CONNECTING PEOPLE
"Our wisdom comes from our experience and or experience comes from our foolishness" - Sacha Guiltry
A simple quote. Thirteen words that define aging and becoming wiser.
I was fortunate enough to recently visit Bridgetown in Barbados where I got a glimpse what football means to the locals as well as being able to soak up some of the sumptuous Caribbean sun. A-midst the two thunderstorms that occurred.
See behind the luxurious and beautiful image that is painted in our minds through the thought of Barbados as a underprivileged and destitute vicinity. An image that is less-broadcasted around the world in travel booklets.
"Many people come to Barbados as a holiday and tell us how we live beautiful lifestyles on such a island. But for us, the people of Barbados, this is our work and we must fight for a living. Not a relaxing holiday" - Mary, A local from Christchurch in Barbados.
Why do you play football? Some answers to that question may be to win, to be healthy, to have fun, to socialise or to forget about all stressful dilemmas. In various countries across the globe boys, girls, men and women dream of being able to make a career in such a sport. Most accept that it will never happen.
Statistically the chances of you making it as a professional footballer are one in several millions. Understandably, In remote islands such as those that are in the Caribbean the chances of kid achieving his dream of becoming a professional footballer are significantly lower.
Do they care about football? This isn't because they don't care about football, In fact football is really seen on par with Cricket which is widely admired throughout the Caribbean. The West Indies squad alone currently contains five Barbadian cricketers. A significant achievement for such a miniscule island with a population of just 280,000 people.
Becoming a professional footballer from a country in the Caribbean is not impossible. Over the years Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados have all produced some fine professional footballers. This is down to club scouting and football connections etc.. Each player will have their own story about how they became successful I'm sure.
The difference - While planning this blog on a luxurious sandy beach. I noticed a few differences between football in this country and Barbados.
Their attitude is considerably more relaxed then that of Britain. In a way this enables people to play football with more creativity, flair, casual and fun. It allows them to experiment and try new tricks and show them off. This is helped by a difference in terrain to that of what football is played on in Britain. In a country like Barbados football is predominantly played on beaches and dry ground. In England football is played indoors, on grass, on astro turf, on mud as well as a variety of other surfaces. Are these better for developing footballers creativity? I'll let you decide.
This also constitutes to different styles of football being played. Different forms of football such as Futsal, Street Football and Beach football are great ways of expressing creativity and unleashing imaginations. They give new ways of how to play the game. A great example of this is Spain with Tiki-Taka and how it originated from Futsal.
In England we have a habit of giving out imperatives towards kids when they are playing football. This can sometimes act as restraints or shackles on a child's creativity. Kids are at their best when they are allowed to try new things with a football to try and impress their friends. I know that there are plenty of great coaches out there who have different ways of coaching and they should be admired. Many kids in Barbados never had a football coach. They accomplished football by playing with their friends and watching games on TV. So they were free to be inventive. Am I putting too much incentive on creativity? Maybe. There is no evidence that a relaxed approach to football is better/worse. Just a mere comparison.
Connecting People - Football has a strength in which it connects people that have contrasting backgrounds. When visiting Barbados this was evident. Miraculous graffiti paintings were sighted on walls around the island. Drawings of Arsenal, Manchester United and Barcelona were all visible.
The island may get multiple of tourists /visitors on the island every year sometimes finding things in come with the tourists can be few and far between. So making small-talk with local tourists is important.
"You like Football?"
"What team you support?"
"Do you watch the World Cup?"
"You see (insert players name who is involved in transfer gossip" move"
"You play football?"
These are just some of the phrases you may hear around the world in most countries at least anyway. Probably not the USA, although "soccer" is growing at a rapid pace in the States. My point though is that football has the power to connect people from a variety of cultures, disabilities, backgrounds, religions or gender. This is why football is possibly the most powerful sport in the world.
I had discussions with my hotel cleaner, bartender, waiter and even water-sports teachers around football as well as having a kick-about with a few local strangers & fellow tourists. Each with their own story to tell.
Before the trip I had my own expectations of what Barbados had to offer. Like many other tourists I had a images of sandy beaches, clear blue waters, delightful accents and scorching sun floating around my head. What you get is all that and a bloke called Ron offering you the best weed, prostitutes and fake aloe vera so you don't damage your skin. It's a pretty special experience. The conversation between me and Ron still ended up swinging around to football related topics and we ended up well... playing football!
Barbados does though have it's problems. Below is a bracelet that I brought from a Barbadian salesman. He creates and sells his own jewelry for a living. There are around 100 of these jewelry salesman on the island. They have their own stalls set up in different places all over the island in hope of any potential business to help earn a living.
The nameless man spoke of how he struggled to make a living on a day to day basis. Many days he has been able to eat food and works a crazy amount of hours praying for sale. A few days before I met him he also lost his cousin and one of his best friends. Both were shot dead at a local football match. They were killed by a friend they had grown up at school with. They had no bad history. They were just two friends watching a football match which had tragic consequences.
The salesman told me "It just happens".
The guy who sold me this bracelet didn't want his picture taken.
This is just another story that will get hidden behind elegant and tropical images of Barbados. It should act as a reminder as to what Barbados is like for some of the people in that country.
Thanks for reading.
