Rwanda Journal, Entry 44: The Amavubi Juniors

Like most countries outside North America, Rwanda is a football (soccer) nation.

The game is bred in the bone of thousands of the country's children. In the way Canadian kids skate and puck-handle, Rwandan kids learn to dribble and shoot.

Some weeks ago I posted pictures of kids and I playing soccer near my house. What the pictures don't really communicate is how much better the children were than me.

For young Rwandans, association football is a national past-time and there is a natural finesse that comes from exposure to the game.

In Rwanda, football is king and the youth are its loyal subjects. 

Without even having to account for differences in age and size, it is safe to say that a match between 11 me's and 11 randomly selected children from around Kigali would end with a score of 22-1 in favour of the children.     

Let me avoid gross generalizations. To say that every 5 and 6 year old Rwandan is naturally amazing at football would be untrue. The younger children struggle to find their targets as much as children anywhere else.

But as the years go by, skills supported by years of practice begin to show.  

On any given day in Kigali, you can find children playing some improvised brand of association football.

The cost of equipment is more than most children in Rwanda can easily afford and they make do with what they can.

Instead of turf, most play on dirt roads. Instead of an inflatable ball, most use crumpled plastic bags bound with nylon cord. Most have no cleats and play in sandals. 

But they worship the game and dedicate at least some of their time to it.For this reason, it is not surprising that Rwanda's national junior team, Amavubi Juniors, would have a large talent pool to draw from.

There are two interesting things to know about the Amavubi Juniors:  they are the first under-17 team to qualify for the junior World Cup in Rwanda’s history; they are also the first team since ’94 whose players have no memory of the genocide.

Anyway, the other night Rwanda squared off against Canada in the U-17 World Cup. In a strange twist of fate it was the first time either team had qualified for the tournament; and they were the ones to knock each other out of contention.

After a 0-0 game, in which both needed a win to advance, the teams were dropped. 

As I watched the game with Heritier, our night guard and gardener, I seriously struggled decide who I liked more. The scoreless game spared me from really have to make a judgment one way or the other.

As I Canadian, I felt some desire to see my country win. At the same time, the Amavubi Juniors played beautifully and with determination. The scoreless game did not diminish the spectacle of watching a team that so vividly embodies the potential of Rwanda’s youth.

In the shadows of a terrifying past, Rwanda’s national junior team has risen higher than any other before it.

In the same way the children around my neighbourhood refine and improve themselves through dedication to sport, the country seeks to refine itself by dedication to moving on.

Rwanda’s junior football team is part of the larger whole but draws from the same pool that shapes the rest of society. 

The youth bear the hopes and ambitions of the country Amavubi Juniors make it easy to understand what that means.