, as I mentioned in my other inauguration blog, it has been a dream of mine to one day build a basketball court in Africa. Well today my dream has come to fruition two times over. Even though I am not personally responsible for the funding or construction of the courts, I like to think that my presence here in Goma and my blood and sweat (and yes even tears) put into the construction of the court has made this day possible.

Our new court is different from the other court we built. We decided to design the two courts differently. Le Terrain Valerie, which was inaugurated the other week, was your common six hoop (one center court with two side courts) basketball court. This new court though only features four hoops. There is one main court and two half courts on the new court. This court is also located in a much more public place than our other court. Le Terrain Zinga Teta is located on the main road passing through the middle of downtown Goma and is built in front of the Institute of Commerce in Goma (or better know to people of Goma as ISC). It is a great location as it again is it the middle of two of the largest secondary schools in Goma, ISC and Instagoma.

The only problem with the location is that it is too open to the everyday traffic of cars, people walking, chookadoos, bicycles, and whatever mode of transportation they can think of here in DRC. It is located about 20 meters off of the road and is open to everyone walking by. Even during it’s construction a lot of the day was spent telling people to walk around the court, not right through the middle of it. Of course we want everyone to come and enjoy our new court, but some people don’t have the common knowledge no to walk across a basketball court that people are playing on.

The traffic of the location also causes another problem, which is dust. I swear I have lost a couple years of life living in Goma because of all the dust, smog, and smoke I have inhaled. On the dirt roads of Goma it is not uncommon to not be able to see 50 meters in front of you due to the diesel engines releasing all the crap from its exhaust, the trucks and cars kicking up large amounts of dust from the dirt, and the smoke, which is billowing from multiple piles of burning garbage. It sounds disgusting and it really is. Anyway, our new court is located right on the busiest and dirtiest roads of Goma, which is not ideal.

Even though there are these problems with the basketball court, it does not take away from the fact that it is beautifully contracted, well designed, and now ready to be broken in. Today was like pulling a new pair of shoes out of its box and putting them on. You feel great and know that you look good (just as the court did for PJB) but there are always some troubles breaking those shoes in. The court was beautifully set up with a DJ table, and a tent covered sitting area. The sun was shining and the people began to arrive to watch as we opened up that new pair of shoes for the first time.

The ceremony began at a Congolese 3:00PM again with the broken record sounding national anthem. This time speeches from PJB director Dario, and the Provincial Minister of Sport in North Kivu, as well as the president of the regional basketball league headlined our ceremony. After the speeches was the ribbon cutting ceremony, which was just your average ribbon cutting ceremony. Then we had a special surprise for the children of PJB.

Along with being able to open our new basketball court we took the opportunity to present 30 players with scholarships. In Goma even the public schools require fees to attend and many of our players are kicked out of school because they cannot pay. It is a terrible problem in Goma that education is not available for everybody because of the fees[1].  Today PJB was able to support 30 players with a year of education. At the end of the ceremony, and before the games began we took a short time in honoring the effort and focus of these 30 kids receiving scholarships.

After the presentation of the scholarships, we began the girl’s game. The PJB Girls Elite team was matched up against DC Tropicana for the first time this year. Just as the game began some large clouds appeared out of nowhere and decided to dump on us for about five minutes, so the game was paused for a couple minutes. After the clouds cleared everything continued as planned, like the rains never came. The sun greeted the inbounds whistle to re-commence the game. The match was a 30 minute abbreviated match, which saw Tropicana beating us (PJB) by 3 points in a very scrappy and disorganized game.

The second game, which was scheduled for the inauguration, didn’t involve a PJB team. Instead we decided to invite two other teams from the town to join in our celebration and play a match to break in our new court. These two teams were Goma Bulls and Mt. Carmel. These two men’s teams actually star some of the better youth players of Goma playing alongside grown men. The match was very up-tempo and very entertaining, and ended in a Mt. Carmel victory

Overall the inauguration was very successful and beautiful. We had probably close to 1000 people out to the new court to celebrate our accomplishment with us. It is great to share PJB’s hope and excitement for the future of Goma with the people of Goma

---

[1] Each school year requires three payments of anywhere from 80$-$200 depending on the school. Though this only amounts to anywhere from 240$-600$ per year, which sounds like nothing to those of us paying back university loans, for a person who only makes 30$ a month, it is difficult to use 80$ every three months on school.