Bosso Ke Mang?
It is finally time to get to know one of the longest-standing Grassroot Soccer employees, Mr. Thuso Jones. I (Nora Dooley, GRS Kimberley intern) sat down with Thuso to interview him about his time with Grassroot Soccer. Read our Q & A and see what I learned!
Q: How did you get involved with Grassroot Soccer?
A: I was involved with a cultural group and the manager said people were coming that wanted to talk to us. So we went to a meeting, met interns from GRS including Kirk [one of the founders] and they explained Grassroot Soccer and what they were hoping to do in Danielskuil. They had us fill in applications and selected 15 from the group to attend a ToC. Most of the group was still in school and I was doing odd jobs at the mines. The ToC lasted for a week and over the weekend we went through teach-backs. In DK we had LoveLife and other HIV-related organisations but I was never interested in those. GRS was taking a different approach. I like soccer and using soccer in this way was different, plus the activities were really fun.
It is finally time to get to know one of the longest-standing Grassroot Soccer employees, Mr. Thuso Jones. I (Nora Dooley, GRS Kimberley intern) sat down with Thuso to interview him about his time with Grassroot Soccer. Read our Q & A and see what I learned!
Q: How did you get involved with Grassroot Soccer?
A: I was involved with a cultural group and the manager said people were coming that wanted to talk to us. So we went to a meeting, met interns from GRS including Kirk [one of the founders] and they explained Grassroot Soccer and what they were hoping to do in Danielskuil. They had us fill in applications and selected 15 from the group to attend a ToC. Most of the group was still in school and I was doing odd jobs at the mines. The ToC lasted for a week and over the weekend we went through teach-backs. In DK we had LoveLife and other HIV-related organisations but I was never interested in those. GRS was taking a different approach. I like soccer and using soccer in this way was different, plus the activities were really fun.
Q: What was GRS like when you first started?
A: The interns in Danielskuil stayed for a little over a month and we ran interventions and did a Holiday camp. We had a lot more activities then, I think there were 15 practices and each lasted for 2 hours after school. We never got a stipend, and there were no development sessions, just meetings. Once the interns left we started doing development sessions on our own. It was totally different then, the only thing we got was a yellow t-shirt. There was no transport, no food, no stipends.
A: The interns in Danielskuil stayed for a little over a month and we ran interventions and did a Holiday camp. We had a lot more activities then, I think there were 15 practices and each lasted for 2 hours after school. We never got a stipend, and there were no development sessions, just meetings. Once the interns left we started doing development sessions on our own. It was totally different then, the only thing we got was a yellow t-shirt. There was no transport, no food, no stipends.
Q: Why did you stay with it even though you were
hardly getting paid?
A: The activities grow on you and the time you spend with people gives you the will to come back. The kids actually stayed during the 2-hour interventions and loved it. I loved what I was doing. I loved the time I spent with those participants. One thing I noticed afterwards was that it doesn’t end in the classroom. I’ve had kids in the street talking to me about what we were doing at the school, kids who wanted to be my friend. Specifically with one kid, we were talking about alcohol, behaviors that can lead to getting HIV, and one of those was the use of alcohol. Two days after that I was at the bar buying beers for my uncle. I meet this kid, he said “coach, alcohol can increase chances of getting HIV and you are carrying it right now, not practicing what you are preaching.” I realized people pay attention even if they pretend not to. For some reason this kid spoke to me about it that day and it clearly showed me that I am actually doing something incredible.
Q: Did joining GRS change your behavior?
A: Somehow - I wasn’t really that out of line or doing anything in front of participants, but at the same time for me there was a certain change that I experienced for myself. Some of the things that I did I stopped doing.
Q: What do you see as the biggest difference between GRS now and GRS then?
A: GRS is way bigger now. Coaches get paid for everything, there are weekly development sessions, coach development is growing and there’s just a lot more focus on coaches. Also the scale of participants, I came to Kim after graduating 1,000 per year, now it is way bigger. There are new programs as it used to only be Skillz Core, HCT, and Skillz Holiday.
