countdown - the province · countdown. 2 free kick august ... 10 red card yellow card 12 zidane...

Serving the Beautiful Game

freekickmag.com | Aug 2009

Zidane DisasterBy Carrie Serwetnyk

Yo Mama plays Soccer

By Stephanie Hawco

DangerousGamesBy Travor Kew

Countdown

free kick2 August 2009 August 2009 free kick 3

Cover Photo by Neil McCartney / The Citizen

4 Contributors

5 Editor's Note

6 World Cup: Less than one year to go By Michael Oldham

8 Yo Mama Plays Soccer By Stephanie Hawco

10 Red Card Yellow Card

12 Zidane Disaster By Carrie Serwetnyk

16 Dangerous Games: Soccer and Landmines in Northwestern Cambodia By Trevor Kew

18 Soccer Shorts

19 Recipe: Fruit Crisp By Heather McLean

21 Kidz Section

22 SoccerScopes

Photo by Damien du Toit

ContentsContents

Kitsilano’s Sports Bar


Contributors

Free Kick Team

Lindsay Marsh, Editorial AssistantEquipped with a BA in English Lit and a Sustainable Community Development Post-Bacc Diploma, Lindsay spent 3 years teaching and volunteering in Japan and SW. Asia. Her passion for sports led her to many muddy games of soccer with boys and girls at a children’s home in Thailand. www.go-mad.org.

Fernando Fei, Design & ProductionRaised in Argentina, Fernando always jokes that football runs through his veins. His passion, knowledge, and design talent gives Free Kick its face.

Piper BradleyAnna is a 17 year old Vancouver artist who is crazy for cartooning…and just a bit crazy in general. She migrates around the city in her cardboard starving artist box doing art for food and stealing your single socks from laundry machines.

Neil Humphrey, WebmasterNeil is a passionate local coach and suit in the football community. His multi-talented skills in competitive sailing and the beautiful game gave him a compass to travel extensively around the world. Here at home, he consults in marketing, PR, Internet sectors and all the latest soccer junkie info. Beware Voyageurs!

Martin Bazyl, PhotographyMartin is a freelance photographer, with a passion for the game that unites all. Based in Toronto, he hopes to be a part of a rise and breakthrough in the nation where football is the number one played sport.

Michael OldhamMike is a soccer journalist from Edinburgh. Along with Scottish haggis, he eats up anything to do with the beautiful game. He is the producer of football phone-in radio show and is presently writing a book on the MLS. www.insidesoccerusa.blogspot.com

Trevor KewTrevor is a Canadian teacher and writer based in Leighton Buzzard, England and spends most of his time playing, coaching or watching football. Trevor supports Watford and Manchester United. He claims to have fouled strikers on three continents. Red Card!

Stephanie HawcoStephanie Hawco grew up writing in Newfoundland Now, she’s a Vancouver mom. She lives with her new little person, Oliver and her Cornish husband, who is forever reminding her that “it’s football, not soccer.”

Heather McLeanHeather's specialty is healthy and alternative vegan creations. She lives in East Vancouver.

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Editor’s NoteCarrie Serwetnyk, First Woman Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame

Welcome back. With all the talk about the Winter Olympics in 2010, it seems a pretty important event happening next summer has been way overlooked in our part of the world. Everywhere else on the

planet, the big news is the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, June 11th to July 11th 2010. An African nation has never before hosted football’s biggest tournament.

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and I am always amazed to know that over 160 eligible countries participate in competitive matches in five regions over two years to qualify for 32 spots in the World Cup. Canada has only qualified once in 80 years: during their ‘86 run in Mexico. Of course, our struggles are an entirely different story, but pointing this out is a reminder of the magnitude of participation involved in earning the right to play in the big dance. I often imagine the logistics required for each country, especially in poor African nations or islands in the Pacific, to find the resources to pool together coaches, players, equipment, playing fields and transportation to compete against neighbouring rivals. How great it must be to cheer for your home country.

Obviously we have a lot to learn before we are able to one day fully understand this experience.

As great as the Olympics will be in Vancouver, only a percentage of the world has tasted a snowflake. Its time we also tap into the buzz happening everywhere else.

