Lynchburg, Va. -- Polepole.
Pronounced po-LAY po-LAY, this Swahili phrase means "slowly by slowly." Oftentimes, it is used by hikers summiting Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to remind themselves to take the 19,341-foot climb one step at a time.
Lynchburg women' soccer head coach Dr. Todd Olsen points out the phrase also represents changes to gender equity in historically patriarchal societies across Africa.
This June, Olsen, some of his coaching staff and players, and a study abroad group from his Community Public Health in East Africa class spent two weeks in Rwanda. The goal: continue affecting change through sport.
"The idea is you go into these developing countries, and you use sport as the model. You try to affect change through sport. We chose gender equity," Olsen said. Carrie LeCrom '02 orchestratedthe trip. The former All-American for Olsen's soccer program is a world-leading expert in sport for development and social change. She is the director of the sport leadership program at VCU. "I would argue that she is the No. 1 person in the world when it comes to sport development," Olsen said.
Soccer, the most popular sport in the world, is an easy way to get your foot in the door, especially in Rwanda where all you need is a ball, some space, and two willing teams looking for competition.
Without even speaking a word to the other team, Olsen and his class made attempts at giving women more opportunity through sport.
Olsen argues sport is a microcosm for society. When teaching the local children baseball or lacrosse, the unfamiliarity in the sport for both boys and girls put them on the same playing field. Without preexisting knowledge of those sports, the boys were no better than the girls, and the children played with each other easily. The new sports introduced unfamiliar opportunities for both boys and girls. The boysdidnothave any unfair advantageover the girls since few people have any experiencewith those predominantlyNorth American activities. However, with soccer, it was a much different story.
In Kigali, Olsen's group squared off in a soccer match with the Star School, an institution of 1,000 primary and secondary students in Rwanda's capital city.
Most of the "American" side featured women from Olsen's soccer team. At first, the Star School rolled out a squad featuring an equal number of men and women. Just as Olsen said, sport mimics society, and in a patriarchal one like Rwanda, not all the men were happy to sharing the field with women. Some of the Star School men avoided passing the ball to their women teammates during the match. Frustrated that they were having a little more difficulty than expected scoring on their women opponents, the Star School slowly started subbing off women for men, one by one.
"We got frustrated and wanted to step off the field," Olsen said. "We swallowed our pride and kept playing."
On the sidelines, the women and girls started changing their rooting interest as the Star School subbed on more men. Eventually, children from the school and women in the crowd were rooting for the Americans as they demonstrated how women can compete with men and deserve equal opportunity to men, even if it is just sharing playing time on a soccer pitch.
"We were really frustrated," women's soccer associate head coach Natalie Deacon said. "We were having to remind ourselves that slowly by slowly, what we were doing was not in vain." For the women in the crowd, it was powerful forthemto see men and women playing competitivelyon the pitchtogether, sharing the ball, and having fun.
Deacon has joined Olsen on four trips to Africa since 2014. A national champion, All-American, and former multisport student-athlete at Lynchburg, Deacon has noticed improvements in gender equity each time she visits.
She recalled a particularly powerful moment when Olsen, her mentor for the last ten years, spoke to a group from the community following a match where very few women took the field. As Olsen talked about the power and potential women have, especially in sports, Deacon watched the women in the audience smile and nod their heads in agreement. She also remembered feeling proud when boys out on the soccer field were addressing their woman head coach, Coach Claudine, as "coach." That is something that would never have happened years ago according to Deacon, but now boys are getting used to seeing women in positions of leadership in Rwanda.
"You can't come into a country and do it overnight," Olsen said. Slowly by slowly, Olsen and his group have joined a larger movement using sport as a way to encourage gender equity. At the heart of every soccer match overseas is one simple idea, but a cornerstone of Olsen's legendary soccer program: service.
"Our purpose is to serve," Olsen said. "You don't have to be skilled in soccer to make a difference," the hall of fame coach pointed out.
Olsen and his group helped make bricks for a community in Rwanda. Naturally, none of Olsen's crew had any experience making bricks, especially using the 3,000-year-old process they were practicing. However, everyone went to work in the muddy pit and busted out brick after brick. Seeing the appreciation from the community as families came to take and use the bricks made all the hard work worthwhile.
Besides soccer and brickmaking, Olsen indicated he saw some of the best chemistry of any of the groups he has taken to Africa. The comradery was on display during long bus rides across the country. Without phones to distract them, the group covered most of the miles talking with each other and sharing memories from the trip. They also talked about changes they saw and other things they will remember and bring back to the States.
"We think we have to have these special skills to serve and go on the trip. It is not necessary. You just have to show up," Olsen said.
Olsen has been showing up. He went on his first service trip 17 years ago and has brought 15 groups to Africa since then.Each time, he sees progress, polepole. Of course, his expertise in soccer from 29 seasons of coaching at Lynchburg helps, but just showing up and kicking a ball around has made all the difference.
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--LYN--
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