Not even three weeks following a jam-packed run of Africa-based programming, it was back on the road for sessions. After nearly a year away from travel, my mom was set to join me. If the 50 Guyana-colored bracelets were any indication of her excitement, it’s safe to say she couldn’t wait to get back in the field.

As hinted at earlier, this run would be bringing us back down to South America to a country new to the Around the Worlds roster – Guyana. With my last four trips ranging in flight time between 13 and 17 hours, I was in desperate need of a “short-haul” itinerary and the six hour flight time to Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, certainly fit the build. Now, a special partnership requires just that, a special partner, and man, did we have a good one down in Guyana.

In short, I had connected with a gentleman, named Winter, down there big in the football scene at the tail end of my time in Africa. If I was eager, he was even more so. A series of video calls later, we had worked out most of the details ahead of my November 12th arrival in the country. His excitement was definitely warranted, as he shared that it had been years since the last donation of anything was given to the kids making up his team, called the Herstelling Raiders. In the days leading up to November, we had carefully planned out the details of our partnership, how it might best play out with the kids’ best interests at heart.

“Maybe we could do a big festival? Across multiple days?” he first asked.

You could tell the wheels were already spinning.

“How many kids do you usually work with?” he asked, warning that if we really sparked enough interest we could have 100-200 kids coming through our free sessions PER DAY!

“Winter, I fully trust you man, however you want to plan it out – I’ll be there and ready,” I answered.

Evidently, behind the scenes, Winter was experiencing some completely natural doubts.

“To be honest, Stephen, I wasn’t sure if you were even real or not… if I was about to be scammed, or conned, or whatnot,” he said.

Not unique to this situation, one of Around the Worlds’ programs biggest causes for doubt is a “too good to be true” element. Everyone’s heard the phrase “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” so when we advertise “free sessions with free football equipment” it’s easy to see where doubt might be sowed. Nevertheless, I was eager to win Winter over & trusted that my presence in the country would eventually do that.

“So this guy, he messaged you saying he’s a coach from America and he’s gonna come here with 80 footballs? And you just… believed him?” some of the skeptics had said to Winter. But Winter was hopeful. A man of faith, he knew the plan was out of his hands and now belonged to a higher power.

Still a week or two out from my flight to Georgetown, the dialogue between us continued. He shared how the country had a desperate need for size four footballs.  “You know, Stephen, there’s a problem here in my country when it comes to soccer balls for the young kids – the size 3s, the size 4s… they are very expensive. So anything you can provide really will be so appreciated,” he shared, providing context to the need.

Winter was extremely accommodating on his side, insisting to deal with customs himself. “I’ll take care of it,” he said reassuringly. “That’s my responsibility.”

The hospitality didn’t stop there. “I’d also like to pick you up, if you can tell me where you’re staying,” he added.

“East Bank, Middle Road? That’s so close to where I live!” he replied.

“Ah man, that’s just perfect!” I answered, glad that the stars had somehow aligned with little to no prior research done.

Even from our first call, Winter’s humility had shown forth. He was a great coach, and an even better person. “The kids would be happy with anything you can offer, Stephen, even if it’s just five footballs per club.”

Equally humble, but able too – I wanted to go all out, packing 79 brand new footballs in two bags. Our largest drop since taking 81 to Jamaica all the way back in 2016. Customs had hassled us BAD back then, so you can completely understand my all-too-common anxiety about customs with yet another high number of soccer balls on the way. An eight hour workday complete ahead of a six hour-long evening commute to JFK, it’s safe to say I had far more pressing things to worry about before airport customs took center stage. Mainly? Staying awake.

Mom and I arrived with our two bags in tow just in time for our 5 AM flights. Those footballs were HEAVY too, lemme tell ya. 51 lbs and 49 lbs, they clocked in at. Two uneventful flights later, I landed in Georgetown, where mom had been waiting on me for about three hours already. In rare fashion, customs gave me zero problems, so I kept things pushing accordingly. Just outside of the arrivals door stood a happy and, thanks to customs, relieved man – Winter. He waved and smiled, before helping drag some of our bags over to the van he had driven to the airport. As we walked, he expressed his earlier worries and, thankfully, a lack of them at the present moment.

“This is history, bro!” he said, with a big smile. “I still couldn’t believe if you were even real or you’d even be here, but look at that. From a phone call weeks ago, to face-to-face right now.”

His excitement didn’t end there. “I can’t wait to talk to my contacts at the federation and in the grassroots system here,” he shared.

“Yeah bro, tell them that I really do exist! I’m real!” I said, with a laugh shared between us.  

Anxieties fully lifted, we began the hour-long, sometimes two hour (dependent on traffic) trek to Georgetown proper. Sensing our hunger, Winter stopped at Junction to buy us some wings, chips, and Guyanese “cookup” which we housed in a matter of minutes. Stomachs satisfied, we completed the route and settled in at our homebase in town. The next day was for prep and rest, followed by four straight days of programming. Thursday afternoon finally rolled around and it was go time! We took an hour-long drive southbound back towards the airport, for a 4 p.m. session in the village of Soesdyke.

Pulling up in Winter’s van, we saw a handful of kids kicking around on a pitch made up completely of sand. I joked to Winter, “We’re playing beach soccer, but there’s no beach!”

