Mozambican, U.S. Coaches Speak Universal Language of Sports

By Jim Fisher-Thompson

Members of a group of basketball coaches from Mozambique say they gained valuable insights while on a visit to America - the most important of which is that sports is a universal pursuit that binds people together."Sport makes people a family," said Ricardo Pitrosse Rafael Faife, who along with fellow coach Lucilia Alexandrina Rodrigues Caetano spoke to America.gov through an interpreter near the end of their March 15-25 visit to the United States.

Faife, a professor of physical education who coaches basketball at Zuze Primary School in Tete province, said: "Sports ... is based on skill and practice. You can take things from basketball that create a fountain of abilities you can use in your personal life, which makes you better and connects you with humanity."The two were among a dozen Mozambican basketball coaches who participated in an exchange program organized by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). During the visit, the group met with American coaches and players in the Washington metropolitan area.

Caetano, who coaches women's basketball at Universidade Politécnica in Maputo, said the visit, which also included observing practices, games and sports clinics at schools and elsewhere, was very productive. "We've learned a lot, not only about sports but also about American culture.

"She was especially pleased, she said, "to see girls play basketball at two schools we visited and [I] noticed the strong desire, or grit, that motivated them on the court. One thing we learned from watching both the boys and girls play is that the group, or teamwork, was emphasized over individual performances.

"Faife added: "We saw something on the technical level that was very advanced for the athletes. At a high school in Maryland, we saw a ... machine that shoots out basketballs to the players, making practice much speedier, and allows players to practice by themselves."While football (called soccer in the United States and other countries) is still the most popular sport in Mozambique, both coaches said basketball's popularity was growing among schoolchildren and university students. Caetano added, "We saw some things on the [U.S.] trip that we haven't seen before and would like to encourage" back home.

Faife said he was impressed when the group watched 5-year-olds playing in competition. "I noticed the referees were not as strict with the rules of the game because the kids were so young. So, we realized that you can teach kids that young to play but you don't have to be so strict, which gives them the encouragement and incentive to keep playing."On the cultural level, Caetano said, "I noticed how concerned American people were about the well-being of other people. In the meetings and conversations we had, we've seen that communities are very organized to help those who need help. People take from themselves to give to others.

"We went to a boys and girls club in a needy area," she said, and "we saw how people had come together to work on sports programs for young people to help them out." On another occasion, she said, "we visited a basketball league for people in wheelchairs who were missing one or two legs, and the desire they had to play was just incredible. This left us with a very happy feeling.

"A high point of the group's visit was their interaction with Teresa Edwards, an Olympic gold medal women's basketball champion and former professional player. In 2009, Edwards traveled to Mozambique as a sports envoy for the United States and met many of the coaches who were on the current trip. In cooperation with the U.S. Women's National Basketball Association, Edwards traveled from her home near Atlanta to run a coaching clinic for the Mozambicans at DeMatha High School in Maryland.

The Mozambican coaches also met with and received coaching tips from George Selleck, a former All-American basketball player for Stanford University in California who is the founder of Sports for Life Inc., an organization dedicated to enhancing youth development through positive participation in sports.

Source: U.S. Department of State.