A winning day

Saturday was a very satisfying day. Sometimes in youth work it can be hard to see progress, or any kind of positives, from all your efforts; it was not one of those days. Instead it was day when I could choose which of many encouraging outcomes to reflect on.

The uni hockey match in Mostar brought together young people from a mixture of ethnic and social backgrounds, although the teams were not defined by these factors. The teams, from Mostar and Jajce, were both mixed. It was exciting to see that after a hard fought game, that lacked nothing in passion and intensity, the teams were happy to hang out and mix together. Perhaps this was because the players are unified by an involvement in a sport almost unknown in this part of the world. I'd like to think the accepting atmosphere the coaches from both teams have created had something to do with it too.

For my part it was nice to know I haven't been forgotten by the young people from Klub Novi Most in Mostar, and it was fun to show the young people from Jajce around the sights of Mostar's Stari Grad. Six and a half hours on the mountain roads between here and there took its toll, but it was a very satisfied exhaustion that left me struggling to wake up on Sunday morning.