In the beginning was the ball. The kind you see more often in Africa. A rubber band or rope is used to bunch up scraps of fabric to form a ball. Quasi the high-tech version compared to the empty cola cans, which sometimes cause cuts when volleying. With the “fabric balls” you can’t hurt yourself. But playing soccer is not really possible with them either. In Tanzania you can see many children kicking barefoot against cans or fabric balls. Their desire for shoes and real balls is written on their foreheads.
Yike organized the first set of jerseys with the help of the zebra herd from Duisburg and was able to hand it over to his friend Don in the summer of 2014.
Yike, Don and Karsten at Demani Lodge
Balls, shoes, bags, goalkeeper gloves etc. followed. In 2015, when a real club, Tanzebras FC, was actually founded, they played on a sandy side-field of the sports grounds of a military barracks in Gongo La Mboto. Over the years, several sets of jerseys followed for the ever growing herd of Tanzebras. And balls. Many balls. Lots of balls, some of which suffered irreparable damage in the acacia bushes. Children cannot get enough of this. But in addition to the actual play equipment, there were also bouncing ropes, hats, bodices, referee whistles, and for the obligatory little aches and pains, a band box.
Picture Doc
Before the training at home or before the games the team manager and stuff manager Don will change clothes:
Picture Don at home – changing
If you want to go out of town, you have to rent a minibus for expensive money. Not without charm, these old perennials. And with flags, everyone knows who’s out on the town:
There are no real changing rooms. Nor are there any toilets, let alone a clubhouse. The status of a club allows us to use the large football field. Now that we have been accepted into the fourth league, we are also the pride of the whole area and the soldiers stationed there. But upgrading the infrastructure is not on their agenda. That’s why we are actively looking for another venue in the immediate vicinity. But this is not so easy. It has to be possible to go smaller. With the purchase of a container, which will serve as a tool shed, changing room and office, we want to take another step towards a normal club. An external sanitary facility, as an extension to the container, will be added. An enormous enrichment for all Tanzebras would be a multifunctional bus. A minibus for outward journeys, with which vegetables and fruits can be transported from the field to the city. Such a TanBus could also be used for tourist destinations.
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