A Brazilian Legend

Wow... I seriously am so excited to share this news. Gérson de Oliveira Nunes. If you do not know this name then you are about to be educated on an important part of Brazilian soccer history. On tuesday, I met him. My project is called the Gerson Project, but I had no idea the importance of this project or the background information. He was the one who created this project to give kids the chance to play soccer, give them free healthcare, free computer skills, and they will soon teach english. It has been 41 years since Brazil won the World Cup, in which they were the first team to win it 3 times. He is number 8 and he played with Pele. This video will show a little piece of the history... (when they show the final match in the video, you will see Gerson's goal- the second goal):

The other volunteer (Jins) and I felt like we were famous. We had a few cameras on us as they interviewed us. We are going to be in the Fluminense newspaper here, which is such a cool opportunity. They asked me all about soccer at home and if I had dreams to play in the world cup and the olympics. It was a cool experience as well because everyone was so impressed with how I played. All the kids were talking about how good I had played with them, and so everyone was talking about it. It was such an amazing moment, I felt famous. Jins is the coach, and I am the player. It is a great thing what we are doing. He is a great coach because he coaches at home and so he is very knowledgeable on the game. I relate better to the kids when I play, so we both have different things to offer them. The newspaper took pictures of me playing and pictures of Jins coaching. We took pictures with Gerson and conversed with him and everyone else. They also interviewed one of the kids in the placement who tried out for Botafogo. Three of the kids tried out for this team, which is a professional soccer team here. They are all talented soccer players, so I really hope that they can get some good media out of this. There was Brigadeiro cake for everyone after the interview and the celebration was done. It was one of the most amazing things I have been able to experience here in Brazil!! I met a legend and anyone who knows of him was so jealous of us both. It is not something that happens everyday, and to know that they will be putting us in the paper for the help that we are providing for these kids really makes me feel like I am making a difference. Jins is working on trying to get some of these kids out to Australia to get an education as well as an opportunity to play with good equipment. They asked me if I would be interested in doing something in the states, so I am going to look into doing something of that sort. 

Also, they were so impressed with me, they asked if I want to coach a girls team here. I was flattered that they asked me, so soon I will be helping another team. I can't even put into words how amazing this all is and the fact that I am truly making a difference in their lives as well as them making a difference in my life. I know that this is changing me, but I won't fully grasp how much I have changed until I get home. In about two weeks I will be attending a Fluminense training session with this placement (professional soccer team). I never expected any of this, but I am so thankful to be apart of all of this. The rest of the day I could not stop jumping around with excitement and I could not stop smiling. I am still in shock that this is all happening. I play soccer about 4 to 6 hours everyday except weekends and I could not ask for more. I love Brazil.

One of the players getting interviewed who tried out for Botafogo below.

Gerson is in the one in the light blue below:

This is the coach of the placement below: