The Beautiful Game

     Greetings everybody!  Thanks for reading!  This is Tim and my blog today will focus on "The Beautiful Game" known to the USA as "soccer" but to everywhere else in the world, including Jamaica, it's "football."  I've had a passion for the game of football for many years now and it's not just the game itself which insist this passion from me, it's the way that football can bring people together.  There is no language or cultural barrier that cannot be broken down by a ball and two willing pairs of feet.  The doors that can be opened just by the simple act of kicking a ball never cease to amaze me.  This is why I think it's called the "beautiful game."  No matter what country you come from, what language you speak, what religion you are, or even how much money you have, none of it matters when you step onto the pitch (field).  It's beautiful because it brings different people together.  It's beautiful because helps promote equality.  It’s beautiful because it promotes unity.

Ahhhhh.....football!

     When I woke up this morning, I looked out of my window to see an endless sea of gray clouds floating over Harmons.  This disappointed me because today was a special day.  Today was the opening day of the Under-15 soccer season here in Jamaica and the team from Harmons, the community in which Won By Won To Jamaica is based, played their first game.  After a morning filled with trying to understand breakers, circuits, and electricity (all the while praying for the rain to lighten up), time came for me to head out the neighboring community of Porus.  Porus was where the game was to be held and with the help of my friend Romaine and a taxi driver who could barely see over the steering wheel, I was finally there. As soon as I stepped out of the taxi and began the walk towards the field, the clouds finally lifted and the sun began to shine.  After arriving at the complex where the games were to be held, I sat for a while with Romaine and we watched numerous teams come and warm up.  Eventually the Harmons team arrived decked out in their spiffy looking blue and white stripped jerseys and sat down at some benches that were on the opposite side of the field of me.  Craig, the coach of the Harmons team, soon beckoned me over to speak with me.  He said that he would like for me to give the team a motivational speech before they went on the field.  I said that I would be honored to but I would like to take a few team pictures before speaking and one of those very team pictures is posted above.  So the speech, which I came up with quickly while taking the photos, was about team and community unity.  After the speech was over I mentioned I would like to pray for the team before they took the field.  Surprisingly, one of the coaches told all the kids to stand up and for us to all hold hands in a circle.  This touched me deeply and really encouraged the unity that was just discussed.  More importantly, it encouraged unity with each other for one common goal: Christ.  As soon as “amen” was said it was time for the team to take the field and sadly it was time for me to leave.  As I left I saw the Harmons team passing the ball to one another flawlessly making the opposing defenders appear to be stuck…they were working in unity.  I smiled to myself as I thought about that on another death-defying taxi ride back into Harmons.

Again, this game never ceases to amaze me,

Tim 

By the way, Harmons won the game 4 – 0 : )