Role models from afar

Rúnarsson and Middag help keep spirits up at training4changeS 

How do you keep a young football team, who rely on the game as part of their education and development, motivated to learn, when they aren't able to play?

That was the question Daniel Thomae of training4changeS was asking himself two months ago ahead of the impending lockdown.

Since then, he’s found out it helps when you’ve got two professional footballers willing to share their time and support.

Throughout lockdown Common Goal members Alex Rúnarsson and Tessel Middag have been helping the football for good organisation they’ve teamed up with – based in Stellenbosch South Africa – by sending messages of support and video challenges for its young players to take part in at during quarantine.

Daniel and his team delivered their last face-to-face session to members more than two months ago but they were finally reunited with the young people they work with last week when they delivered food packages to them and their families.

That final session all those weeks ago was, like always, dedicated to help young people empower themselves, offering them the skills they need to succeed despite the environment’s surrounding challenges.

But the prospect of not knowing when they could play next was daunting.

Thomae feared the size of his organisation’s task would be amplified, and their impact practically frozen, on top of his worries surrounding players’ safety.

But the support from players like Rúnarsson and Middag proved invaluable for the whole organisation, providing young people with the belief that there is hope for them in a world, now more so than ever, stacked against them.

Challenges included the viral, toilet roll #StayAtHome challenge which provided a much-needed distraction; while words of advice calling to respect government guidelines have helped alleviate issues of historical mistrust from local families toward their own government.

Rúnarsson, a Common Goal member since 2018, believes that, if anything, his connection to training4changeS has grown during the crisis as he is able to offer greater support.

Upon joining, his decision to support an organisation was personal and it remains so.

“I wanted to support an organisation that I could connect with and felt like I knew. I didn’t want to just choose a name from a list, transfer money and be done with it, I wanted it to be more personal,” said Rúnarsson.

“South Africa and Stellenbosch is a place that is very special to me and my family and when I got the chance to become a member of the training4changeS family it was an easy choice.”

Back in 2018, the FC Dijon and Icelandic national team goalkeeper visited the organisation, and has maintained a great relationship ever since.

“To have Alex visit us was a tremendous privilege and inspiration to our entire team,” said Thomae.

“For our young kids to have a professional footballer, who plays in one of Europe’s top leagues and recently represented his country at the World Cup, take an interest in spending time with them will be a memory they keep forever.”

In the intervening years the relationship has evolved thanks to a WhatsApp group not even a global pandemic could impede.

“I speak a lot with Daniel and he gives me regular updates about how everybody is doing,” said Rúnarsson.

“Our overall relationship has not changed in many ways, if anything we are in a bit more contact now maybe than before.

“I will continue to try to be a good role model for everybody, just as I was before COVID, for me that is the most important thing. I hope I will be able to visit them again soon, but until then, the videos will have to do.”

For fellow Common Goal member Tessel Middag, she has been urging participants to stay positive and challenging them to stay fit and healthy during the crisis.

“Daniel and I, met in July 2019 in East London, where I live playing for West Ham United. Daniel’s parents live in the same area,” said Middag. “They have been so kind to invite me over for dinner a couple of times afterwards, which is great.

“He keeps me up-to-date with things that are happening in Stellenbosch. We try to encourage each other at times.

“He sent me a video where the kids wished me good luck for the start of the season in September, and I’ve sent them a video recently where I told them I hoped they would stay safe, healthy and positive during these corona times.”

Though travelling is currently off the cards, Middag said: “I can’t wait to meet all the children, coaches and teachers in person.”

While training4changeS cannot physically reach most of its participants during the crisis, a lot of their resources have been reformulated for online consumption.

Families with access to adequate internet can use these education programmes to continue learning and help to distract them during prolonged lockdown measures.

Rúnarsson and Middag have also reiterated the importance of hygiene standards during this time through their messages, which is extremely important for both the kids themselves and their parents.

Daniel is conscious of the fact that simple health measures will be taken more seriously if they come from professionals like Rúnarsson and Middag.

“These are players at an elite level, playing in faraway countries that you watch on TV, the fact that they're taking the time out of their own lives to send you a message and they know what you're going through, it's not like a once off it’s a personal thing,” said Thomae.

“They keep on checking up and they want to know about the latest news.

“That means a lot to the kids and it means a lot to the families of the kids too. I think having the support of the players in that sense is phenomenal because they could easily be consumed with their own challenges.”

On the ground, with the easing of lockdown restrictions training4changeS is determined to retain a sense of normality.

Alongside the virtual support, families were taken aback by the level of care and surprise sight of food supplies. And so too was Thomae, who upon arrival found players already lining the streets joyously kicking a ball at the very first chance they got.

For training4changeS, when football programmes are able to resume under the new government guidelines, they will safe in the knowledge its loyal supporters aren’t going anywhere.