SÃO PAULO – The training hasn’t even started yet and already black clouds are covering the sky over the São Miguel Paulista parish church in São Paulo. 25 kids have gathered alongside Marcelo, a Brazilian coach who visited Italy a few months ago. Thunder and lightning create a dramatic atmosphere an above the church: The rain starts to fall and it soon becomes a storm.
The concrete pitch soon looks more like a swimming pool. We ask the kids if they would rather stop and take shelter under the canopy, but nobody wants to stop now that things are getting interesting. So we carry on with our drills and shots, water pouring down on us.
The final match is a mixture between football and water polo. It might not be of the highest technical ability, but it’s a huge amount of fun. The kids are all laughing and sliding around the pitch, soaked by the streams of water. We wanted them to enjoy themselves, and this has definitely been achieved.
In the end, everyone is dripping wet. It’s seven year-old Mateus who puts exactly the right words to the moment: “The nicest things happen with rain!”
