Sports Day at St. Peter's Primary School

Kristin Sheehan, PLACT Program Director, reports from Uganda:

Play Like A Champion Today®’s delegation began today with the roosters crowing gloriously outside our windows as the sun rose. We boarded our transport and traveled back for our second day at St. Peter’s Primary School. Upon arrival, we gathered with the children in prayer and assembly explaining our “Sports Day” together. We unpacked our equipment and set up the biggest field day you can imagine. 400 Primary 6^th grade children were broken up into groups to play netball and to learn American Football, softball, lacrosse, and baseball.  The excitement was palpable as the children selected their game of choice and ran off to learn, to play, to have fun and to grow in ability and in spirit.

Our Notre Dame student/athletes acted as coaches, served as referees and most importantly became mentors throughout the clinic period. Then came the culmination of a large football (American soccer) competition. Boys from the four 6^th grade classes each competed to earn a spot in the final soccer competition while the girls competed in a netball championship. The action was not contained to the playing field as spectators joined in on the fun, shaking Irish green Kelly Care’s Foundation pom-poms and leading their favorite team in cheers. Green happens to be the school color for St. Peter’s School, so all the Green Pom-poms where left with the school children –much to their thrill.

The final soccer match went down to a shootout with P6 Blue ending in Victory. However, every St. Peter’s child was a Champion today in sport. After presenting the victorious team with a trophy and the entire school with two nets for their soccer posts, as well as many, many sport balls, the children sang songs for us while the school’s brass band (the oldest band in Uganda) played march music. It was a start to finish sport extravaganza.

The group completed the day listening to traditional Ugandan percussion music again at the National Theatre put on by the Percussion Discussion. We all enjoyed some traditional dancing and everyone even got to participate in helping keep the rhythm through beating the drums.  

Tomorrow, Kevin, Clark and Kristin with join with the Ugandan Catholic Secretariat and discuss the resounding potential of sport for holistic youth development. We will present our Player Handbook while the Notre Dame students return to St. Peter’s Primary to complete the classroom lessons in the Player Handbook with every P6 student, these lessons discuss what it means to be a Champion in sport and in life, particularly focused upon virtue development through the sport experience. Then, we will travel to the village of Kkindu near the town of Masaka. Excited for more great things!