Soccer schools in Hann celebrate again with Mundus maris
This year, we continue with what is becoming a "tradition" - to celebrate World Oceans Day with the sports community in Hann Bel Air, particularly with the soccer schools.
Indeed, the partnership between Mundus maris and the "Maison Foot" has already led to a wider mobilisation of the Friendly of all 12 soccer schools in town (Amicale foot ball) in 2017.
This positive experience was to be built upon this year, when the theme of World Oceans Day was specifically focused on preventing further plastic pollution of the ocean as an urgent objective to safeguard the health of marine animals and their ecosystems and ultimately humans themselves.
As soccer exercises a huge attraction on young boys as an opportunity for social ascend, the schools have become a mass phenomenon.
The responsible officers are quite conscious of the potential to influence the youngsters towards more environmental awareness and socially engaged attitudes. Messieurs Cheikh NDOM, Gabou, Aziz, Ibrahima Wellé and Mafall were the driving force among the soccer schools in the Friendly.
They are therefore only too willing to seize the chance of World Oceans Day celebrations with our organisation to connect teaching of principles with concrete action.
This way, the different schools organised a beach clean-up among volunteers from their pupils. The boys collected all solid garbage, including plastic litter they could gather on the most affected part of the beach along Hann Bay.
This clean up was followed by a championship in several rounds that started at 2pm on the cleaned beach.
Mundus maris offered a number of prizes including cotton bags, mugs and balls with the official symbol of the forthcoming soccer world championship, for those schools most engaged in ocean protection.
Trophies were also coveted as awards for the happy winners.
The winners were:
- the two teams coming first and second in the tournament
- the two best players achieving goals
- the best goal keeper.
The overall winner of the tournament was the soccer school called "Maison Foot".
The most goals were achieved by Ibrahima Dione and Mamadou Diallo, respectively of the soccer school "CPH: Centre de perfectionnement de Hann Bel Air" (Advanced Soccer Centre Hann Bel Air) and "Challenge Foot".
The trophy for the best goal keeper went to Khadim NGOM of "Challenge Foot".
This year brought about an innovation in the form of an additional turnament of checkers (jeu de dames), played traditionally with white and dark sea shells. It's an excellent and playful way to learn strategy, thus complementing usefully the physical training associated with soccer.
Moustapha NDIAYE of the "Maison Foot" was the winner of the checker tournament.
Mundus maris was represented at the tournaments by its Vice-President, Aliou SALL.
After handing over the awards, he addressed the participants emphasising the importance of the ocean for our living conditions, our recreation and well-being. He underlined how much value he attributed to the commitment of the sports people to help with ocean protection.
The responsible officers of the soccer schools in the Friendly in turn reiterated their willingness to continue engaging with Mundus maris in this endeavour. They highlighted two aspects already mentioned last year:
They would like to enter into a better structured and continuous relationship with our organisation so that the collaboration would be more productive thanks to greater continuity. That collaboration should focus on the coast of Hann Bay, where each of the schools trains on a segment of beach adjacent to their part of town and thus would facilitate engaging also with the inhabitants.
As their students are mostly in the age bracket from 12/13 to 18 years, more regular interaction could systematically involve a seizable fraction of the youth in clean-up efforts of the Bay throughout the year.
They would like to combine such regular awareness and clean-up activities with links to European companies of sports material to improve equipments and use this as an incentive for greater environmental awaresness. They hope that our attempts to bring them in contact will be more successful than in the past year.
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