F4GMag-Eleven-Digital[1230]

38 39 FOOTBALL FORGOODMAGAZINE | AUGUST 2019 KICKSTARTERS The fishing port town was at the end of the road leading into the upper reaches of the island. It was further removed from the madding tourist crowd than Praia, so Florian decided to spend his holiday there. As he spoke neither of the island languages – Portuguese and Creole – Florian spent much time alone, writing on the beach and observing local life play out in front of him. “What really struck me was that everywhere I went, the children and young people were playing football.” Having pre- viously played the sport himself as well as attaining a coaching licence to train young people in Austria, he had a connection to the beautiful game. However, having long since given up coaching as he didn’t fit into the rigid structures of the local clubs, Florian hadn’t thought about football for a long time. Until now. Like an anthropologist in the field, Florian continued to watch the Tarrafal world go by. One boy stood out in particular. Florian observed how he would while away his days on the beach, waiting for others to join him and play football. “That really stayed with me,” Florian remembers fondly. “I took the image of him hop- ping wildly across the beach home with me – as a souvenir,” he laughs. That wasn’t the only image he took back across the Atlantic. On the very last day, Florian broke out of his linguistically induced role of silent observer. A man with heaving dreadlocks approached Florian and spoke to him in English. He lived in Tarrafal and invited him back to his home. Florian stayed for dinner and found out more about the people of Cape Verde – and met his future wife, Marisa. Six months later, Florian was back. After a succession of flights between European mainland and African islets, the couple lived in Austria for a number of years before deciding to settle on Cape Verde. What they would do there, they were not entirely certain. “I never really worried about making a living. I knew we would get by somehow.” Having rediscovered his interest in football and observed the passion with which it was played by the local children, an idea blossomed in Florian’s mind: he could set up a foot- ball academy. Florian sat down and wrote his first project proposal. “WHAT REALLY STRUCK MEWAS THAT EVERYWHERE I WENT, THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLEWERE PLAYING FOOTBALL.” Florian Wegenstein, Co-Founder Delta Cultura Though a keen footballer himself, Florian Wegenstein never had any intention of using football for good on Cape Verde. In fact, he didn’t know that either existed. That he ever ventured into the ‘other world’ of football and onto the volcanic island archipelago was the result of a win beyond the pitch. In 1997, Florian was living in Austria with his brother where they both managed a small art house cin- ema in the country’s capital. The film reels were rolling, the Euros were not. The business was struggling to survive and so were the two brothers. One day, Florian spontaneously took part in a radio competition – for pure amusement and without expecta- tion. He emerged as the winner of a cash prize and a series of vouchers. Florian immediately cashed in his winnings and headed straight to his closest travel agency. “Where can I fly to?” he asked excitedly. “Somewhere where there aren’t too many tour- ists,” he quickly added. “Well, there’s a direct flight from Vienna to Sal on Cape Verde,” the agent replied. “Cape Verde?” Florian said shaking his head, “Never heard of it. Where is it?” The woman smiled and pointed to a cluster of islands on the map spread across her desk. Florian took a moment to study the ten green pinpricks of colour dotted in the midst of the light-blue shaded ocean. The chain of islands was some 500 kilometres west of Senegal, with nothing but the gaping Atlantic to the west. It certainly seemed to be off the beaten track. The island of Sal was at the curve of the Cape Verdian boomerang. “Ok, fine, then Cape Verde, it is,” Florian decided. Only a few hours later, he found him- self on a plane bound for the African island republic. His first glimpse of Sal from the air almost made him regret his decision: spread out beneath him was a vast expanse of sand. Too many tourists, he feared. Even before touching down, Florian’s decision was clear: ‘I’m not staying here’, he said to himself and never left the airport. He marched directly to the ticket desk and booked himself onto the next flight to Praia, Cape Verde’s capital three islands further along. Even here, on Santiago island, there were still too many people for his liking, so Florian followed the advice of one of the locals he encoun- tered one evening in a bar who told him to head up to Tarrafal in the north.