With an itinerary worthy of an international diplomat, the president of the Cameroon Youth Soccer Association, Pierre Joseph Batamak, spent a day at Pingry to accept a donation of soccer balls and a promise of future collaboration between the school and the association. He was in the United States as a representative of Douala City Council, visiting sister cities Newark, NJ and Philadelphia, PA and promoting the Youth Soccer Association.

Soccer, or futbol in the language of Cameroon, is a sport of monumental proportions in this tiny African nation. The Youth Soccer Association boasts a membership of 600,000 children, many of whom live in remote regions of the country. Mr. Batamak explained that soccer is an easy game to set up almost anywhere because it does not require a lot of equipment. He is setting up programs to go into the villages and the forest regions to reach children who do not have any exposure to sports, and in many cases, to academics. Mr. Batamak will be using the soccer program to help children understand the importance of education by pairing soccer with academic offerings.

Pingry’s new athletic director, Gerry Vanasse, extended the invitation to Mr. Batamak to meet Pingry soccer coaches and discuss collaborative ideas to bring soccer to more of Cameroon’s children. Mr. Vanasse will be asking the Pingry community to support this new cooperative effort through activities such as donating gently used soccer equipment to the Cameroon Youth Soccer Association. According to Mr. Batamak, the gift of the soccer balls is very symbolic of a new beginning for the youth of Cameroon. Speaking through his translator, Pingry’s Middle School soccer instructor and Cameroon native Albert Nguidjol, he says, “Our mission is providing smiles and making kids happy.”



© 2005 The Pingry School