Q: Is there anything from GRS history that you wish was still in play?
A: We do have a relationship with participants but if you look at it it's not that relationship of people being happy just to do what they're doing. I know people need money to survive but it seems like that’s more the main thing that we are doing than the actual love for the program. And that’s across the board not just for the coaches.
A: The activities grow on you and the time you spend with people gives you the will to come back. The kids actually stayed during the 2-hour interventions and loved it. I loved what I was doing. I loved the time I spent with those participants. One thing I noticed afterwards was that it doesn’t end in the classroom. I’ve had kids in the street talking to me about what we were doing at the school, kids who wanted to be my friend. Specifically with one kid, we were talking about alcohol, behaviors that can lead to getting HIV, and one of those was the use of alcohol. Two days after that I was at the bar buying beers for my uncle. I meet this kid, he said “coach, alcohol can increase chances of getting HIV and you are carrying it right now, not practicing what you are preaching.” I realized people pay attention even if they pretend not to. For some reason this kid spoke to me about it that day and it clearly showed me that I am actually doing something incredible.
Q: Did joining GRS change your behavior?
A: Somehow - I wasn’t really that out of line or doing anything in front of participants, but at the same time for me there was a certain change that I experienced for myself. Some of the things that I did I stopped doing.
Q: What do you see as the biggest difference between GRS now and GRS then?
A: GRS is way bigger now. Coaches get paid for everything, there are weekly development sessions, coach development is growing and there’s just a lot more focus on coaches. Also the scale of participants, I came to Kim after graduating 1,000 per year, now it is way bigger. There are new programs as it used to only be Skillz Core, HCT, and Skillz Holiday.
Q: Is there anything from GRS history that you wish was still in play?
A: We do have a relationship with participants but if you look at it it's not that relationship of people being happy just to do what they're doing. I know people need money to survive but it seems like that’s more the main thing that we are doing than the actual love for the program. And that’s across the board not just for the coaches.
Q: What is your favorite part of GRS?
A: My favorite part has always been the participants. There’s one thing that used to work for me when I was still Assistant Site Coordinator. It was a very stressful time for me with all the loss I was going through and sometimes in the office I’d be completely angry for no reason. People would not have done anything to me but I was just in bad mood. Then I would go to school and help with an intervention and once I came out it always felt like I just let go of a huge weight on my shoulders. Time with participants is very energizing but it only happens when I am coaching, watching is not as fun as actually doing it. Most of the time I miss that.
Q: If you could change one thing about GRS what would it be?
A: I’d make everything equal at all sites in terms of programs. For example sites wouldn’t have programs that other sites don’t have regardless of where they are located. If we have Skillz Street in Kim you have it everywhere else. We don’t have Champions League in Kim but we are fully capable of doing it. The RCT [Randomized Control Trial] as well - it takes up a lot of time and research but isn’t investing all that time and research into Kim the same as investing it at other sites?
Q: What do you think it was/is about you that took you from Skillz coach to Site Coordinator?
A: Something about GRS was different, something that kept me coming back. It was the practices and the participants. I always wished I could do more and after I started I always pictured doing something like this. I became interested in sport-for-development for young people.
Q: What is your favorite memory with GRS?
A: When I Went to Zambia. It was my first time out of South Africa. I went for a training of Master Coaches. It was fun contributing to building the curriculum, and it was a lot of firsts for me. Meeting different faces from across GRS - partners, sites - meeting different people working towards the same goal, it was an amazing experience.
A: My favorite part has always been the participants. There’s one thing that used to work for me when I was still Assistant Site Coordinator. It was a very stressful time for me with all the loss I was going through and sometimes in the office I’d be completely angry for no reason. People would not have done anything to me but I was just in bad mood. Then I would go to school and help with an intervention and once I came out it always felt like I just let go of a huge weight on my shoulders. Time with participants is very energizing but it only happens when I am coaching, watching is not as fun as actually doing it. Most of the time I miss that.
Q: If you could change one thing about GRS what would it be?
