GAME DAY, PART 2: GET ON THE BUS… OR VAN

Contributed by: Dave

Gameday began without a hitch. It had been decided that Chad and I would meet Kei at his hotel, film with him as he rode the team bus to the hotel, and shoot with him all the way through the national anthem and kickoff. Then we’d meet up with Josh and Clay, who would be a part of the team’s motorcade through Freetown in the vehicle driven by Abu, our guide. Kei was the first to let us know that things might not go according to plan.

Apparently, unlike most soccer federations, the Sierra Leone Football Association expects its players to make their way to Freetown at their own expense, and then it reimburses them upon arrival. In a not uncommon occurrence, the team hadn’t been paid—and we were less than three hours from kickoff. Kei told us that though we were supposed to leave at 2:30, some of the players were protesting and had left the hotel. He told us not to worry, the game would be played, but we might be a little late. He disappeared to get some more information.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned, popped on some dope white Dr. Dre headphones, and made his way to the bus. We followed.

When we rounded the corner and saw the bus, it was clear we might have a problem. It already looked full to capacity. Kei had warned us that though everyone approved of us filming their ride, there would be a lot of standing. At this point, we weren’t quite sure if they’d even be able to do that.

Kei signed a couple of autographs, then hopped on the bus. We tried to follow, but New Yorkers have nothing on West Africans. The crowd surged forward and though we were at the front, the door slammed in our face. Kei did his best to get us on, but as it pulled away, he could only give an apologetic shrug.

Dejected, we headed back towards the street to meet up with Abu, Josh and Clay. A team representative asked if we needed a ride, we declined, then saw him board a van carrying the team’s coach. We quickly pivoted and hopped in, finding ourselves aboard the second car in a 10-car procession led by a police escort. Fully expecting chaos upon arriving at the stadium, we took solace that we were riding with the coach, knowing that he surely would get in without issue (for those of you English and Humanities teachers heading back to school this week, feel free to use this paragraph as an example of foreshadowing).