Coaching children in
football skills is very rewarding. Many of the schools
Travellers works with are very
underprivileged and the children come from a cross-section of
backgrounds, but mostly
from the poorer communities.
Our Football coaching placements are
based in schools on the beautiful Island of Mombasa.
As
a Travellers volunteer you will not only have the opportunity to coach
volleyball but you will have the chance to run the Travellers Kenya Football
Tournament as part of your placement.
You don't need any qualifications to do a coaching placement in Kenya.
ABOUT THE PROJECT: Football in Kenya has a
massive following! You will see many children playing in the street kicking
home made footballs (plastic bags tied in a ball with string) as well as
children and adults walking around in replica Premiership football kits.
This passion for football is also shown by the government and National team
who use football as a tool to gain recognition of Kenya as a Nation.
Although there is a great
desire for football, it is very hard for children and groups to gain access
to good facilities and equipment. Many of the pitches in Kenya are on red
dirt with bits of grass or sometimes no grass at all, which makes the game
very fast paced and exciting. Travellers have arranged football coaching
placements in Kenya based at city council schools and private schools in and
around Mombasa.
Many of the schools are
very underprivileged, with the children coming from a cross-section of
backgrounds; mostly from the poorer communities. The facilities may be poor,
but the schools are extremely accommodating and you will be made to feel
very welcome.
There may also be coaching
available at football grounds and sports clubs throughout
Mombasa. The students that you will coach here have more advanced football
skills so a lot of lesson planning will be involved to keep them improving!
Most
facilities are very poor, but football has quite a
following so your lessons will no doubt be very popular!
You will normally coach groups of students during the day and the
school teams after school. You should be prepared to take lessons at various times
of the day, including the heat of the mid day sun.
There is great scope to be very busy and Travellers have arranged a football
coaching timetable for you but things change in Kenya so be prepared to be
flexible.
You will coach in schools
where the children may range from 6 years of age, up to about 16. The
schools themselves are fairly small, ranging from 200 to 500 pupils. Class
sizes will be arranged by yourself and the head teacher on arrival to Kenya,
but you may have up to 30, 40 OR 50 students at one time. The children are very
enthusiastic, but often lack any direction. This is why your input will
hopefully help them individually to grow as a person and football is a great
means to teach them life skills and team spirit. As they learn new skills
and grow in confidence, they will also be encouraged to work well at other
subjects, not just football.
The football
placement gives you a lot of freedom to direct your
classes to your own liking, and it gives the children an opportunity
to learn outside of the formal classroom environment. Here students thrive
within energetic surroundings.
THE
TRAVELLERS FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT
As there is very little sports
infrastructure and little opportunity for schools to play in competitive
tournaments in Kenya, Travellers have created a number of tournaments which
allow the children to use the skills they have learnt from the volunteers
and put them into practice playing against other schools. If you choose to
become a football volunteer in Kenya, you will be involved in running, organising and managing the tournament,
if the tournament falls within the period of your placement.
The tournament will be the
highlight of your placement as you can see that all of the work you have
done on your placement has paid off - and seeing the enjoyment it brings to
the children is priceless.
School
holiday dates are approximately as follows;
First term: 6
January to 4 April
Second term: 5
May to 8 August
Third term: 8
September to 28 November
During school holidays,
there are some opportunities to coach children.
This will normally be based at the schools which have arranged special
holiday classes for the children. Sports clubs are also busy during this
time as the children have no school to go to. Please
speak to us if you want to do your placement during a school holiday.
FREE FOOTBALL COACHING MANUAL AND SUBSCRIPTION TO COACHING WEBSITE As a volunteer
sports coach with Travellers, we have arranged for you
to get a year’s free subscription to a Coaching website:
www.grassrootscoaching.com. With
this membership (which normally comes with a price tag
of £39.99), you automatically become a member of the International Coaches
Association (ICA) and join a community of coaches from over 65 countries.
The ICA is
rapidly growing into one of the largest coaching organizations in the world.
This subscription will allow you access to over 4,000 pages of the best
interactive, online soccer and football coaching information.
