For all you die-hard futbol fans out there, you probably saw the World Cup special last Thursday prior to this year's kickoff. And if your timing was right, you saw this inspirational clip on the Ivory Coast Soccer Academy. If you missed it, take a minute to watch it. Not a fan? No excuses ? there's an uplifting edu-message for even the staunchest of futbol critics (even the types that unleash Mike Ditka's lame quote about God giving us arms to play football or whatever).
Anyway, ASEC Mimosas is a private soccer academy that recruits kids off the streets for a chance to train for a shot at their dreams ? playing for the Cote d'Ivoire national team or getting funneled into a premier European club. The academy has operated since 1993 and recruits 25 kids, who live in dorm-style housing together and get a good education in the meantime. Says Marcel Assoumou, ?If I'm unlucky, and don't make it, then they gave me an education here.?
For a country where just half of the population is considered literate, secondary school enrollment is especially low, and where alternatives for many youth include an especially dangerous form of child labor, the story of Assoumou and others like him is inspiring. It's not just about playing the beautiful game. This clip, at least, is about a beautiful opportunity to escape a level of poverty that's difficult to even fathom in this part of the world. (I could go on to lament that there aren't more such academies, or higher enrollment, or equivalent academies featured by ESPN especially for girls.)
With World Cup fever now upon us, it's a good reminder of what I think is so great about the game: soccer has always been, and will always be, a truly international sport. The people's game. ?You can tune in and not just experience an edge-of-your-seat match or endless commentary about the goalkeeper's latest gaffe, but also (if you want) an instant reality-check, a reminder about how myopic we tend to be here in America, how little we understand or even think of issues of poverty, social mobility, and educational access facing most parts of the globe.
-Jamie Davies O'Leary