A: I’d make everything equal at all sites in terms of programs. For example sites wouldn’t have programs that other sites don’t have regardless of where they are located. If we have Skillz Street in Kim you have it everywhere else. We don’t have Champions League in Kim but we are fully capable of doing it. The RCT [Randomized Control Trial] as well - it takes up a lot of time and research but isn’t investing all that time and research into Kim the same as investing it at other sites?
Q: What do you think it was/is about you that took you from Skillz coach to Site Coordinator?
A: Something about GRS was different, something that kept me coming back. It was the practices and the participants. I always wished I could do more and after I started I always pictured doing something like this. I became interested in sport-for-development for young people.
Q: What is your favorite memory with GRS?
A: When I Went to Zambia. It was my first time out of South Africa. I went for a training of Master Coaches. It was fun contributing to building the curriculum, and it was a lot of firsts for me. Meeting different faces from across GRS - partners, sites - meeting different people working towards the same goal, it was an amazing experience.
Q: Do you have one piece of advice for coaches
now?
A: For coaches? To be true to yourself first. There’s always this one thing when we are at orientation - I say to coaches - there’s not much money in GRS and you won’t get a ton of money working for GRS - so when you think about the reasons why you want to work for GRS... be true to yourself. Is it because you want money? Or you love what you're doing? A lot of times we say we love what were doing and we know we are lying. So be true to yourself - if I tell you that you won’t get a lot of money and you're not happy with that – be honest and say I’m leaving.
Q: How about some advice for coaches wanting to follow your footsteps?
A: Be patient. Know what you want. Be as patient as possible, because honestly I've taken a lot of crap but at the end of the day you need to be patient. Be willing to learn, be able to accept criticism, and you need to be able to put in the hours - you don’t get from coach to Site Coordinator without putting in extra hours.
Q: What does putting in extra hours look like?
A: I used to do M&E and M&E on it's own take sup a lot of time especially if your typing skills are as good as mine. I also used to manage coaches and head coaches, so I was disciplining coaches, doing M&E, as well as other things around the office that Mandla [former Site Coordinator] requested of me. For example we had one Skillz Holiday around June and Mandla was in Bloem trying to fix some stuff there. So I had to help out at the Holiday, be in the office to do M&E (and I was very slow), and on top of that I had to help out with reports for camp and be Mandla because he was gone. So all that would lead to me spending late night hours at the office and sometimes working on weekends as well. I have worked until midnight in the past. I was under pressure to do all those things and if I have to finish something I cannot do anything else until I have finished that thing. So I put in those hours to make sure I get it done and on time.
A: For coaches? To be true to yourself first. There’s always this one thing when we are at orientation - I say to coaches - there’s not much money in GRS and you won’t get a ton of money working for GRS - so when you think about the reasons why you want to work for GRS... be true to yourself. Is it because you want money? Or you love what you're doing? A lot of times we say we love what were doing and we know we are lying. So be true to yourself - if I tell you that you won’t get a lot of money and you're not happy with that – be honest and say I’m leaving.
Q: How about some advice for coaches wanting to follow your footsteps?
A: Be patient. Know what you want. Be as patient as possible, because honestly I've taken a lot of crap but at the end of the day you need to be patient. Be willing to learn, be able to accept criticism, and you need to be able to put in the hours - you don’t get from coach to Site Coordinator without putting in extra hours.
Q: What does putting in extra hours look like?
A: I used to do M&E and M&E on it's own take sup a lot of time especially if your typing skills are as good as mine. I also used to manage coaches and head coaches, so I was disciplining coaches, doing M&E, as well as other things around the office that Mandla [former Site Coordinator] requested of me. For example we had one Skillz Holiday around June and Mandla was in Bloem trying to fix some stuff there. So I had to help out at the Holiday, be in the office to do M&E (and I was very slow), and on top of that I had to help out with reports for camp and be Mandla because he was gone. So all that would lead to me spending late night hours at the office and sometimes working on weekends as well. I have worked until midnight in the past. I was under pressure to do all those things and if I have to finish something I cannot do anything else until I have finished that thing. So I put in those hours to make sure I get it done and on time.
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