It’s sad that I don’t have better pictures from this experience. Like many parts of the world, soccer is the biggest sport in Rwanda. They love their teams. They love European clubs. They decorate their buses with the colours of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona and so on. They go to the stadium to take in the game and it’s a big party when they do.
August 13, 2007 –
Yesterday, I went to my first ever pro soccer match. Today, I’m wearing an Atraco FC hat.
While I was off in Uganda for the rafting trip, two other interns in our house, Garrett and Kristen went to watch a soccer game and fell in love with Atraco FC. The story goes, when they were having lunch before the match, they said they would cheer for the team in yellow. They didn’t know there would actually be a team in yellow so it was fate that Atraco FC was playing that day. After that, we all adopted their yellow, green and white team colours. (The team is affectionately nicknamed “The Transporters” because their sponsor, Atraco, is the company that runs the minibuses in Kigali).
After watching Atraco play Rayon Sport and learning a bit about the teams, I’ve decided to support Atraco to the end and follow them even from home.This was actually an important match for the standings. Rayon had just leap-frogged Atraco into second place after winning last week.
When they went last week, the stadium was pretty empty except for the loud Atraco fans that absorbed Kristen and Garrett. This time was completely different. Amahoro Stadium was about 80% full. There was one section of Atraco fans and the rest were the blue-coated Rayon fans. It turns out Rayon is a very historic team that’s been around for more than 20 years. On the other hand, this is Atraco’s first year in Rwanda’s top soccer league. And you can call this a sort of Cinderella story. Being near the top of the standings in their rookie year is pretty remarkable. I would say that about any new team in any league.
I’ve only seen Atraco play once and they didn’t score a goal. They lost 2-0. I don’t know any of the players and almost none of the history of the team. But when they lost, it was so dampening on my spirits. Garrett wondered about this all night. He’s not a fan of pro sports at home but he can’t get over how upset he was that Atraco lost. There’s something about the united spirit sports create that I can’t get enough of.
When the game ended, there were thousands of Rayon fans celebrating and dozens of Atraco fans mourning. Garrett pondered, what if we could create that same energy for humanity, for justice, for peace? He’s right. I said that’s what the Olympic movement is doing. But I think he meant that the focus wouldn’t be on sport and competition.
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Two weeks later, we went to another match. This time it was Atraco vs. APR FC. APR is the New York Yankees of the Rwanda National Football League. The team has the most championships and is the favourite of President Paul Kagame. But before this game I had to prepare. I went on a search for some kind of Atraco FC apparel.
Somehow my search brought me to Nyabugogo Taxi Park. It’s a vast dirt field where minibuses are stationed. It’s also the location of a few shops. When I got there, I asked around and fortunately, some group of guys knew another guy who might have something. So this guy runs off, presumably to his house and comes back about 15 minutes later with a hat. It’s a knitted bucket hat. Pretty cool so I handed over some money, hopped onto the back of a moto and went back to work.
This game was a lot more exciting and even though the Atraco fans were far outnumbered by APR fans, you wouldn’t know it if you were in the Atraco section. Atraco went down 1-0 but nobody seemed to care or worry. Just minutes after APR took that lead, Atraco tied it up. And shortly after, Atraco got out on a breakaway and scored what would be the game winner! People went crazy. You really do go to soccer games for the atmosphere more than the match itself.
Atraco FC would end up winning the league title the following year but that would be its only championship. According to Wikipedia, the club folded in 2010. Pretty sad news. But what a thrilling few years it must have been for those Atraco fans.
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