Coach Ben

Blessed Football Coach

Hardworking Believer

Life Changer #57 LT Dalian Poseidons

Well, I first fell in love with American football when I was in Moncton, Canada. I had always known about it, but one day I saw the teams parade downtown before a game, I chased down the players and managed to get an autograph from the opposing team. I started loving it from then on. Then, from Canada, I went back to Ghana and then off to China to continue my studies at the university level. I continued playing basketball and became the president of the International Students Representative Council - Dalian Medical University. I used this as an opportunity in my second year to develop the male and female basketball teams of my university which were at that time gradually deteriorating. I realized that I could do more organizing for the team; getting that discipline in place and motivating them.

我最开始对橄榄球着迷是我在加拿大蒙克顿的时候。虽然我一直都知道橄榄球的存在，但是有一天我在街上看到一只球队赛前游行时，我试图赶上球员，想从他那得到一份签名。也就是从那时起，我开始喜欢它了。后来，我从加拿大回到了加纳，再后来又来到了大连，为了完成本科学业。我一直在打篮球，并且担任大连医科大学国际留学生代表理事会的主席一职。我也利用这个资源把学校日渐衰弱的男女篮球队重整了一下。我意识到我可以组织更多的活动来激励大家。

A few months before that though, the Dalian Poseidons came to train in my university before a football game and I asked to train with them. That went well. I was invited to play in a game and that was it! Our first game was against Beijing, then the CityBowl champs. Adrenaline pumping everywhere, I got in the game as a sub not knowing much. The game went well even though we lost. But I yearned for more, more knowledge more games, more ways to get better, more ways to get others better. I have been a semi-pro player since then.

几个月前，大连海神美式橄榄球队来到我们学校进行赛前训练，我请求和他们一起训练。进展很顺利，我被邀请参加一场比赛。首战我们要对战的是北京队，然后是CityBowl的冠军队。肾上腺素在飙升，我作为本场比赛的替补。比赛进行的很顺利，虽然我们最终输掉了比赛。但是我渴望了解更多，参加更多的比赛，找到更多的方法让我变得更好，从那时起，我成为了一名半职业选手。

Meanwhile during that year, while coaching the DMU team, the boys came 3rd in the international cup and the ladies were getting better. The Dalian Poseidons, on the other hand, was where I focused most of my attention on. The team had its ups and downs, I always tried in my own way to make things better. Once we lost our coach, I tried to give some motivation to the team one way or the other. I even invited my friends to come join the game, both experienced and inexperienced.

就在这一年，我在DMU队做教练，男孩们在国际杯中排名第三，女孩们也变得越来越好。但对于我最关注的大连海神美式橄榄球队来说，却是起起落落的一年，我总想尽自己的努力让球队变得更好。甚至有一次球队失去了教练，为了鼓励大家，我还邀请了我的朋友来参加比赛。

Dalian is my city. My Second Home. One thing I realized was that for the team to become better we needed to build the younger generation. Dalian is a soccer city, so this will be difficult. The then acting coach decided to start something for the younger ones, Future Touchdown-未来达阵. I had learnt a few things on coaching by then, so he called me in to help with several sessions. He gave me materials; a platform to make my ideas, dreams and goals come true, so I used it.

大连是我的第二故乡。渐渐地我意识到如果想让球队越来越好，我们需要培养年轻的一代。因为大连是一个足球城市，所以想要培养橄榄球运动员其实是很困难的。当时的代理主教练决定从孩子开始，称之为未来达阵。那时我学了些教练的知识，所以他请我去帮忙做几次训练。他给我提供了一些材料，这是一个能让我梦想成真的机会。

It wasn’t easy though. Blending that with medicine is never easy, you need focus. Not to mention the number of kids that showed up for practice in the first year only to eventually get demoralized later. But we kept going. Experience kept teaching us, until we eventually got invited for a game in Shenyang, of which only seven kids signed up for! The Shenyang team was well organized -both the coaches and kids- and we got whipped badly. The manager, Coach Daniel and I learnt from our mistakes and put things together. After the Shenyang game, fortunately, more kids started signing up in Dalian.

