Final day blog coming from Adam McWalter…

So this is it, the end of an incredible journey! Today was our last day of cricket coaching so to speak and it ended with a cricket festival in Nyanza with local schools. It was another early start for us as we headed down south and many of the lads took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep on the drive down after last night’s dancing antics.

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We arrived in Nyanza with plenty of time to spare, ready to set up the pitches for the festival…once the football game had finished. Jono and Eddie went off to collect a school and everyone else waited round trying to anticipate how today’s proceedings were going to pan out. Finally, the football finished and we were free to set up three pitches and the schools started to arrive. Teams were divided up and play was under way.

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There was some serious enthusiasm and competitiveness from the teams (and coaches) and it was amazing to see that after the week’s coaching in Nyanza that we’ve done, that so many of the kids had listened to what was said and used the coaching points in the games. Due to the festival being played on a public field, there was obviously a lot of interest from the local adults and children and they seemed to enjoy watching the games unfold. 6 games for each team were had and after a presentation of some kit to the schools, the scores were announced. It had turned out to be very close with only a matter of 19 runs being the difference between 1st place and 4th. There was a final winner and the prestigious honour was given to Big Eric and his team, although some coaches feel that Eric’s counting may have been slightly dubious…. A great couple of hours were had and after a quick game of ‘Spot the Doosra’ and a bit of food we headed back to Kigali, with the standard tour fines being dealt out on the journey back (George obviously getting hammered the most…).

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As a general round up of the whole trip, it’s been absolutely fantastic. Personally, I’ve met some great people, had some outstanding moments coaching and had some special visits to the ROP. I know I’m not the only one in the group who feels like this, and I believe I speak on behalf of the whole team when I say we’ve had a truly amazing time in Rwanda. I know I can’t wait to start planning my next CWB trip. I think I may have caught the bug….

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