In addition, we wanted to respond to the Zinedine Zidane tour that took place in June and July. Our publication gave credit and attention to the man known here in Canada more for his infamous head butt than his exceptional career as a World Champion. We were also proudly involved as an organizer and sponsor of a free, two-day camp that gave 100 kids the opportunity to meet Zidane. However, the tour itself received significant criticism due to the questionable practices of promoter Achene Adlani, so much so that we felt it was necessary to define our involvement in the event. We strive to be a positive publication, but so many people were profoundly affected by the mismanagement of the event that we have exercised our freedom of expression to air this viewpoint.

Our joy for the game remains with our kid’s section, funnies, Soccerscopes and stories on our soccer mom and the way the beautiful game is saving lives in Cambodia.

As always, we wish you the best in your game.

Free Kick is a free publication. It is published monthly and distributed to retail soccer stores, stadiums, sporting retailers, communiy centers, and many pick up locations throughout the greater Vancouver area. For more information please contact [email protected] or visit our website at www.freekickmag.com.

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Publisher’s Note:

Why “Serving the Beautiful Game?”

As a magazine we have the ability to give a much needed acknowledgement to individuals who contribute their energy to soccer. Our mission is to serve the players, fans, parents and coaches who want information and

support for their passion.

Brazilian star Pele’s most renowned quote was when he called “football” the “beautiful game.” The quote

speaks for itself to all those who have played soccer or admired it in the stands. It hits the mark between how it looks on the outside and how it feels on the inside

playing it.

We feel the combination to “Serve the Beautiful Game” matches our ambitions as a magazine.


Copyright © 2007. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

Free Kick Magazine is an environmentally friendly publication. Printed on recycled paper.


Watching the recent Confederations Cup and admiring the style of Spain, the determination of the United

States and the overall class of Brazil, we were reminded of the romance, excitement and sheer unpredictability of international football.

With less than twelve months to go until the entire world’s attention switches to South Africa and the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, it was hopefully just a taste of things to come at World Cup 2010. And Japan, South and North Korea, Australia, the Netherlands and host, South Africa, can already look forward to seeing their names in the draw for the finals, which takes place on December 4th.

Traditionally, the better the host nation performs, the more successful the tournament. And South Africa, who are the only automatic qualifiers since 2006 winners Italy were forced to qualify in order to defend their title, will hope to fare better than they managed during the Confederations Cup, which they also hosted.

A win over New Zealand sandwiched between a goalless draw with Iran and a 2-0 defeat to Spain did little to impress, and former Bafana Bafana star, Lucas Radebe, has suggested they may need to look at bringing one of their biggest names out of international exile. Benni McCarthy, who was not picked for the Confederations Cup squad by head coach Joel Santana, has played in two World Cups and finished top scorer at the African Nations Cup in 1998. Former Leeds United captain Radebe warned: “We need McCarthy at the World Cup.” It is not only on the pitch where South Africa faces problems, with the occasional question mark still hanging over their preparations for the finals. The success of the Confederations

WORLD CUP:LESS THAN ONE YEAR TO GO

Story by Michael Oldham

South Africa 2010South Africa 2010Cup has helped answer many of these queries, though the blasts of the vuvuzela – the horns that were heard almost incessantly throughout some matches – will be a concern for anyone worried about the atmosphere at the games. Players, coaches, fans and journalists alike pleaded for the plastic trumpets, which have become a tradition in South African soccer, to be outlawed. Liverpool & Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso said: “I think they should be banned. They make it very difficult for the players to communicate with each other and to concentrate.”

But while FIFA have announced they will discuss the future of the vuvuzela, FIFA’s President Sepp Blatter maintained that he wants the World Cup to reflect African traditions, not Western European ones. “It’s noisy, it’s energy, rhythm, music, dance, drums”, he said. “This is Africa. We have to adapt a little.”

The good news is that the stadiums look on course to be completed comfortably by the deadline of December this year. It bodes well that the only outstanding complaint that lags over from the Confederations Cup surrounds the vuvuzela. Most importantly, the South Africans are determined that the World Cup will be remembered for the right reason; the football that’s on show. South American teams always tend to fare well on the global stage, and their strongest challenge is likely to come from Confederations Cup winners Brazil who have lifted the trophy a

record five times. Dunga’s men look to have finally moved on from the 2002 winning generation of the R’s – Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldinho – with a few new faces, including Real Madrid’s maestro Kaka, Milan’s teenage goal-scoring sensation, Alexandre Pato, and Confederations Cup top scorer, Luis Fabiano.

