Blazer Soccer Athlete Learns Valuable Lessons Abroad

September 26, 2006

After spending her summer in Tanzania, sophomore Blazer soccer player Maria Conroy shares her stories and lessons learned from the African natives.

I went to visit my brother Paul Conroy who is a 2005 graduate of SJU who is volunteering through the Benedictine volunteer corps through St. John's. He is teaching English in a Benedictine seminary in Tanzania, Africa. I was blessed with the opportunity of being able to visit him for two months out of my summer break.

We spent these two months traveling around, taking a safari, living in rat-infested homes, not having running water or electricity, going to orphanages, and staying in the natives' homes and yes, playing some soccer. It was an experience of a lifetime, something I will never forget.

Soccer is something they live and breathe over there. It is truly a universal sport. It is a time when those who have so little to forget about their poverty and can really enjoy themselves. Everyone is equal on the field; it has nothing to do with monetary value, but with pure talent and love for the game. I saw pick up games in the crowded city of Dar Es Salaam or on the beaches of Zanzibar. They couldn't get enough of it.

It was particularily special to be able to be there during the World Cup Tournament and we would often go into a large hall where the villagers would meet and watch the game until the early hours of the morning, yelling and throwing things at the TV during a bad call. It wasn't an uncommon site to see dozens of Tanzanians crouching around one small television set to catch the game.

There was one disheartening experience while we were traveling on the island off of the coast, Zanzibar. this area is so much more touristy and it broke my heart one night to see all the "white" tourists sitting in their plush chairs, buying their cold drinks and stuffing their faces with whatever they wanted, while in the shadows outside of the restaurant showing the game were the Tanzanians just finishing up their work day at 10 p.m., sitting on a pile of logs trying to see one of the 5 television sets that were there for the white man's viewing pleasure. It just didn't seem right to me.

I hesitate to use such a cliche but seeing the conditions over there also made me really appreciate how much we have here in the United States. Especially being a woman on a college soccer team. I show up for practice, put on my Nike shin guards and lace up my puma cleats, and run onto a field that has been freshly mowed and painted. We have cones lined up precisely for a drill and bags full of pumped up balls to play with, at least one per player. We shoot on our brand new goals and in case anything happens we have someone on the sideline ready to examine us.

That is a world that is almost nonexistent in Tanzania. No one owns signatures, barely anyone has cleats, and our fields would look like heaven to them. Balls are fairly rare and goals are usually homemade. I explained the typical site at a Blazer practice, but where I played in Africa was needless to say different. People play barefoot on rough, dry dirt, with two tree branches serving as goals and rolled up garbage as a ball.

To be a woman playing soccer is even more uncommon over there. The first time I played with anyone they laughed as a I ran onto the field and wouldn't even touch me if I got the ball. My brother lives near a monestary and we were invited to play with the monks one day. The odds were stacked against me; I was one of two white people there and the only woman in sight. The first few times consisted of the laughing and being protective over me, but once they saw my Blazer-like skills they took me as a threat and I have scars to prove it. I got taken down by a monk and had big, bloody knees for a couple weeks after it. So much for those Benedictine values, right?

I can catch myself complaining sometimes, like if I have a bad day at practice and trip in a divot on the field, or one of the balls isn't pumped up enough, causing me to play a bad ball. Then I think back to the red dirt field and the blistered feet of my new African friends and my heart softens. I see my pumas and the beautiful field we have to play on and I thank God for the opportunity he has given me. What a blessing to be born in the United States and even more so to be able to attend CSB and be a collegiate athlete. I have learned I have little to nothing to ever complain about (including the same old caf food all the time).

-Maria Conroy

Athletic Department
College of Saint Benedict
37 South College Avenue
St. Joseph, MN 56374
320-363-5301
Fax 320-363-6098