Today was our last day in Tororo at Rock View School and what better way to end it than with a Cricket Festival for all the children coached over the last 3 days. On arrival at school we were informed that 12 schools would be taking part in the festival and some schools were already there and raring to go. By 9.30am 10 out of the 12 schools had turned up and with a few last minute phone calls we were informed that the last 2 schools were on their way.

The equipment was quickly set up and the 12 schools were sorted into 4 groups of 3 with the winner of each round to go through to the semi-final. However, this is Africa and before long one of the games encountered a short delay due to the interruption of a goat and a calf running across the wicket. The intruders were quickly ushered off the pitch by our very own Rocket Ronnie. As the 2 animals turned to face another delivery Ronnie made a desperate dive for the Goat ending up face down in the dust to the amusement of all the children and coaches.

With all the commotion over, play soon recommenced and laughter and cheering could be heard from all 4 games with the children starting to become very competitive. Coaches could be heard shouting words of encouragement and the ABC messages from the sidelines. Screams of jubilation could be heard around the pitch from the various winning teams and before long the semi-finals were underway. It was clear to see that we had some very talented children here, especially some of the girls, with one of them bowling out a talented boy much to the delight of her team mates and coach.

The competition had now stepped up a gear and the final was about to begin. The 2 finalists wereth Aturukuku and Aguti. Both schools were handed CWB t-shirts which they would wear for the final. During one of the overs four 6s were hit and the talent of boths teams was evident. The first innings finished with a very challenging 82, some excellent bowling and fielding in the second innings limited the score 53. With both teams unaware of the final outcome the scores were read out and jubilant scenes followed by the victorious team. They were presented with a bat signed by the whole of the CWB team and posed for some photographs.

It was now time to say goodbye to all the children and coaches and I think its safe to say we were all quite emotional saying our goodbyes. It was clear from the coaches faces that they had really enjoyed themselves the last 3 days especially some of the women coaches, who like me had never played cricket before. At the start of our stint in Tororo I was very nervous about what to expect with my lack of cricket experience but I needn’t have worried. On the first day I spoke to Grace who was one of the local teachers learning to coach who felt as nervous as I did but by the end of the festival we had both learnt a lot and had so much fun. Grace’s enthusiasm to get involved with the coaching and have fun really inspired me. Hopefully through the exchange of emails we will be able to keep in contact and Grace will let me know how she is getting on and carrying on with her cricket caching.

Once we had said our goodbyes to the coaches and children we had a quick stop for lunch before heading to our next destination. 2 hours later after a very bumpy and dusty ride we arrived at our next stop…Mbale. Upon arrival we split up into two teams and it was time for a bit of healthy rivalry between the group where we decided to take advantage of the only Crazy Golf Course in Uganda.