ChippKG
Twitter - @ChippKG
Snapchat - chipppperr
I'm also looking to move away from football with some blogs in the future. Football is not everything. Thanks
A simple quote. Thirteen words that define aging and becoming wiser.
I was fortunate enough to recently visit Bridgetown in Barbados where I got a glimpse what football means to the locals as well as being able to soak up some of the sumptuous Caribbean sun. A-midst the two thunderstorms that occurred.
See behind the luxurious and beautiful image that is painted in our minds through the thought of Barbados as a underprivileged and destitute vicinity. An image that is less-broadcasted around the world in travel booklets.
"Many people come to Barbados as a holiday and tell us how we live beautiful lifestyles on such a island. But for us, the people of Barbados, this is our work and we must fight for a living. Not a relaxing holiday" - Mary, A local from Christchurch in Barbados.
Why do you play football? Some answers to that question may be to win, to be healthy, to have fun, to socialise or to forget about all stressful dilemmas. In various countries across the globe boys, girls, men and women dream of being able to make a career in such a sport. Most accept that it will never happen.
Statistically the chances of you making it as a professional footballer are one in several millions. Understandably, In remote islands such as those that are in the Caribbean the chances of kid achieving his dream of becoming a professional footballer are significantly lower.
Do they care about football? This isn't because they don't care about football, In fact football is really seen on par with Cricket which is widely admired throughout the Caribbean. The West Indies squad alone currently contains five Barbadian cricketers. A significant achievement for such a miniscule island with a population of just 280,000 people.
Becoming a professional footballer from a country in the Caribbean is not impossible. Over the years Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados have all produced some fine professional footballers. This is down to club scouting and football connections etc.. Each player will have their own story about how they became successful I'm sure.
The difference - While planning this blog on a luxurious sandy beach. I noticed a few differences between football in this country and Barbados.
Their attitude is considerably more relaxed then that of Britain. In a way this enables people to play football with more creativity, flair, casual and fun. It allows them to experiment and try new tricks and show them off. This is helped by a difference in terrain to that of what football is played on in Britain. In a country like Barbados football is predominantly played on beaches and dry ground. In England football is played indoors, on grass, on astro turf, on mud as well as a variety of other surfaces. Are these better for developing footballers creativity? I'll let you decide.
This also constitutes to different styles of football being played. Different forms of football such as Futsal, Street Football and Beach football are great ways of expressing creativity and unleashing imaginations. They give new ways of how to play the game. A great example of this is Spain with Tiki-Taka and how it originated from Futsal.
In England we have a habit of giving out imperatives towards kids when they are playing football. This can sometimes act as restraints or shackles on a child's creativity. Kids are at their best when they are allowed to try new things with a football to try and impress their friends. I know that there are plenty of great coaches out there who have different ways of coaching and they should be admired. Many kids in Barbados never had a football coach. They accomplished football by playing with their friends and watching games on TV. So they were free to be inventive. Am I putting too much incentive on creativity? Maybe. There is no evidence that a relaxed approach to football is better/worse. Just a mere comparison.
Connecting People - Football has a strength in which it connects people that have contrasting backgrounds. When visiting Barbados this was evident. Miraculous graffiti paintings were sighted on walls around the island. Drawings of Arsenal, Manchester United and Barcelona were all visible.
The island may get multiple of tourists /visitors on the island every year sometimes finding things in come with the tourists can be few and far between. So making small-talk with local tourists is important.
"You like Football?"
"What team you support?"
"Do you watch the World Cup?"
"You see (insert players name who is involved in transfer gossip" move"
"You play football?"
These are just some of the phrases you may hear around the world in most countries at least anyway. Probably not the USA, although "soccer" is growing at a rapid pace in the States. My point though is that football has the power to connect people from a variety of cultures, disabilities, backgrounds, religions or gender. This is why football is possibly the most powerful sport in the world.
I had discussions with my hotel cleaner, bartender, waiter and even water-sports teachers around football as well as having a kick-about with a few local strangers & fellow tourists. Each with their own story to tell.
Before the trip I had my own expectations of what Barbados had to offer. Like many other tourists I had a images of sandy beaches, clear blue waters, delightful accents and scorching sun floating around my head. What you get is all that and a bloke called Ron offering you the best weed, prostitutes and fake aloe vera so you don't damage your skin. It's a pretty special experience. The conversation between me and Ron still ended up swinging around to football related topics and we ended up well... playing football!
Barbados does though have it's problems. Below is a bracelet that I brought from a Barbadian salesman. He creates and sells his own jewelry for a living. There are around 100 of these jewelry salesman on the island. They have their own stalls set up in different places all over the island in hope of any potential business to help earn a living.
The nameless man spoke of how he struggled to make a living on a day to day basis. Many days he has been able to eat food and works a crazy amount of hours praying for sale. A few days before I met him he also lost his cousin and one of his best friends. Both were shot dead at a local football match. They were killed by a friend they had grown up at school with. They had no bad history. They were just two friends watching a football match which had tragic consequences.
The salesman told me "It just happens".
The guy who sold me this bracelet didn't want his picture taken.
This is just another story that will get hidden behind elegant and tropical images of Barbados. It should act as a reminder as to what Barbados is like for some of the people in that country.
Thanks for reading.
ChippKG
Twitter - @ChippKG
Snapchat - chipppperr
I'm also looking to move away from football with some blogs in the future. Football is not everything. Thanks
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