The Christ School football (soccer) team lost yesterday, in overtime, to Semiliki High School 2 to 1. They have not lost in the district in a long time, and this was a difficult end to our senior student Birungi’s long career as team captain. It was a well-contested game, and in reflecting on the loss it has been interesting to see how deeply and quickly we all search for reasons. I heard very rational explanations from a few teachers: even Manchester United sometimes loses, in other words, it is not possible to ALWAYS win, and we should not worry. But most of the fans, kids, and observers are not so sanguine.
Mostly, there was the issue of confidence. It was a rainy day, and many times the boys lost their footing when trying to get a shot off. This was compounded by the fact that the strikers seemed afraid to shoot: afraid to miss? Afraid to be blamed for the loss? In a culture of equality, where it does not pay to stand out, is it better to keep passing and let someone else fail? Then there was the further mental issue of doubt: do our players believe they can win without Kevin? They may not be sure, and it shows. And Kevin probably would have convinced them to take more shots and have more confidence, if he had been there. Then there was the crowd: CSB had scored early and began strong, but the crowd grew and grew as the rain tapered off, and seemed more and more pro-Semilki. This could impact the players, but also the refs. There were a number of times that a line judge flagged a violation and was ignored by the main referee, or that calls seemed to be biased. Are the refs afraid of the crowd? Maybe. Then there was the huge advantage that Semiliki had: the leading scorer from last year at CSB, Ahebwa Leonard, finished O levels with Luke but then transferred to Semiliki this year for A levels. So CSB was beat by their own player, essentially. Then there was the long slow impact of integrity and coaching and work: CSB’s success means that other teams have decided to actually practice together, rather than just cobble together random players who may or may not be actual students at tournament time. So for all of these reasons, it was a close and difficult and long game.
Afterwards, however, there are two explanations that seem to be overtaking all of the above. First, the CSB staff has accused Semilki of having an illegal player or two, boys they recognized who were playing under false names. If this is proven on Monday, the result will be canceled, and CSB will advance to the finals.
Second, the girls who milled about the goal and chanted and cheered throughout the match, errupted into a frenzy near the end of the game when they dug up a scrappy paper filled with “herbs” which they accuse the opposing side of burying in the goal to prevent scores. Yes, witchcraft. They were so beserk and convinced that I had to physically restrain the ring-leader during the end of the game, and Annelise had to talk them down afterwards when they were blowing off steam by talking of violence. The essence of African Traditional Religion has been described as problem solving: the world is not going my way, so I need to know why, to protect my family, to strike back at my enemies. It makes perfect sense in this world view that a team who wants to win would purchase a charm, and that at team who loses would accuse the winners of bewitching them.
So I see in this loss a microcosm of many of the problems we face here daily: self-doubt and a sense of inferiority prevent kids from taking risks. Intimidation by the group further binds them in fear. Corruption means the playing field is rarely level. And the pervasive fear of witchcraft, of malevolent spiritual forces, is always just below the surface. They are just kids playing a game, but we have to fight on all these levels on the football pitch if we are to see lasting Kingdom changes for freedom and truth in Bundibugyo.
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