但是这并不容易，你需要全身心的投入进去。更别提第一年就选择放弃的孩子的数量了，这让人感到很沮丧。不过我们并没有放弃，一直在总结经验，直到我们最终被邀请参加沈阳的一场比赛，其中有7个孩子报名参赛。沈阳队不论从教练来说，还是参赛孩子的水平来说，都高于我们队，所以我们输的很惨。丹尼尔教练和我从中吸取教训，团结一致。幸运的是，沈阳比赛后，更多大连的孩子选择加入橄榄球这项运动了。

One other challenge that I faced was that I was mostly put in charge of the U-7 group, which made me feel like I wasn’t good enough for the more senior groups. I mean, I was there when it all started. I changed a lot of kids with the way I coached them, talked to them and motivated them. I changed their attitude towards everything. So, why? But then I realized the main reason why I was there with the under 7. It’s so I could mold them from scratch, build their character and make them better; so that they can be good football players and an honorable team. I believed in them, loved them like my own, care for them like my own siblings, disciplined them like a coach, mentored them, and most importantly laughed and cried with them. Well, I cried in my heart :). Parents always felt safe with their kids in my hands.

我要面对的另一个挑战是我所负责的是7岁以下的儿童组，因为我觉得我的能力还不足以指导更高级的组。我的意思是，他们会按照我的指导来做。我以我的指导方式改变了很多孩子的学习方式，多与他们沟通，多鼓励他们。后来，我意识到我选择7岁以下儿童组的主要原因。因为我是从零开始塑造他们，塑造他们的性格，使他们变得更好，逐步成长为更优秀的运动员。我相信他们，对他们视如己出，同样他们也喜欢我，重要的是我能感受到他们的喜怒哀乐。家长把他们的孩子交给我也很放心。这让我很感动。

In the second year, guess what? Assisting the more senior group, we went on to become the Northeast Champions, over Beijing, Shenyang and Tianjin. Miraculous, huh? The U-7 team beat the Shenyang Team flawlessly. I was so proud of the boys and girls. We were Kings and Queens of the North!! And it didn’t just end there. The manager ended up buying the Shenyang Team, hence we were renamed as the Northeast Football Academy. Both teams have camps together and the rivalry died down -well, for the kids at least, Dalian Poseidons and Shenyang Hunters are still big-time rivals-. Now, to me, they are the best child division in China. During that tournament I told the kids to give 500% because we didn’t come this far for nothing and most importantly they had to enjoy the game. We did amazing. Dalian has 3 teams now and they are all in good shape. I was then made the Head Coach of the Dalian Sharks.

第二年，你猜怎么着？再高级组的帮助下，我们卫冕了东北地区的冠军，超越了北京、沈阳、天津。这简直就是一个奇迹！7岁组完胜沈阳的球队。我为这些男孩女孩感到骄傲。而且奇迹还在继续，经理买下了沈阳队，所以我们改名为东北橄榄球学院。双方阵营旗鼓相当，至少儿童组是这样的，大连队和沈阳队仍是最大的对手。不过，对我来说，他们都是中国最好的少年组。大连现在有3支球队，而且状态都很好，后来我成为了Dalian Sharks的主教练。

I am currently in Ghana, my motherland. With my coaching certifications, experience and love for the game, I am continuing that miracle here in Accra, @touchdownlife, which is also -coincidentally- a coastal soccer city. In Dalian, I put in my all to change the lives of the kids through football. Body, soul and a 1000% effort. I know it might take longer here, but I am all in! There’s a lot of details to this that will marvel you. Can’t say it all. I am planning on fostering relationships with China and Ghana, through Dalian, my beloved city. Dalian has done a lot for me and to me. I would love to see most of these players, whose football lives I have touched in Dalian, go out there and change the game; to make the headlines! 

我现在回到了祖国加纳。带着我的教练资格证、积累的经验以及对比赛的热情，我继续着我的教练生涯，巧合的是，同样是在一个沿海城市。在大连的时候，我全身心的投入到橄榄球教课中，尽了自己最大的努力，其实这中间还有许多细节，我也就不一一描述了。我希望通过我和大连的联系，在中国与加纳之间搭起一座桥梁。大连对我来说意味着很多，我希望有朝一日能看到大连的橄榄球队能够雄风四起，登上赛事头条新闻！

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