Sports in Tanzania

It is almost incorrect to label this post as “Sports in Tanzania.” It would be more accurate to name it “The Only Sport in Tanzania” because really, there is only one that people follow with fervour. If you didn’t figure it out, it’s Football. No, not the CFL variety. The football they play in the World Cup.

For starters, almost everyone here seems to play it. There are makeshift fields with wooden goal posts with a short walk of anywhere in the city. When you talk to anyone, they either play currently or used to play. It’s somewhat scary to see some of the children play here. Their skill level is high and could best most of their peers in Canada. And if that’s not impressive enough, many of the people play in bare feet and sometimes sandals.

There is also a lot of interest in the European leagues here. Because Africa shares many timezones with Europe, it is very easy to follow all the games here – unlike North America where most of the games are on early in the morning. Many people have jerseys of their favourite team (seeing all the Chelsea jerseys – whose sponsor is Samsung – makes me feel like I’m back in Korea).

I always get asked who my favourite team is (I always answer FC Seoul, but no one has heard of them) and they are baffled when I tell them I don’t really follow European Football. They ask if I know of all these famous football players (happily I have heard of some of them, so I don’t feel completely stupid) as well.

I don’t think Tanzania is still in the running for a spot in the World Cup Finals next year, but they certainly like their football here. It’s been interesting to see how big the sport is here compared to how much it is relegated to the “other” section of the sports pages and sportscasts back home.

Of course there are other sports here (Basketball is played in places, even though I’ve yet to see it). Someone was also trying to teach some students at the Street Side School how to skip so they could go to a competition in Mombassa, Kenya. But to be honest, there is only one major sport here and it is a fact that is hard to miss.