Another of the consistent challengers, Argentina have struggled slightly in qualifying, losing four games so far, including two at high altitude in Bolivia (6-1) and Ecuador (2-0). Head coach Maradona faces a challenge to get his midfield passing like they did in the group stages of 2006. Spain, with Barcelona’s dynamic duo Xavi and Iniesta at their heart, have taken Argentina’s mantle as the best passing team in world football, and the European champions will be among the favourites to lift the Jules Rimet trophy.

In Europe, World champions Italy will qualify if they beat Georgia and Bulgaria in September, though their ageing squad might need an injection of youth in the upcoming season if they want to retain the trophy.

One team who have youth on their side is Germany, with their U21 side recently crowned European champions. Several members of that team, including Schalke’s Mesut Ozil who starred at the tournament, will be knocking on the door of Joachim Low’s senior side if and when they qualify.

Chelsea’s Michael Essien will be looking to lead Ghana to their second successive finals in the African

qualifying section, while team-mate Didier Drogba is hoping his Ivory Coast side can also make it two tournaments in a row after an impressive showing in 2006. No African team has ever made it past the quarter-final stage at a World Cup, despite Pele’s prediction that one would win it by the year 2000.

In CONCACAF, Canada is long gone. Costa Rica, Mexico and the US appear destined to pack their kit south. The "El Tri recently hammered the US 5 - 0 in the Gold Cup.

And in the Middle East, Bahrain face Saudi Arabia with the winners taking on New Zealand for a place in the draw, though whoever makes it through is likely to land a difficult group thanks to the seeding process.

The next couple of months will see the qualifying process completed and the final 32 teams announced. It represents an important time for any players looking to secure a place in their national team’s squad for 2010, and will see excitement grow as each nation takes its final steps to the World Cup.

With four years between tournaments, there is just enough time to start forgetting how special the World Cup really is. But with the prospect of seeing the likes of Kaka, Leo Messi and Fernando Torres in action for their countries, plus the inevitable birth of a new star or two, the countdown to South Africa is well and truly on.


This spring I became the one thing I had always feared the most: a soccer mom. Before you get the wrong idea, you should know that I don’t live in the suburbs, I don’t vote conservative and I don’t drive a mini-van...yet. Perhaps I

should rephrase: I am a mom who plays soccer. A soccer playing mom. A ball-kicking, grass-stained, offensive, defensive tornado of flailing limbs - with a newborn baby. Hence, a soccer mom.

When I found out some girlfriends were joining Britannia’s 7 v. 7 ladies league I figured it would be a good opportunity to a) get back in shape after gaining 60 pounds in pregnancy b) get out of the house and c) socialize with people who speak and walk and who don’t expect me to wipe their bums for them. Thus, after a 15 year hiatus from the sport, soccer and I have rekindled the old flame. I am still as unlikely to win the Golden Foot award as I was in 1992 (when I cried for hours after being cut from the ‘C’ team) and my body is barely - just barely - in working order, but the spark is still there.

The first time back out on the pitch my entire childhood came back to me: the smell of the grass, that perfect sound of laces and ball connecting with just the right amount of force, the freeing euphoria of physical exertion, the camaraderie of teamsports. The only thing that brought me back to my present-day reality was - quite literally - gravity. The last time I’d run was for the toilet with morning sickness sometime back in my first trimester. After birthing a belter of a baby boy (I believe “strapping” was the term the obstetrician used) it has become clear that some of my ‘parts’ are no longer made for running. Let’s just say that, if I were an old car, my rusted underbelly might be ready to fall out. And every time I jump I pee a little. And maybe I need a bra for my saggy newstomach.

My idea of fun is “soccer lite” and my level of skill discomforting. At least I have an excuse, I thought. I made a point of mentioning my three month old baby as much as possible. Most of the ladies showed true sportsmanship by offering support, encouragement and congratulations. Some threw elbows and stole the ball from me. To my surprise, however, I left the first practice unembarrassed and unintimidated, with that sweet, almost-forgotten endorphin rush and a feeling I had not had since junior high.

