ARUSHA, TANZANIA--There are welcomes and there are the kind usually reserved for celebrities and dignitaries. The traveling parties of Drake University and the CONADEIP All-Stars received a welcome fit for a king on Wednesday night at a jovial Kilimanjaro International Airport.
When the KLM flight carrying the players, coaches, staff, families and friends of both teams arriving to play in the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl emerged from the dark and silent skies and landed on the airport's single runway, well-wishers were out on the tarmac in force to ensure the first impression of Tanzania was memorable. A full moon even appeared from behind the clouds at the moment the travelers disembarked.
TAHA, the Tanzania Horticulture Association, which promotes and oversees the expansive flower and fruit production and export in Tanzania, gave every person a necklace of roses as a Masai tribe danced and provided a traditional welcome. Deputy Foreign Secretary for the Tanzania Ministry of Resources and Tourism Mrs. NURU MILAO was among the dignitaries on hand to greet the visitors before they entered the visa and passport process.
**Additional Online Resources--Go Inside The Journey:
Drake President Dr. David Maxwell's blog | Drake Players' blog
Drake AD Sandy Hatfield Clubb's Twitter | Global Football's Twitter
Drake Football Facebook | Kilimanjaro Bowl Facebook
Global Football's YouTube Channel
The celebratory mood was appreciated by Drake University head coach Chris Creighton, who said: "We've been here 10 minutes and we love it already. We've been wanting to come here for years now and are so glad to be here. It was a wonderful welcome and we can't wait to get this trip started. It is literally a dream come true for me and for our program to be here and experience this."
Drake University takes on the CONADEIP All Stars from Mexico at the 20,000-capacity Sheik Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in Arusha at 1pm local time (US ET +7 hours) on Saturday, May 21.
There will only be a short rest for Creighton and fellow head coach Juan Carlos Maya of the CONADEIP All-Stars as they take their teams to the impressive Tanzania Game Trackers facilities and hit the practice fields at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
Both sets of players and coaches will then hold American football coaching clinics for 1,000 local youth who will be bussed in from Arusha to pass, catch and run with a football for the first time. Event organizers Global Football is providing mini footballs for each participant and is working in association with Tanzania Irie, which provides a free sport service to underprivileged youth by running camps, lessons and events with experienced coaches around Arusha.
"We have been traveling for a long time to get here but it will be worth it," said CONADEIP head coach Maya. "For what we will achieve in the local community and the experience our players will have being here in Africa, this is a wonderful opportunity and we are very excited."
The travel-weary players finally got to their rooms at The Arusha Hotel shortly before 1 a.m., but were in high spirits.
"Today we left Iowa and flew to Amsterdam and now we're here in Africa and it all feels like a dream to me," said Drake defensive end Paddy O'Connell. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us. It's so big that it's hard to even wrap your mind around. It is one of the best experiences that I know I'll ever have my whole entire life.
"I feel a lot of excitement and joy and a little anxious just to get out and do everything and see more of the African culture that I'm not used to."
Notes: A press conference for local media will be held at the Tanzania Game Trackers facility at 1.30 p.m. following the coaching clinic... Global Football President Patrick Steenberge, head coaches Chris Creighton and Juan Carlos Maya, Drake AD Sandy Hatfield Clubb and CONADEIP representative Enrique Ramos will all speak along with a captain from each team... Players from both teams will each pump up mini footballs and practice balls that they carried deflated in their bags on the journey to Africa... Del Christensen and Mary Minger from the Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS) were among those welcoming the teams when they arrived on Wednesday evening... each player and coach received a t-shirt, safari jacket, and other items from Global Football upon arrival, along with a pair of Younger Optics polarized Rx sunwear, equipped with Drivewear lenses.