Although
they deal mainly with soccer/football, the coaching principles are the same for
all sports and will be helpful for you in teaching any sport. This
excellent resource should hopefully be able to give
you a few tips that will benefit both you and the children that you’ll be
coaching, and enable you to gain the maximum enjoyment from your placement.
Some of the Schools have very poor
facilities and often children play in bare feet
ACCOMMODATION AND LIVING IN KENYA
IN MOMBASA: Your accommodation will vary, depending on which school you're placed
in. We have different types of accommodation, but you will most
likely live
with a
local
family. Volunteers and family members frequently become very good friends
and even stay in touch once the volunteers have left the country. Living
with a family also gives you the opportunity to experience the true African
experience from the inside and
not just as a "tourist" on the surface of the country.
My family were fantastic and went
beyond their duties to make me welcome.
Njeri [Travellers' Mombasa
Organiser] was always helpful
should I need anything." Caroline Chadwick, on her placement in
Mombasa
When accommodation is limited,
we occasionally place volunteers in a local Guest House
which is very comfortable and convenient for access into town.
Occasionally the houses that we use may change owing to
availability, so the facilities you can expect may change accordingly.
Your school may be within walking distance, which will enable you to go home
for lunch if you want to. Many Kenyans choose to eat locally for lunch on roast
meat called "nyama choma" - a delicacy that you'll talk about for a long time!
"I learnt about the country and the
people who live there. I think more so
than a lot of other volunteers because I was on my own and therefore tended
to mix with the locals rather than other volunteers. Living with a family
also encouraged this."
Out on a camping trip
A LITTLE
ABOUT MOMBASA
Mombasa is the second most important city in Kenya
(after Nairobi). It is the main
port for Kenya and the surrounding countries, as well
as being the oldest town.The pace of life is relaxed and people of Mombasa enjoy themselves
(particularly on Friday and Saturday nights!).
A spectacular coral reef run
for 480 km along the palm-fringed coastline.
The waters below are filled with marine life,
while up above a huge diversity of birdlife occupies
the mangrove forests or overhanging cliffs.
The beaches of Kenya have become one of the
world's great playgrounds, with plenty of opportunities for water sports or
simply sunbathing. More than half of the country's international hotels are
based along the Coast. The sun shines all year round
and the diversity of activities is unequalled.
Another factor that makes
Mombasa a wonderful place to visit is the exciting nightlife. There are
many nightclubs situated along the North and South Coasts of the town, all of
which have different themes that cater to different crowds. Many hotels also
have their own entertainment events
Most hospitals,
businesses, banks, shops and markets are situated in the
heart of the town. Being a small town
(about half a million population), Mombasa does not have a subway system.
However, one can easily get around using the local bus service; or for a “truly
Kenyan experience” a ride in a “Matatu”- which is quite a unique adventure"
You have the option to arrange your
own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would
like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights
and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will
be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Ltd., ATOL No. 6856. (Read more about Murray Rogers Travel Ltd.)
Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the
same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other
volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up
before leaving for your placement.
Where possible, all flights we arrange for you
have changeable return tickets because many of our volunteers choose to extend
their stay once they are in their destination country. Changeable return tickets
enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa and the level of your air
ticket, of course. If you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavour
to get a changeable ticket. We meet you at the airport regardless of whether you
make your own travel arrangements or not.
Support: You'll fly into Mombasa where you'll be met by
our local Manager Njery Wathika or a member of her staff. She will take you
into Mombasa and get you settled into your accommodation. You will then
receive an induction into the country, and be taken to your placement
and introduced to everyone.
Volunteer with baby elephant
VISAS:. In countries where visas or
immigration documents are required, we'll send you all the necessary forms and
information and make the process very easy for you.
To read about the extensiveSupport & Backup
we provide in our countries, please
click here.
We can also arrange your flight
dates to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling
around and sightseeing - this is a fascinating and wondrous country!
PRICES
To see the Prices of this project and all
our other projects in Kenya, please
click here
Prices
include
Food & accommodation while on your project,
2 T-shirts, if required
for your project
All support and backup
during your programme
Meeting you at the
nearest airport, where appropriate, but exclude international travel.
.
+44 01903 502595
