Inter Campus Angola: Comprehensive training for Angolan coaches

LUANDA – Inter Campus’ latest visit to Angola centred around Viana, an area on the outskirts of the capital Luanda, where members of the Salesians of Don Bosco have been working to educate boys and girls of all ages for many years.

The focus of the week was to share the Inter Campus technical and educational model, with 41 coaches from around the country taking part in the five-day training course, their abilities ranging from expert to novice.

Dribbling, receiving and kicking the ball barefoot on the red earth of the 11-a-side pitch in Viana was a challenge, but it was fascinating to see these skills later transferred to the concrete futsal/basketball court. Just as we found in the Brazilian favelas, the Angolans showed no fear or inhibition throughout the course, absorbing all the information and finally showing off what they had learned with a technical demonstration held on the Ilha de Luanda beach as part of the closing ceremony.

There was a real sense of passing the baton, as the more experienced coaches helped to demonstrate certain technical aspects to their younger counterparts. Many of these were just 14 or 15 years old and had recently graduated from the Inter Campus programme as players, now choosing to cross the divide and pass on the knowledge they have learned.

Take Antonio, for example. At the age of 11, he decided to leave his biological family to live with his aunt and uncle, where he became involved in the Inter Campus project. Thanks to the Nerazzurri’s social development programme, Antonio is now a coach himself, ready to help future generations.

14.10.2016