That Olympic-sized glow lasted the whole ten minute walk home, until I returned to a wailing baby boy in my defeated husband’s loving, but boobless, arms. I frantically ripped off my sportsbra only to discover that baby doesn’t like the salty taste of sweaty nipples and then I realized too late that one should most certainly remove their cleats before jumping onto a bed. With a few adept, multitasking mom-of-the-year moves, however, I avert disaster and suddenly am simultaneously feeding my son and pulling my shinguards and socks off each leg with the opposite big toe. Soccer mom is back in the game.

And so this tango ensued: every Thursday and Sunday feed baby, haul on cut-off maternity-jogging-pant shorts, stuff sportsbra with enough pads to prevent major leakage, fish through husband’s sock drawer for old rugby socks that fit over shinguards, lace up second-hand cleats and

Yo Mama Plays Soccer

Congratulations Whitecaps!

Story & photos by Stephanie Hawco

zoom down the street (perpetually ten minutes late) all in the spirit of friendly competition, resocialization, personal freedom and sanity.

I admit to feeling like such an exhausted zombie that this whole process often seemed like too much trouble. Running my jalopy of a body around a soccer pitch was generally the last thing I wanted to do at the end of a long day. The fear of coming home to an inconsolable child was always in the back of my mind, but every time I showed up for soccer I never regretted it. Some weeks I was a winner; some weeks I scored twice. Sometimes I dropped the ball, sometimes my shots missed the mark and sometimes I spent the entire time running up and down the pitch humming “Baby beluga in the deepblue sea...”. At least once I had to leave early to avoid drowning my teammates in el Rio de Leche and another time someone pointed out that I had some mysterious white chunky stuff on my shoulder, but one thing was consistent: I always felt better going home after playing soccer. My body had the chance to relieve necessary tension, my mind never had to think beyond the ball and the moment and my psyche was saved by the chance to let loose with some super-fun, athletic women. Oh, and as a bonus, I lost some of that 60 pounds.

Maybe I won’t be needing that stomach-bra after all. Instead, I will invest in some fancy, new, golden cleats so next season I won’t just be Soccer Mom but Super-Unstoppable Soccer Mom!

Yo Mama Plays Soccer

Socc

er Mom


We interviewd folks about their "nightmare" dating moments. Just for fun, you get to be the referee

in this scenario. Does this person get a red card, yellow card or would they be a perfect match for your team?

He eats oranges during half time commercials. It makes him feel like he’s in the game.Sandra, Coquitlam

After we broke up, she sent my very first jersey to Good Will.Matt, Vancouver

He told me his ex-girlfriend was a great player and they always watched games together. And he asked why I don’t want to get up at 6am on a Saturday mornings to watch some English league. Frankly, I don’t give a damn about soccer.Kris, Delta

We have matching Man U pajamas.Lisa & Dave, Seattle

He wasn’t interested in me until I told him I have soccer cable.Laura, Toronto

After our third date, I was expecting a kiss and he high fived me goodnight.Michelle, Burlington


I've never actually seen a train wreck, except for photos in newspapers of Amtrak derailments or toy-like train cars flipped over on their bellies in

far-flung countries. When I was growing up in Mississauga, we had the great evacuation of 250,000 people when a train carrying chlorine gas exploded near our backyard. Our family was one of the few who hunkered down at home and watched it on TV.

Now, I see I was a small part of one of the biggest promotional train wrecks in sport that I am aware of happening in Canada. If you followed the disaster of the “Zinedine Zidane and Friends Canadian Tour,” you will know what I am talking about. In the end, it was the “no friends tour” with plenty of fans feeling slighted after promises of superstar appearances such as Samuel Eto'o, Fabien Barthez, Christian Vieri, Franco Baresi, Gennaro Gattuso and former Italian coach, Arrigo Sacchi. Worse, there is a long line of confused and scammed business supporters who are still demanding money promised to them, and filing lawsuits. “It was a dog’s dinner,” quipped British fan John Biermingham who didn’t even know the Vancouver game had been rescheduled to Swanguard. This was one of the more flattering comments from ticket buyers. Rants from disgruntled fans who bought expensive seats are all over the internet and too graphic to print. “I'd like to just say **** YOU to the organizers of Zidane and Friends for over-hyping and under-delivering. It was like paying to see Guns N Roses in concert and Axel showing up with a local highschool band.”

