Sunday On The Beach With Sierra Leonean Soccer Players

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/07/25/ [login to see] /sunday-on-the-beach-with-sierra-leonean-soccer-players
In cities around the world, there are certain traditions on Sunday mornings. Strolling in Central Park in New York. Sitting at an outdoor café in Paris. In Freetown, Sierra Leone, it's soccer on the beach.

Lumley Beach is a long strip of sand along the capital city's western edge. On Sunday mornings it bustles with joggers, walkers and large groups of soccer players. Almost every flat section of beach has been divided into soccer fields.

The goals are a couple of sticks or soda bottles stuck in the sand. The end lines are drawn on the beach. And the playing field gets wider or narrower based on the tide.

"Today the water is full," says 29-year-old Mohmoh Bockari, assessing the waves at high tide. Bockari is warming up with a group of young men. They're passing the ball in a circle.

"So we have to wait for some time until the water turns, maybe around 10, 11, the water will turn again. And we'll be able to play the way."

During the week, Bockari is a bricklayer. Most weekends, he tries to come down to the beach to play soccer. He says there are some talented players.