DADUWA SCHOOL went for years without a football pitch because there is so little flat land around. So they could play football only after harvest when a local farmer let them use one of his fields. Then, with the help of the community, they were able to create a pitch for themselves by cutting into the ground of part of the hill on which the school stands. However before they were able to use it the monsoon rains eroded a substantial part of the land.

Nevertheless, still having no proper football pitch, remarkably teams representing Daduwa school senior girls and Daduwa school senior boys swept the board at the inter-schools football competition held at Gilung, an hour and a half’s walk north of Daduwa.

You can see from the photo of the girls team that there is a sheer drop behind the goal post at the bottom end of the Gilung pitch (the ground is on a slope) and every time the ball missed the goal the game came to a halt while the ball was retrieved. Last year McCabe Educational Trust (MET) paid for a retaining wall to prevent further land being washed down the hill at Daduwa school’s new pitch and the pitch has now been restored.

So we expect Daduwa to continue to out-perform other schools in future years. Almost all the pupils from Daduwa attended the tournament and were enthusiastic in cheering on their teams. Even when they had clocked up four goals they were still chanting (in English) ‘We want more, we want more!’

It goes to show what an effect English football has on youngsters even in remote corners of the world.