GOOOL!!!

Take one of the most prestigious private schools in Jordan which every year offers its students to invent projects to benefit the community. Take a pupil from this school who is passionate about football and plays in one of the most famous clubs in Amman, but is very shy and needs a little encouragement for his project.

Add that a teacher from that school grew up volunteering at the Arsenale dell'Incontro and is just waiting for the opportunity to propose that the school collaborate with the Arsenale. Add also that this boy's family is completely available for logistical support and has a private driver always available. And finally, that the club coach is also a physical education teacher at that school and is very good at training children.

From the meeting between all this and the desire that we have cultivated for a long time to give our children and teenagers "real" football training, Karam's project at the Arsenale dell'Incontro was born.
The teacher who knows us acted as an intermediary with the family and the school. Karam came to visit us and was enthusiastic about the Arsenal and above all about our boys, who didn't even notice his shyness because for them he was a "hero" just for coming to meet them and play a game. some football with them. Karam's family provided a car and driver; and the coach, once he knew the project, agreed to come for free. And so every Saturday for a month we created two "teams" for training. It's not much but it's a start and we really hope it's a stepping stone.

Meanwhile, once again, people who outside of here would never even get close to each other are experiencing the joy of a true, authentic encounter, without barriers. You see it on Karam's smiling and proud face, when the boys celebrate him as their best friend upon his arrival, or when his coach calls him "coach Karam" in front of the "team". You see it in the contagious enthusiasm of the coach, who addresses our children and teenagers with the same seriousness and irony that he uses at school or with the kids in the club. You see it in the amazement of our educators in seeing our children at ease in this completely new situation, you see it in their desire to learn "the tricks of the trade" to be able to continue the experiment in the future. But you see it above all in our children and young people, who are the driving force and glue of all this.

The other day the coach says to one of the children: «Sanad, in goal!». He goes very ready, but when he finds himself in front of his classmate who shoots on goal after Karam's pass, he does nothing to defend himself, he raises his arms to the sky and with a smile that only a child can have he shouts: «GOOOL!!!». No one dared to tell him that it wasn't what he should have done... The little ones applauded and rejoiced with him, the adults all had tears in their eyes at the smiling simplicity of a child. From the next play Sanad saved many shots, but that «GOOOL!!!» it will certainly remain imprinted in everyone's hearts and minds. Because the key to the meeting and what makes every project in the Arsenali possible is emotion. An emotion that makes everyone win.


The Sermig Fraternity in Jordan
NP March 2024