Let’s put ZZ aside. He is a great athlete, a three time FIFA Player of the year, a World Cup Champion MVP. After his infamous head butt and past glories, he is arguably one of the most well known athletes on the planet. He is also an ambassador for the UN. If you wanted to sell tickets to a match he was playing in or promote a mug with his photo on it, you would make a million. Your grandmother could do it without knowing how to send an email.

At least that is what Achene Adlani must

have thought when he came up with the idea to convince Zidane to take his family on vacation to Canada and play in a few charity matches in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. It was a great idea. He planned to bring in top stars to play the Impact, TFC and the Whitecaps. The tour would be a sensation. Anywhere else on earth, club teams and associations would be falling over each other for the opportunity. The stadiums would be packed.

But not in Canada. At least, not under Adlani, who in the end appeared to have the organizational abilities of fruit flies in a kitchen. The concept “disorganized” is too complimentary with the word “organized” as its root. Scam artist was a description often used by many.

No one bought the idea. By the time Zizou was about to play the final match at Swanguard Stadium in Burnaby on July 12th, Adlani was literally selling tickets out of an empty store front on Kingsway and Victoria in Vancouver. There had not been a single ad in any of the newspapers for over two months. The only hint that ZZ might be showing up appeared through homemade signs and posters that were scattered throughout the city at traffic lights like promotions for local garage sales or charity dances. The tour title “& Friends” was literally being peeled off signs days before the match. Amin, the owner of the sign making shop Somartech on Kingsway was one of the last to realize he probably wouldn’t be paid after months of “wanting to do the right thing for the game, the right thing for Zidane.” Luckily for him, he collected revenue from tickets at his shop and he is still hopeful Adlani will come through with the rest. Altruism was a compelling enough reason to get involved for many followers who believed Adlani’s song about no support from the CSA, the Provincial Associations and the professional clubs. With countless stories of screw ups in Canadian soccer, Achene could have been seen as a hero for overcoming the odds: an Algerian immigrant succeeding in Canada outside the system and the old boys club. His story was believable - for awhile - and I suppose even the great Zidane was taken in

especially since his parents share the same heritage.

Unfortunately, in Toronto, Zizou played to a half empty stadium at BMO field. In Montreal, 15,000 watched an 11 nothing drubbing to a squad of police officers. There were no sponsors, there were no

souvenirs to buy and there were none of the other promised players. All of this

occurred around the same time 90,000 fans turned up at a Real Madrid event just to watch superstar Cristiano Ronaldo show off his new uniform after signing a world record transfer fee of 142 million dollars (CAD). Zidane had once held the world record for a parallel trip to Real Madrid where he led the squad to a UEFA Championship in 2002.

By the time the tour turned to Achene’s hometown of Vancouver, a lawsuit seeking $70,000 in damages had already been filed by Donnelly & Associates, who were originally hired by Adlani to market the tour in Vancouver and Toronto. Owner John Donnelly stated, “This was the worse event

experience of my career. We are extremely disappointed and we have not been paid. We have suffered serious loss and damage to our reputation.”

“We were directed to place advertising to promote the event and we had a tremendous team involved. He brought us a cheque that was not negotiable – it didn’t have enough money to clear. He said, the money was coming but it never came. He never reimbursed us for the ads and he stalled. Unfortunately we got brought in under false pretenses. I thought I was going to be on board to see it through, I was confident to in our ability to promote, organize and find sponsors for the event. If the game happened, we would at least get paid from the box office. But by May 15, he took us out and we ended up not involved. He wanted to do it all by himself and the event operation was dodgy.”

By July 1st, Zidane appeared to have hurt his back picking up his three year old boy during the Canada Day Fireworks, just three days prior to the July 4th match at BC Place where less than 8000 fans had bought tickets. A hot July evening, a cavernous concrete bubble home to 50,000 seats - anyone could see the match was headed to a lonely disaster. Although we would all love to believe ZZ was indeed hurt, his timing was unfortunately compromised and many people wondered if it were true.

