The Friendly of soccer schools and Mundus maris celebrating in Hann, Senegal
The leaders of the sporting world of the fishing community of Hann celebrated World Oceans Day, 8 June together with Mundus maris.
Unlike previous editions organised by the soccer school "Maison Foot", the one of 2017 was initiated by the “Friendly” grouping all 12 soccer training schools in Hann.
According to the persons in charge, the importance of their involvement in any initiative favourable to the conservation and protection of the environment in general and of the oceans in particular is justified.
They cite, among other things, the ability to convey messages through sports activities to the people, especially the young ones (see interview with Alassane Diallo, communication chief of the soccer school "Maison Foot").
The programme for the day was set as follows:
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organisation of upgrading sessions in training centers for the benefit of pupils - trainers on the Mundus maris association, its objectives and the merits of the Day
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beach cleaning;
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a beach soccer tournament once the beach was cleaned up.
At the end of the tournament, the first four teams went through to the semi-final and final stages. The training centers "Maison Foot" and "Challenge Foot" competed in the final. Challenge Foot in blue outfit won.
The president of the Mundus maris Club Senegal awarded the trophies but especially food to the recipients. It should be pointed out here that because of the particular contest coinciding with the month of Ramadan, our interlocutors in the schools had deemed it necessary to provide rewards in the form of foodstuffs, thus enabling all the participating teams to have enough to break the fast at their ease after sunset.
In terms of lessons to be learned and future prospects agreed upon at the end of the 2017 edition, the following emerged:
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The idea of working with the “Friendly of soccer schools” holds greater potential for the future. In this context, we owe a special recognition to the Centre "Maison Foot", which for some years already has collaborated with Mundus maris for World Oceans Day and has played this time a catalytic role in having succeeded in mobilising the other training centers around the event;
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In the opinion of some leaders of the "Friendly", for a more sustained effort in convening the tournament and promoting ocean protection, the collaboration should not be a one-off event in a day dedicated to the oceans. In their view, they would like Mundus maris to link with World Ocean Day organisers so that educational materials (films, posters about the environment in general and oceans in particular) can be made available to them, so that these centers can integrate these into their training curriculum. It may be necessary to recall here that the training centres provide the same courses as those in primary schools at the same time as offering soccer training. This strategy aims to give young people who have not broken through in football a chance to continue their education in high school after the CM2, if necessary.