Coaches plant the seeds of recovery in Ethiopia

John Laverty - Belfast Telegraph

The Ethiopian man looked no different to any of the other villagers who had gathered at the Irish Rover's training ground in the hills outside Addis Ababa.

It was only when he produced an AK-47 assault rifle that the coaching party sat up and took notice.

They had only just got accustomed to the 'facilities' - if you could call them that - barren, sodden land, no changing rooms, no running water, no nourishment for the kids. Now this.

The man claimed that the field was his. It was where his cows grazed. Our lot were ruining it apparently.

And this fellow was threatening retribution, courtesy of that deadly weapon at his side.

Armed intimidation was not what the Rovers had been used to since arriving in the heaving Ethiopian capital the day before.

Indeed, they had been treated like international superstars by the inhabitants of this beguiling country.

Television crews followed them everywhere, as did hundreds of local residents.

Everyone seemed relentlessly intrigued as to what a group of white men and woman from so far away were doing here.

Yes, they had seen foreigners before - but this lot was different. All they seemed focused on, for no apparent reward, was carting scores of young children to a field outside the city, feeding them and spending all day teaching them how to play football properly…

The gunman was intrigued too - but only until he was confronted by the Rovers' Ethiopian liaison officer Lissane Yohannes, who, in rather colourful African language, fearlessly told the intruder to sling his hook.

"He was showing off", explained Lissane later.

"He was never going to use that gun. He doesn't even own this land; no citizens of Ethiopia do. The government own the land."

Remarkably, the gunman later disarmed and joined all the other curios local villagers who had gathered to witness what, for them, was a bizarre spectacle in the thin air of this high- altitude setting.

Explaining to them what was going on prove almost impossible; mind you, readers might need it explained as well.

The 'Irish Rovers' are a group of junior football coaches, most of whom have links to the Greenisland Boys Football Club, who came out here to breathe fresh life into the troubled Ethiopian Football Federation, a one-time powerhouse in the sport which has now, for obvious reasons, fallen way behind African cousins such as Nigeria and Cameroon.

The best way to achieve that was to bring a tangible structure to the so-called 'grass-roots' level - ie the talented but raw under-15 children.

Tangible proof of this would come when, after sufficient coaching, scrutiny and quality control, an Ethiopian team capable of competing at international level would be born.

A laudable ambition but why coaches from Greenisland.

The answer lies with Ulster businessman Mike Frazer, who lives in the village and is an enthusiastic supporter of the local boys club.

As International director of the Helm Corporation, Mike is a regular visitor to Ethiopia, and it was a chance meeting with that country's sports minister last year that led to this adventure. Mike saw the trip as a no lose situation; the coaches would produce a team capable of competing abroad and thus helping change the negative perception of this strife torn region.

One of their first ports of call will be Northern Ireland next year, Subsequently he helped raise £40,000 in corporate sponsorship for the bold experiment. Nobody is claiming that this would amount to anything other than a drop in the ocean but Ethiopia, at all levels, has to lift itself and even in junior football, they need foundations and structures to achieve that.

It's a small step, but a step in the right direction. And when everyone is pulling in that same direction this once great country will achieve the resurrection it's people desire and deserve. One thing is certain; it won't be for lack of effort and that was epitomised by an ultra professional approach from the Greenisland contingent that, I have to say, would put many senior clubs to shame.

A holiday? Holidays don't have dawn starts, exhausting work, oppressive heat you can't escape from. Holidays do have running water, toilets and loo roll. It's a tribute to the Irish Rovers that they not only achieved their goals, but did it with the type of good-natured enthusiasm that made them superb ambassadors for our wee country.

For four days the group, led by Laurence 'Gillsey' Gilloway, toiled in the heat; it was the rainy season but, this close to the equator and such a breathless altitude, even an overcast day has hidden dangers. Severe sunburn and horrific blisters suffered by several members of the party were testimony to that.

The effort didn't stop when the boots were pulled off; humanitarian missions organised by Concern and Save the Children were also approached with enthusiasm, although witnessing the shocking poverty and appalling conditions in this famine torn country was a chastening experience.

On the Thursday Irish FA coach Jim Grattan arrived, armed with a 5-year development plan for Ethiopian football which he presented to the officials of the country's government and Football Federation.

The week ended where it began at the national Stadium in downtown Addis Ababa, where the cream of the country's young footballers strutted their stuff in front of their proud new coaches and 11,000 locals who had been following the progress of the experiment on local television.

The Rovers later delighted the big crowd by taking on an Ethiopian select in a full scale, televised match but, sadly, they couldn't practice on the pitch what they had been preaching to the kids, ultimately losing 3-1.

That game was meant to be a pre-cursor to the first encounter between bitter old enemies Ethiopia and Somalia in 30 years.

In the end, the Somalians didn't show up, inadvertently making the Rovers game the main event.

As one of the party remarked: "This was certainly different."

Indeed it was. But as their motto says, Making A Difference was what this group of dedicated people had set out to do in the first place. It's a pleasure to report that they succeeded.

