The Foreign Service Journal, January 2007

76 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 7 R EFLECTIONS Soccer from Ulaanbaatar to Gothenberg B Y J ONATHAN A DDLETON A mid the constantly changing landscape of a Foreign Ser- vice child’s mobile upbring- ing, there are some connecting threads that prove more lasting. For our oldest son Iain, now 16, it is the game of soc- cer — a sport he has already played in six countries on three continents, more often on dirt, sand, ice and snow than nicely manicured green grass. He started off in Jordan, playing with the Amman Little League. On holidays he played for the Islay Boys Football Club, based on an island off the west coast of Scotland. More re- cently, he joined the Bayon Wander- ers, an expatriate adult team based in Phnom Penh. But nothing so far compares to the adventure of playing for the Ulaan- baatar United Football Club, a youth soccer initiative that, improbably, took more than a dozen Mongolian youth from the icy steppes of Central Asia to the green playing fields of Gothen- berg, Sweden. It all started soon after we arrived in Mongolia in August 2001, a few months before Iain turned 11. It was clear that if he were to continue his interest in soccer, we would have to create the opportunity for him. So by September we had made an arrange- ment with a local gym to host “Mon- day Night Football,” where some 20 kids from several countries joined in informal pick-up games each week. Several weeks later, we happened to meet Jardel d’Silva, a young Brazilian volunteer and soccer player sent by his church to work among street kids in Ulaanbaatar. Already a skilled player with coaching qualifications, he, too, had recently arrived. We promptly agreed to join togeth- er to establish UB United as a youth soccer club focused on Mongolians but also providing sports opportunities for expatriate children. Almost certainly, it was the only venue where street chil- dren regularly met embassy kids. I brought soccer balls and nets from the U.S. and the local Dom Bosco technical training school provided portable goals. A fewmonths later, our proposal to the Kirby Simon Trust was approved, and the club received $1,200 to buy additional equipment and uniforms, and run a citywide tour- nament. By the time we left Ulaanbaatar more than two years later, UB United was flourishing. Over 100 kids in three age groups met twice each week for practices and games. After many months an e-mail arrived from Jardel d’Silva: He was try- ing to obtain funding for UB United to participate in the Gothia Cup, the “world cup” of youth soccer held each year in Gothenberg. If he succeeded, would Iain like to participate? Knowing the cost involved, I was skeptical. But within several weeks, another e-mail arrived: A Swedish radio station had raised $25,000 so that UB United could attend. Again, would Iain like to participate? Of course he would! So, in July 2006, Iain joined Jardel in Gothen- berg, along with three Mongolian coaches and 14 players under the age of 18. It was the first Mongolian youth club team to compete outside the country. They were among more than 30,000 other players, representing 1,500 teams from some 68 countries— including several dozen youth teams from suburbs across the U.S. In an Olympic-style opening cere- mony, each country teammarched into Gothenberg Stadium, cheered by the crowd of 50,000. The Mongolian team got special recognition, as a country competing for the first time, when they entered under a Mongolian flag, wear- ing the Mongolian hat and colorful national dress. “You read about the ground shaking in a full soccer stadium,” Iain told us later. “It is true. You could feel the ground vibrating beneath your feet.” Soccer is arguably the most popular international sport of all. Some call it the “beautiful game;” others claim it “explains the world.” But on that day, for Iain and his Mongolian teammates, it was simply the experience of a life- time. Jonathan Addleton is director of the USAID mission in Pakistan. He has also served in Cambodia, Mongolia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Yemen. His oldest son Iain is living in Macon, Ga., this year, where he is a junior in high school and plays soccer for the Mount de Sales Cavaliers. It was the only venue where street children regularly met embassy kids.