Soccer Gala: Its Wars and Battles

Not many events are looked up to at Law School like the annual sports gala and this is for diverse reasons. For starters this is the event that caps off the year in terms of events organized by the Makerere Law Society; the Society’s top brass therefore take it upon themselves to give us a worthy Christmas send-off. Secondly, in a gala we have more of a social and fun-filled event that involves nothing to do with the law that we read and study, it is definitely bound to attract all and sundry. The gala is much more concerned about the talent that you possess and less about your ability to memorize cases, nothing to do with the number of times you have been in class or even your frequency to the library. For those with no talent to showcase, at least it gives licence to exhibit attire and outfits. Talking of outfits, each of the classes had through a private arrangement purchased soccer jerseys for them to be identified with. The little ones had been attracted to the beautiful Nigeria jersey that lit the world cup, second year preferred the Bayern Munich home kit, the third years favored the “noisy neighbors” home kit (wasn’t that enough to explain the noise) and of course the elders choiced the opulent PSG home kit. We could argue about the smartest until the cows come home but at the end of the day everyone has their taste and preference.

The day was event laden, many games of different kinds kicking off at the same time. Each class (from year one to four)  had the opportunity to field a player for the games being played, male or female it didn't matter, what was most important was that they played. From board games to those on the field, the only missing ones were the track games but again how fast do you expect intending lawyers to be?

Football was the most exciting of them all; it is a beautiful game there are no questions about that. But the momentum had been building for days, words were being thrown from either camp, the most pronounced of course being the battle between the elders (read third and fourth year). The trainings had been done prior and it was just the day that everyone was waiting for to prove and disapprove the other.

The football games being the center of attraction had the most intensity, the emotions ran high, at a point punches were thrown about but this wasn't all. Off the pitch, the words accompanied every tackle won, every pass made, every air duel, it was just crazy. In moments like these, you forget yourself, you forget about how you think you should behave (it is no excuse for fighting though), every part of you is wholly immersed in the game. The nervy moments were many, for my team (fourth year) we had to endure a penalty shootout in our first game, it was nervy but we got through. The second year team had many glimpses of glory but they squandered them just as we did with ours and in the end they bowed out albeit with their heads high because of the quality of their game.

The final perhaps was the most entertaining, say what you may but a final anywhere in the world is worth your every minute, never mind the words at pre-match. This was between the third year class and the fourth year class. The statistics before the game were in no one's favor. We had never won a final even when we have been there on two separate occasions before and the third years had scored their first goal in the previous game in as many years of attempt. It was game on for everyone, no history or pedigree to bank on; it was simply how best you performed there. Johan Cruyff the famous Dutch football who was behind the revolution of football to what we today call the “tick-tack” is quoted to have once said that, football is played by the brain and the legs are just a bonus. The third year team defied all the above but somehow they emerged victorious after a penalty shootout. Could it have been luck? Maybe or maybe not. My felicitations to the entire class, you expended lots of energy on much more than playing the game itself.

The consolation from some of the fourth year boys was that third year boys could have won the battle on pitch but not anywhere near to winning the war (off the pitch). From that statement I could gather that there was much more than just a game of sport that was being fought for. Well, I am not one of those boys; maybe one of them will offer an extension to this blog and tell us exactly what he meant.

Thank you Makerere Law Society!