WHAT'S AN IFA COACH DOING IN AN ETHIOPIAN SLUM?

John Laverty - Belfast Telegraph

As a former professional footballer and coach with the Irish FA, Jim Grattan is no stranger to exotic locations.

Indeed, the ex-Sunderland and Linfield winger flew out yesterday with one of the Northern Ireland junior teams for a tournament in Budapest.

Yet only two days earlier Grattan was seen wandering around a poverty stricken, disease ridden slum in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa...

Grattan was in the troubled African country as a member of the 'Irish Rovers' coaching team, who had gone out to Ethiopia to help restructure the nation's youth football set-up.

While he was there, Jim devised a five-year development plan, which he presented to a grateful Ethiopian Football Federation.

Meanwhile the other Rovers coaches, mostly hailing from the Greenisland Boys Club, looked after scares of the country's leading young footballers.

The goal was to hone an under-25 team capable of competing at international level - and by the end of the week they were well an their way to achieving that. But you don't go to Ethiopia just for football, and the group got involved in several humanitarian projects throughout the strife-torn African city.

Grattan said afterwards: "It was a humbling experience and one I will never forget.

"These people live in appalling conditions but you can't help but he lifted by their strong spirit and their will to survive."

He added: "A group of football coaches isn't going to change much on their own, but if everyone in more fortunate positions takes the time to contribute just a little it will soon add up to something worthwhile for these wonderful people."

Out of Africa: a symbol of hope

PROMISED myself I'd never do this. It's easy with famous footballers; you recognise them immediately, you're used to being in their company.

But this was different. Walking down the steps of the National Stadium in Addis Ababa (as you do), I bumped into one of the finest athletes in history.

Recognition (that's me recognising him, not the other way round) materialised a couple of seconds after the initial shock of the encounter receded.

And so I blurted out: "You... you're Haile Gebrselassie!

The Ethiopian smiled and replied: "Well yes, I suppose I am.."

Damn! Why do we act like such jibbering idiots at times like this?

Of all the things you could have said at that moment, such as "good luck at the Olympics, mate"; you end up telling one of the world's most famous runners what his own name is.

But Gebrselassie must be used to that sort of thing. And I'd lave to be able to tell you I quickly recovered from that awkward, embarrassing moment to conduct a full-length interview with the great man.

But ultimately it was the other way round...

We walked back into the stadium where the rest of my colleagues were and Gebrselassie was genuinely intrigued as to why a bunch of Irish men and women in loud yellow shirts were wandering around this part of Ethiopia. Yes, he interviewed us!

And what he found out was that the `Irish Rovers' are a group of football coaches, mainly connected to the Greenisland Boys Club, who had come to this part of Africa in an attempt to introduce some sort of structure to the Ethiopian Football Federation.

The success they achieved - against overwhelming odds it has to be said - is recorded elsewhere on this page.

And Gebrselassie, no stranger to similar scenarios, was one of the first to offer his unconditional support.

I hesitate to call this man a symbol of hope for this famine and disease-riddled, deeply troubled country; such a phrase often smacks of callow insincerity. But you can't avoid it when talking about Haile Gebrselassie. The double Olympic 10,000 metre champion's image is captured on billboards all over the Ethiopian capital; unlike other sporting heroes in their homeland, however, those huge depictions are not accompanied by vulgar corporate logos.

Admittedly Gebrselassie is a wealthy man, even by Western standards, but virtually all the fruits of his labours are spent in - and on - his homeland.

And there he was, in this dilapidated stadium, training for his attempt at a third Olympic gold.

Ironically his biggest rival is the younger Ethiopian superstar Kenenisa Bekele, who was also in attendance at the stadium that day.

I say ironic because Gebrselassie has, for the past few years, been helping to carve his protégé into a world class athlete - one more than capable of taking his mentor's crown away!

"It would be wonderful if we could finish first and second in Athens; unfortunately both of us can't win the gold," said Haile.

And the 21-year old agreed with those sentiments: "Haile has been my hero since I was a young boy; for both of us to be medal hopefuls at the same games is something special for us personally, and for this country in general"

So who's going to bag that big one? For once, the two men clammed up, the missing words replaced by broad beaming smiles; obviously the Ethiopian equivalent of 'no comment'.

That encounter was one of the highlights of an amazing week in Ethiopia.

Yes, at times it's every bit as distressing as you might imagine - possibly even more so - and in this newspaper's feature pages next week I will attempt to articulate that.

Even so, there is so much pride and dignity percolating through the citizens of this country; an underlying determination not only to survive but to prosper even when the odds are stacked so heavily in the opposite direction. The Ethiopians are among the politest, most hospitable people I have ever encountered.

They are also among the most generous - which is saying a lot when you consider how little they have to give in the first place.

Think of that when you see Gebrselassie; Bekele - and their female Olympic champion Detartu Tulu - hit the final-lap bell in Athens later this month.

They'll be running for their lives - in the metaphorical sense - but representing millions of their fellow countryman and women who are doing it for real. Every day of the week.