I know how much fun a teachers-against-the-kids game can be at the end of the school year because we have these games at Scoil Bhride. I thought the kids at Matandani would enjoy it as much as they do at home, so I wanted to set up these annual games at Matandani. Just before the end-of-year exams, we organised the very first teachers-against-students football and netball games!
At first, the teachers were hesitant to participate, but once the games began almost all of the teachers took part! The children were picked from Standards 5, 6 and 7. They made lots of substitutions so that lots of them got a chance to play against their teacher!
A huge crowd of children gathered around the netball court to watch their teachers take on their classmates. The netball game was very competitive. One of the teachers even commented that it was an amazing game to watch and wished we had recorded it on video! The teachers started really well, but the score remained close. However, towards the end of the match the children’s fitness and skill really shone through. The final score was 12-8 to the Matandani kids!
Next was the football match. A full team of teachers gathered together, and even included Miss Mkandawire, who was the sole representative for the women. She was fantastic at the back for the teachers’ team! This game was truly a story of two halves. The teachers again were very strong at the start and even led the game 1-0 at half time. Some of the teachers played extremely well, better than some of the children had expected! However, in the second half the Matandani boys, wearing the Portlaoise FC strips I’d brought over, really took the game to the teachers. Final score: 2-1 to the boys!
At the end of the day, the teachers talked about how they had really enjoyed the games. They hoped to do it all again next year. It was even suggested that the teachers might have a training session or two beforehand…