From a promoter’s plot, the injury gave the perfect excuse to dump BC Place where a $250,000 deposit was originally required. The initial dream of hosting Zidane in the stadium seemed to be a calculated risk after the Vancouver Whitecaps hosted a full crowd for David Beckham and the LA Galaxy a year prior. Surely, Adlani’s fantasy saw Vancouverites flocking to see the World Cup MVP Zinadine Zidane. But by the beginning of July when sales were skinny and few on board, the $4500 rent for Swanguard Stadium became more attractive, realistic and a potential road out of a giant loss.

If only BC Place would give back the deposit in time. And Ticketmaster would refund all of the fans who bought a seat for the July 4th game and tell them about the new date at Swanguard without Adlani needing to pay the sales fees. With little support, Adlani blasted the soccer community blaming everyone but himself. What he didn’t realize is that his karma would lead him to failure: to cheat and to deceive well wishers ended in derailment. With a long list of broken promises, legal threats over the years for unpaid bills, the more seasoned Vancouverites didn’t bother getting on Adlani’s Zidane train at all. In the end, around 4000 fans made it to Swanguard, ticket prices had descended from $30 to $20 and there was barely a mention in the media

to document arguably one of the best players in history.

Zidane did come toVancouver and he was a thrill to see. His touches on the ball, his movement, his presence and his demeanour were magical. Even though you may not have known anyone else on the field (unless he was your cousin or neighbour,) it didn’t necessarily matter, Zidane stole the show.

As a publication, we organized and sponsored a free camp for 100 kids in the East side at Britannia Community Centre where Zidane thankfully came out. It was certainly an honour to have him spend time with the children and to connect with the media. We are grateful to everyone who made it happen and we are proud to have given our best to the community.

But for Adlani, the tour was surely a disaster. Often he claimed to have mortgaged his house to gain our sympathy, but it is difficult to know the truth after a chorus of businesses and individuals have charted trails of lies or deceptions. In retrospect, we can admire a man for having a dream but not if it takes advantage or hurts others along the way. The sign maker who laboured on still hoping to be paid or at least get to meet Zidane (he was promised ZZ would come to his house for dinner) in the end said, “I feel bad about the way I was treated. I was the only one who helped him. He never appreciates people who help him. He has totally humiliated me. I am still hoping to be paid. He was a bit of a friend.”

Its not surprising that even Zidane was overheard asking Adlani for money for his services at a business meeting in the Bayshore hotel lobby. According to John Russel, his bilingual wife translated the French conversation with Zidane asking for his contractual agreement “You don’t have the $400,000 do you? He repeatedly stated, “I’m not going to go down for this.”

Yes, even the great one - who doesn’t need the cash, or fame or anything that we can offer but a peaceful country where he can be a bit anonymous was left feeling like the rest of us – used, mismanaged and definitely perturbed - a bittersweet ending for him and all of us who love the game.

Hopefully, Zidane will at least consider returning here for a vacation one day. Surely we can prove to him that we can be better hosts.

Zidane DisasterStory by Carrie SerwetnykPhotos by Martin Bazyl and Emmanuel Rousseau

Free Kick Magazine and Scrimmageville Soccer offered a free two day camp for 100 children with Zinedine Zidane at Britannia Oval in the East Side.

Photo by Glenn Baglo / The Vancouver Sun


The road is rusty brown, lined with mango trees and ramshackle houses on stilts. In the distance, verdant hills rise dramatically, some dotted with temples andpagodas, some simply impenetrable

walls of green.

A blaring horn shatters the illusion – a huge grey truck is heading straight for us, swaying as it skips across deep potholes and ruts. Its mountain of bulging white sacks rocks back-and-forth precariously, with five smiling Cambodians lounging atop it. If they are actually holding on, I sure can’t see how.

Our driver, Soun Sokhorn, director of the Spirit of Soccer (SOS) program in Battambang province, Cambodia, swerves ever so slightly. We miss the heavy goods vehicle by about five inches. My knuckles turn pink again and I actually manage to exhale.

Not even a close call in Cambodia.

