Unforgettable days

Date: 03-05-2024 – By: Pieter Barten

The academy-season is almost over and so it is time for a training -and team-day in Arta. It is meant to be a day full of fun, reflection and playing soccer. Arta is a small town close to Djibouti-city. It is a town is built in the mountains which means the temperature is much cooler. The summer has arrived in Djibouti which means soon all the football in the country will pause because of the heath.

Blessings

This team-day we take time to look back and share the academy-blessing with each other. It was a beautiful and intense first year in which we learned a lot together. Currently the academy has 20 players who are devoted to complete the process for at least three years. One of the biggest and most shared blessings of this first year was the start of a lot of new dreams. Having a dream has enabled them to push forward, even through the difficulties they faced this year. We were so glad to hear these words from our players. This is the reason why we want to do what we do. Quote: In the academy I learned to be a leader. I’m now the captain of the team, and I’m trying to share this blessing with others to help them to become good leaders

About the day

A bus trip with your teammates makes for a nice and fun time together. All the players arrived on time in Arta (to us this says something about the learning process the players went through in the last season). Everyone was dressed in their best clothes for this day. These clothes where quickly changed into training clothes. Half an hour after arriving, the team was running in the mountains for a small warming-up/training. We completed our run at a soccer field for a short training. After the training we enjoyed a very nice Djiboutian meal made out of rice and goats. After the meal we had an amazing time where we shared our blessings with each other.