On the surface, they couldn’t be more different. Geographically, the United States is nearly 8,000 miles from Uganda . Economically, the difference is even vaster. While the United States experiences its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, it pales in comparison to Uganda, where unsteady political guidance and economic mismanagement have left the country among the world’s poorest. More than half the country’s population lives below the economic poverty line.
Despite the differences, at least one commonality exists: a love for the world’s most popular sport. It has created a bond that rises above all social, class and economic differences.
Now, through the International Sport Connection, an organization co-founded by a University of Minnesota NIH postdoctoral fellow and a Ugandan soccer leader, soccer — or football, as it’s known in Uganda — is being used not only to instill on-field skills but wisdom, knowledge and life lessons off the pitch.
Why Uganda?
While Jens Omli was working on a doctoral degree in kinesiology at the University in 2008, he met a woman from Kampala, the capital of Uganda, at a church in Edina.
A football player in her home country, she invited Omli to travel to Uganda. It was there that he met Stone Kyambadde, who led the Wolves football club in Kampala.
“We’ve spoken at length about the power of the ball in bringing people together and the power of sport in connecting people,” Omli said. “Especially connecting children with caring adults and filling the gap where they may not have parents at all or may not have parents that are able to care for their needs.”
Three more visits by Omli to Uganda helped forge a relationship that created the ISC.
Upon completion of his doctorate, Omli worked with his adviser, Diane Wiese-Bjornstal , and received a $212,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to create an exchange of coaches between the United States and Uganda.
“I’m very engaged with [Omli]; we’re a team,” Wiese-Bjornstal said. “He’s the one with the experience, the expertise and the contacts to pull it all together … what I bring is a shared interest in coaching education.”
What do they teach?
Kyambadde, vice president of the Federation of Uganda Football Association, and three other Ugandan youth soccer coaches were chosen by their colleagues to make the ISC’s first trip bringing Ugandans to Minnesota.
They were supposed to arrive last September, but when the grant funds arrived, visa and paperwork issues delayed their arrival until this month.
Led by Omli and Kyambadde, the coaches participated in an eight-day tour and training program that ends Tuesday. They gave presentations both at the University and Macalester College, met with youth programs in Duluth and toured youth and collegiate training facilities.
“One of the things that really thrills me is the opportunity to kind of get people from Uganda and the U.S. together to trade knowledge,” Omli said. “In the U.S., with technical and tactical training, we have a lot to give Uganda, and I think our friends from Uganda have a tremendous amount to give us in terms of using sport for youth and community development.”
A goal of the program is to help Ugandan coaches earn their E Certificate, an entry-level license in the United States for soccer coaches.
“Our first step this year will be to deliver content tailored to the unique needs of Ugandan coaches who don’t have access to the same resources and expertise that we do,” Wiese-Bjornstal said.
The Ugandan coaches also learned from meeting with experts in fields such as physiology, child development and nutrition, Omli said.
“Right now we’ve just been to a psychology class, which has been so good,” Kyambadde said. “Because even though we work on the physical [parts of the game], our players need the mental side in order to be balanced.”
While the Ugandan coaches learn new techniques, they’ve also shared with the Minnesotan contingency their knowledge of the game and how they interact with the youth they coach.
“We’re sharing with them, but they are sharing every bit as much with us,” Wiese-Bjornstal said. “What impresses me is that they are experts in mentoring, which is a piece that is really lacking in U.S. youth sport culture.”
As part of the exchange program, Omli, Wiese-Bjornstal and a group of Minnesota coaches will head to Uganda for 10 days in May.
“We hope to preach a vision that’s so clear that it spreads throughout Uganda and creates a culture of coaching in which coaches would teach, train, manage and mentor young men and women to make a lasting impact. Not just in developing football capacity in Uganda but developing children, families and communities throughout the nation,” Omli said.
On the trip to Uganda, the Minnesotans and Ugandans will be part of what Wiese-Bjornstal calls a “train-by-training” method.
The Minnesota delegation and the four Ugandan coaches will train 160 coaches who represent various regions of Uganda. They in turn will teach their individual communities.
“Kids who’ve been traumatized, who are homeless, the full gamut … the attraction of sport is what brings the kids very naturally to these coaches,” Wiese-Bjornstal said. “Once they get them there, they have all kinds of life lessons that they can teach them.”
What’s next?
The grant is approved for two years, and both sides of the organization intend on doing another round of exchange visits next year.
Wiese-Bjornstal said she hopes to have the Ugandan coaches return in September, and she and the Minnesota contingency hope to follow with a trip to Uganda next January.
Through all the logistics, though, the impact of the program has already been felt by all sides.
“In very clear ways, I’ve seen the power of the ball and the power of sport in bringing people together,” Omli said. “It can be difficult in the U.S. and Uganda to get people to work together, but when they’re joined by the love of the game and the passion for football, people are much more eager, I think, to work together towards a collective game.”