I turn around. SOS coaches Heang, Mohabara, Kamsoth and Chhion flash wide grins at me. Sokhorn chuckles. A family of five whizzes past my window, chatting to one another on a motorbike.

Our destination is Plou Maesh primary school, about an hour’s drive outside the city of Battambang in northwestern Cambodia. We pull into a courtyard ringed with battered old school buildings. There are two soccer goals with endless fields of mango trees behind each.

Scores of boys and girls of all ages pour out of their classrooms, kicking off their sandals and rolling up their trousers. Kamsoth, the one female coach on this trip, hoists a big bag of SOS soccer balls out of the back of our jeep and suddenly we are surrounded by a sea of wide eyes and nervous whispers.

Within minutes, everyone is up and playing and everything reverts to the familiar. Soccer and school – pretty much my everyday reality back home. What strikes me above all, however, is the creativity and energy of the coaches. For an hour, despite the heat, the students barely stop jumping, dribbling and laughing.

Spirit of Soccer was founded in 1996 by an Englishman named Scotty Lee. While on a humanitarian mission to Bosnia, Lee was deeply affected by the deaths of three children who triggered a landmine while playing pickup soccer. Four other

Dangerous Games: Soccer and Landmines in Northwestern Cambodia

children were maimed in the same incident. Since 1996, SOS has worked in a number of countries afflicted by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), including Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Cambodia.

Before that day, I had assumed, naively but perhaps understandably, that landmine casualties simply occur when someone is unlucky enough to step on a mine. But as with so many far-off horrors in this world, the reality of landmines and UXO in Cambodia is more complex. Firstly, for the people living in Battambang and its surrounding provinces, it is a horror that is anything but far-off. As a result of Cambodia’s more than thirty years of conflict, much of the area was abandoned and reclaimed by the jungle due to the sheer amount of dangerous material. Now, as populations expand, poverty drives farmers to take chances and clear new plots of land. De-mining operations are painfully slow and are only able to clear about 10 percent of the new land.

“Many of these casualties are preventable,” explains Stephen Sonderman, head director of SOS in Cambodia. “But poverty definitely makes it more of a challenge. Many of these people depend on scrap metal for extra income. Often, they are willing to take a chance. Just three weeks ago, a kid picked up a landmine and put it in his bicycle basket. Before he got far, it exploded. As with so many of these incidents, he was not killed, but sustained injuries that will affect him the rest of his life.”

After the soccer session at Plou Maesh school, the children sat on the ground, eyes on the large laminated posters in the coaches’ hands. And as the coaches tried to convey their serious message, and Sokhorn translated, I realized something about the danger these kids faced.

In a place like Cambodia, trying to educate people about danger is difficult. It has been a part of their lives for too long, especially in Battambang, the former haunt of the Khmer Rouge from the 1960s well into the mid-1990s. The road I’d thought so trecherous that morning once contained more than a hundred anti-tank mines. While they have now all been safely removed, experts claim that it may take up to three hundred years to completely de-mine Cambodia.

Four students at Plou Maesh school alone had family members who had been injured by landmines. The girl’s father lost a hand while trying to modify a mine for fishing. It is not uncommon for kids to use slingshots or fires to try to detonate mines for fun (they are kids, after all) or to attempt to remove them from soccer pitches or playgrounds. It is hard to teach people to change, especially children, when they live with that daily reality and you do not.

It is not Lee’s decision to teach children about landmines, which is groundbreaking in and of itself. It is his genius in

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combining this education with the worldwide passion for soccer. The children receive T-shirts sporting Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney holding warning signs about mines and receive free coaching, free soccer balls and free schoolbooks (with more soccer stars on the cover).

Local coaches receive professional training for both soccer coaching and their more serious task. “This program changed my life,” 25-year-old Lee Heang told me. “Before this, I couldn’t get a good job…but now I can help children, help my country…as well as go to university, learn English, support my family.”

Donations, government assistance, celebrity soccer players and anti-mine signs on soccer balls have, of course, contributed to the success of the SOS program. But the real achievement of this program is that it helps Cambodian children find role models from their own country. By the end of that football session in Plou Maesh, the children were looking at Heang like he was Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo.

