“There’s nothing he can do about it” was the thought dominating the 10-year-old boys’ mind when the Goalkeeper tried to persuade him to talk to his father about an offer to play for the club’s under-13s.

Besides, the boy was secretly playing for a local club and if his dad discovered what he perceives as “playing your life away” activities instead of catching up with school work, he’d be scolded, period. The boy’s Dad was an educated man who studied overseas and got his qualifications as an Engineer, so one might empathise with the Dads ideologies. Creativity and imagination were suppressed in favour of cultural values and social status.

The boy instinctively knew that we a lifetime opportunity and was convinced he would never encounter such offer again. He still carried on playing for his club, thus the playing conditions and facilities consisted of hard grounds with his made-up gloves and Jersey ( he had to sew paddings cut from underneath of this sleeping mattress, on his sweater and shorts ) and the occasional trainers. Sometimes the little boy comes home all bruised up with “carpet burns” on the side of his hips which stings so bad but he had to watch his demeanour with the family, especially his twin sister who was so inquisitive about everything he does. Unfortunately, all the good run of luck came to an end when he discovered he will be sent to boarding school, a Religious Seminary about 100 miles away from home to further his education…

The boy wasn’t at all happy about the news but nonetheless, he had no choice. So off he went to the “new school” and to his surprise, the school boasted the best grass cut football pitches ( two to be precise ) along with other sports facilities like Tennis courts, Squash court, two basketball courts and a Volleyball court. Little did the boy knew what he assumed was a paradise school of sports, turned out to be his worst nightmare. The seminary that was supposed to be an institution for the inception of future catholic priests, was akin to a military camp where the most abhorrent forms of discipline were the norm. From the seminary officials ( who by the way were catholic priests ) to senior students, the governing law was to instil fear into the students’ minds by the rule of the Stick, or Cane, or Belt or whatever weapon that was available to inflict Pain. During the boys 6 years at the school, he endured a series of mishaps from losing an eye from the brutality of a senior student, nearly losing his left foot through gangrene infection, survived two separate occasions of severe bouts of malaria, and finally getting expelled from the school at senior level for becoming a potential and influential rebel against authority. The boy managed to finish his high education (GCSE Level) in a military school which ironically was soft in their disciplines code of conduct compared to the Seminary.

The dream of becoming a professional goalkeeper was always in the mind of the boy, who now has become a young man of 21, he didn’t see himself attending University so 2 years after his student gap year he decided to leave the family and travel abroad to England to pursue his dream of becoming a professional goalkeeper. Little did he know that his journey would amount to nothing but a roller coaster of misfortunes, disappointments, psychological breakdowns, personality disorders and numerous damaging setbacks that stretched over over two decades… TBC