More Than a Game

by Ronny Mintjens

Ronny Mintjens, linguist, teacher, and professional football coach, needed to find a way to really see the world, something deeper than mere tourism. Leaving the comfort and familiarity of his own European life, Mintjens decided to pursue his love of professional sports and exotic cultures all at once. He began coaching football at clubs all across Africa. Beginning in southern and then moving on to eastern Africa, Mintjens soon realized that there was more to professional football than simply training and winning matches. Trying to find ways to make a true mark on the game, Mintjens travelled from one club to the next. Each club, from Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti Plains to Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope, held its own surprises and boasted its own strengths and weaknesses. In the end, each had its own lessons on the intricate weaving of African culture and heritage. Leave your life behind and dive into the exotic world of African sports with this fascinating tale of an ambitious foreigner and his deep journey to understand football as a way of life in the African football club. In this relatively unknown part of the world, football is certainly more than a game.

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Nandi Mintjens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good book about this authors past and it reflects the culture that has evolved football in Africa. This book is talking about how football was played in 2012 vs. Now and it is coming from a perspective from a player from a former Tanzanian football player.

I recommend this book to football lovers.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was quite good to learn about football and the basics and techniques, African culture and playing a soccer game against different teams