For more information, visit the SOS website at www.spiritofsoccer.net


Preheat oven 350 degrees

3-4 cups chopped fruit (your choice of fruits) and put in bowl.

Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons corn starch, 2 tablespoons maple syrup,1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 cup sugar may be added if fruit needs to be extra sweet.

Toss fruit until well combined. The mixture should be wet, without a lot of liquid, because the fruit will cook down.

In a separate bowl: cream together 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix in 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cups of oats. Finally mix in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of cloves, 2 tablespoons of sunflower/pumpkin seeds and 1 tablespoon of flax seeds.

Spread the mixture evenly over fruit.

Bake 30-40 minutes when fruit is bubbly.

Let sit for 10 minutes.

Fruit Crispby Heather McLean

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Some fans may have been goo goo over David Beckham’s new underwear ads for Emporio Armani, but a large percentage of LA Galaxy supporters were not too impressed when he returned for a

home game at the Home Depot Center. After spending a five month loan with AC Milan, fans in the L.A. Riot Squad supporters section were holding up Beckham’s jersey and beating it. Home made signs read “Go home fraud” and “Hey Becks, here before you, here after you, here despite you.” At halftime, Beckham walked toward the group while shouting and pointing. He challenged fans to meet him on the field and tried to lift himself over advertising boards before security intervened. Police snatched and arrested a fan who left the stands imposing a life long ban. Becks was later fined $1000 by the MLS.

Earlier this year, Beckham said he wanted to remain with the Italian club rather than return to the Galaxy because he believed the level of play was much better in Europe.Just prior to arriving, Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl’s released a book titled The David Beckham Experiment where teammate Landon Donovan, a star figure on the US National Team blasts the England midfielder for his lack of commitment to the team.

“I can’t think of another guy where I’d say he wasn’t a good teammate, he didn’t give everything through all this, he didn’t still care, but with [Beckham] I’d say no, he wasn’t committed.”

One has to wonder how great a teammate Donovan is when he ensured that scathing remarks appear in a book days before Beckham arrived back in town. Rumours that Beckham is hoping to skip town have been denied for now.

The Tampa Bay Lightening team has probably never seen action like the Vancouver Whitecaps did when they host-ed Puerto Rico on July 25th. With a couple of minutes remaining in the first half, an electrical storm whipped into the game forcing the match to be abandoned for nearly two hours. Flashes of lightening striking the field, including a blast close to the Couch Potato sofa in the north end entertained fans huddled in the Grandstand.

Beckham Booed

Lightening Strikes

Photo credit CapsCRU

Photo credit Gogae Rich

Photo credit Gogae Rich

South African Free Kick Wall

Photo credit Victor Gregory


Word Cup 2010 Word Search

Capetown

Nelson Mandela

Polokwane

Tshwane

Pretoria

Nelspruit

Rustenburg

Johannesburg

Mangaung

Find names of Host Cities in South Africa:

South Africa 2010

Zakumi theMascot


SoccerScopes

Which sport do you wish your girlfriend played?

Aries: Kissing your ball prior to your practices or games will improve your bond and soccer love. Expect your feet to dazzle with excitement.

Taurus: Admitting Ronaldo and Beckham are hunks will dampen your social life.

Gemini: Dressing your pet up as the team mascot will encourage teammates to give treats to your four-legged friend, saving you extra money on pet food.

Cancer: Offering a half-time orange slice to a cute fan may lead to romance.

Leo: Meditating with a ball in your lap will open the universe to higher powers in your soccer journey.

Virgo: Organizing a drumming group for your local matches will suggest that you are cool and hip. Libra: Using your player ID card will not help you cross the border at US Customs.

Scorpio: Kicking goal keepers will lead to unwanted body scars.

Sagittarius: Partying the night before your game may lead to your breakfast appearing on the game pitch.

Capricorn: Wearing vertical striped socks will help your body weight image.

Aquarius: A secret admirer will find your bruises, cuts, sweaty hair and salty demeanor sexy.

Pisces: Asking others to explain the offside rule will annoy your soccer friends unless they have romantic intentions. Best to look it up on the internet.

free kick24 August 2009

countdown - the province · countdown. 2 free kick august ... 10 red card yellow card 12 zidane...

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