Waiting for more players to show up while chopping it up with the team’s coaching staff, I continued to see more of Winter’s professionalism standing out. A lover of the game, he was just as much a student of it too.

“So Stephen, walk me through today’s session. I like to take notes, is it cool if I jot stuff down while you plan it out?” he asked, ahead of our training’s start time.

“No doubt!” I answered, it was clear this guy was a pro through and through.

Though I would be guest coaching most of the session, I bowed out for the day’s warm-up – instead letting Coach Winter do his thing. Unsurprisingly, he ran one extremely similar to what I had planned! From there, we hit our standard passing lines, ball control groups, 1v1s at goal, with a scrimmage to close things out. Through it all, the boys gave us nothing but their best attention and highest energy.

The coach’s son, Jerome, was one of the standout players on the day, and he was ever-so-helpful throughout it. Actually his father was celebrating a birthday, but still took time to come out and watch training albeit for an hour. Midway through our ball control drill, I blew my whistle and called the group in. “Boys I noticed one thing, you guys gotta be scanning, the world’s greats Messi and the like – they’re always looking over their shoulder, so guys do that here!” I instructed. “Or else, a defender is gonna eat that ball up. Boys, they’re gonna win it off you 10 outta 10 times.”

The boys nodded their heads and immediately incorporated it into the exercise. Mid-scrimmage, the boys shared a special, albeit innocent conversation with me. “Wait, so coach Mats…” one boy started, drawing a chuckle from the crowd who had once again mistaken me for German professional – Mats Hummel. “Coach Stephen, so you’re involved with Herstelling Football Club right?” I nodded my head. “The same team, we’re going to play in the tournament this weekend?” the boy continued, receiving a second nod from me. “But Coach, you’re technically involved with the rivals – but you still coached us very well today… like you still taught us a lot.” These boys saw that I was loyal to the game more than any other team, and as the great saying goes – my opponent is my opponent, not my enemy.

Beyond that, I knew that with quality instruction and important resources (the heart of Around the Worlds and what we do) this team had the right pieces to reach a quality level. Plus, Winter and I shared the same belief that if this team – Soesdyke increased their level – it could only be better for the future of football in the country.

Why? Because iron sharpens iron. Small thinking says, this isn’t my team so I’m going to put forth 50 percent effort in today’s coaching session – so that they improve, but not to the level of my other team. Big thinking says, if this team gets better – then my team will get better too, because it’ll push us to increase our level accordingly. And then boom, that’s how true change happens – all at the grassroots.

Sharing that same philosophy, Winter was excited to allocate our precious footballs all over the country to communities very much in need – communities stigmatized by crime and other struggles. Coach Winter’s professionalism continued – “Coach Stephen, we’re going to ask the team for some feedback on the session now, if that’s okay with you?” I nodded my head, knowing this was a very important, though often overlooked component. I gathered the team in, asking, “Boys, tell me, what drills did you like today?”

“The chest control one,” a tall player answered, “because I’ve never been very good at that…”

I cut him off ever so gently, “And boys, what’s the key to that one?” I asked.

“Lean back!” They all answered.

“Okay boys, i don’t think I even have to ask – but what was your least favorite drill?”

Once again, in unison – “the long pass, short pass exercise!” They yelled out.

I knew it. They had really struggled with that variation at the clinic’s start.

“That’s a challenging one for any level guys, don’t hang your heads about that one,” I assured them.

Winter took it a step further, “Boys, that one was a challenge because you’ve never seen it before, right?” They all nodded. “But now, you’ve seen it, you’ve worked with it, which means that the next time – we’ll be prepared for it.”

Feedback received and noted, it was time to wrap things up and head back on the road.

I waved goodbye to the boys, “See you on Sunday!” they yelled out. “See you guys!” I yelled back, “I’m not sure yet who I’ll be rooting for,” I said, with a chuckle.

As we drove home, it was impossible to wipe the smile off Coach Winter’s face. “Man, that’s why I do it,” he said. “That’s why I love this game – putting smiles on the faces of 100, 200 kids, that’s all I want to do.”

I was right there with him, “Winter, even if it’s just one, just one player – that’s enough for me. But we know we’re made for more than that, right bro!” I answered.

Training session done and dusted, it was time to celebrate. We picked up four platters of wings and chips, and made our way to Providence mall to celebrate Winter’s daughter’s 10th birthday. A medium cheese pizza in front of us, we feasted – chopping it up about life & footy.

“This guy doesn’t even sleep!” Natasha, Winter’s wife said to me. “He just stays up all night watching football highlights!” I extended my hand towards Winter for a fist bump, “ain’t nothing wrong with that, Coach – 24 hours a day!” I responded.

He talked about all his experiences in football – traveling with the National Team – to Trinidad, Barbados, the US, Europe, and beyond. He was an endless fountain of knowledge and I was honored to pick his brain about the game, just as much as he was to pick mine. As we reached our home base in McDoom, the first clinic in country number 64 all wrapped up, I thanked Winter for handling the day in such a professional manner.

“These are some gifts too, from our partners back home,” I said – handing him a coach’s bag, a ball pump, and a sleek Nike quarter zip.

“Today was perfect,” I said, opening up our front gate, “I’ll see you again tomorrow Coach – 3:00!” Our time here was just getting started.