Having been nothing but impressed with the way the Mikindani Sports Club or ‘Klabu ya Uboreshaji’ (the club’s Swahili name which means improving oneself through sports) was been run, I wanted to reward the club’s members along with others in the village with a day of competitions. Thanks to the efforts of those volunteers with me and several willing helpers on the day, the 26th December brought memories to a vast number of people, both spectators and competitors alike. We held a sports day which included a Bao competition and a football six-a-side taking place on the football ground on Mikindani’s biggest football team.
Bao is a traditional Swahili board game played on a board on which seeds are moved around a series of carved out dishes, the object of the game being to take your opponents seeds achieved by finishing moves adjacent to an opponents seed. Without explaining the ins and outs of the game a skilful play is made through experience, strategic play and being able to think moves ahead of the game which may be compared to chess or draughts. In Mikindani the older generation of males are the most respected group of players so we invited three players from each of the village wards to join up for a knock-out style competition. Proceedings took place under a mango tree and organisation took care of itself as there was a competitive but friendly atmosphere and players were self-affiliating and all joined together, rather enjoying playing along side the best players in the village. As the rounds went by, large crowds were drawn in and the final was quite a spectacle with two players surrounded by a sea of onlookers, both competing for the prize money placed underneath the playing board. The champion was delighted with his title but all players were very humble and delighted with how the competition took place.
While the Bao players ate complementary lunch, final preparations were being made to the football pitches which were small with full sized goals promising lots of scoring and the eight teams (made up from two sides from each of Mikindani’s four football teams) were warming up and stretching off. Matches commenced and those who were not players gathered on the sidelines with large numbers of spectators to watch who was on form and for any nominations for the man of the tournament who would receive some golden football boots! Games were fast and furious as any decent six-a-side should be but again collectiveness and good spirit between teams was evident throughout.
The crowds cheered as we were treated to some dazzling touches and outstanding play from all teams but the final was eventually contended (after both semi-finals going to penalties, the hero goalkeepers held above heads by the rest of the team and a few passionate supporters!) between Cigara F.C and Beach Boys who we were told were the equivalent to ‘Arsenal and Manchester United’; long standing rivals keen to get one up on the other. In a closely fought final Beach Boys won by a single goal and their followers ran on the pitch to congratulate their team just as though they were professional sports men. A presentation ended the day’s proceedings and a team photo of the 2003 winners.
Later that day and the next, several comments from teams and supporters gave their thanks for the day. I was told by some it was ‘the best public holiday ever’, ‘never to be beaten’ and ‘the village was awoken with delight and happiness’. These are exactly the feelings I hoped to bring about and numerous groups in Mikindani were fulfilled, old men, young footballers and families of supporters all had a brilliant day.
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