The longest road trip

Geoducks soccer player spreads game in Africa

By Gail Wood | The Olympian • Published September 09, 2008

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She'll never forget their smiling faces as they played a simple game of soccer.

Standing on a dry, dusty soccer field with patches of brown grass in Uganda, Kate Green watched a small group of fifth grade girls chase a soccer ball, running bare foot on a hot summer day. They laughed as they played.

Green, as a coach from the United States, was sharing a game.

“We had two soccer balls,” Green said. “None of the girls had shoes. They wore long dresses. But they were having so much fun.”

From April to August, Green lived in Uganda, teaching English and physical education at a boarding school in Yei. Green went by herself to work on a paper about the stigma of HIV AIDS for a class at The Evergreen State College.

Naturally, Green, a senior on Evergreen’s women’s soccer team, found time to coach soccer.

“Soccer has always been everything to me,” Green said. “I told people there that I liked soccer. When I told them that, one thing led to another. They don’t have any women’s teams in the area.”

Green wrote a letter to her aunt in Seattle about coaching soccer and about the poverty conditions there. Green received an unexpected response.

“She told other people and they started raising stuff,” Green said. “We got six boxes of stuff.”

They sent clothes, uniforms and shoes. They also sent about $600.

“I was so happy,” Green said. “It just put a smile on my face to see that these people were so willing to help. No one even asked. It was amazing.”

Green also e-mailed Evergreen coach John Purtteman, telling him about her coaching grade school girls with no shoes. He sent two boxes of soccer balls and shoes.

“He was incredible,” Green said. “I didn’t expect him to do anything. He was such a big help.”

While in Uganda, Green lived in a gated house with a guard at the entrance. There were no grocery stores, only an open market with tables of fruit and meats.

“The food was awesome,” Green said. “Really basic. Chicken and soup. But I really liked it.”

On her first visit to the downtown, a mob ran up the street toward her, frightening her.