Annemiek Van Vleuten, Théo Pourchaire and South Bronx United
OJ BORG 00:00:06
Oh, well, hello there. And welcome to the Good Time Sports Club is a brand new podcast. Looking at sports in all its forms. Imagine it’s a Sunday morning, you're watching Transworld sport. You're in your pyjamas on the sofa. That's what we're doing here. Welcome! I'm OJ Borg
RAYA HUBBLE 00:00:21
On this week’s show.
OJ BORG 00:00:24
Harrogate, Harrogate, whatever you call it. We speak to Annemiek Van Vleuten the world cycling champion. She tells us what she was thinking when she was there last year. And she struck out for glory
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:00:35
And I felt like, Oh my God, maybe I'd feel so strong. And now I'm maybe killing myself.
OJ BORG 00:00:41
We discovered the incredible work that South Bronx United are doing and record breaking F3 driver Théo Pourchaire calls in from somewhere totally unexpected.
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:00:50
I’m in Milton Keynes, er, stadium
OJ BORG 00:00:52
Yes, Milton Keynes. But first let’s do the News shall we. In rugby, the 2020 6 Nations’ campaigns will finally reach their conclusions on the weekends of October the 24th and the 31st World Rugby has finally announced the dates for those. England and France topped the standings when the play was suspended back in March.
Women's cricket will feature in the 2022 Commonwealth games for the first time. After an announcement earlier this week, Birmingham's Edgbaston will host eight teams who’ll battle it out for gold in a T 20 tournament.
And the cycling season’s first major race for 149 days - they felt barren, tell me about it, takes place in Italy on Saturday with the one day classic Strade Bianche.
RAYA HUBBLE 00:01:43
As one of the most decorated cyclists in history Annemiek Van Vleuten has won nearly everything there is to win in the sport. World championships? She won back to back titles in 2017 and 2018 before adding the road race title to her collection after a staggering solo performance in Harrogate last November. Stage races? She's won the biggest stage race in women's cycling, the Giro Rosa for the last two years. So it's no surprise to learn that she's won every race she's entered since securing the world championships rainbow Jersey last year. But this weekend's Strade Bianche is a special race for Annemiek. And not just because she has a winning pedigree at the event. During the 2018 world championships, Annemiek fell 96 kilometers or 60 miles from the finish line before remounting and riding through the pain to finish an admirable seventh.
However, after finishing the pain became so unbearable, she was unable to cycle to the team bus and was rushed to hospital where an X Ray revealed she'd fractured a bone in one of her knees. After surgery and limited training Strade Bianche 2019 confirmed she was back.
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:03:00
Yeah, I, have the picture of the win of last year when I crossed the finish line I have it in my living room and I don't have a lot of pictures in my living room, but that one is.
After the knee, I thought like maybe it could be a wasted season. And, um, yeah, to come back in your second race already with a win.., and then also in one of the most beautiful races that yeah.
There was the best present I could get because it was such a hard winter for me. And I had so many doubts about if I could ever get my level again. Cause that was also not guaranteed by the doctors with the, with the knee was a very difficult operation and really difficult with my knee, so they were not sure.
Like it was like 75%. It would be okay, So I was, I was insecure. Um, and then, yeah, I still get a smile on my face. If I see the picture where I cross the finish line... solo.
RAYA HUBBLE 00:03:56
We spoke to Annemiek earlier this month from her training camp in the Italian Alps to see what she planned for the rest of the season and discovered why the break should give her rivals cause for concern.
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:04:08
Yeah actually It took me two weeks, I think, to change a bit into the new rhythm, without waiting to say goodbye a little bit to my goals for the spring and for the whole season actually, or remainder of the season.
Um, but after two weeks, I, yeah, I found a good rhythm actually in the Netherlands. And I joined also, uh, really enjoyed it, uh, to catch up with my friends, family, to have some time for them. Uh, once we could see each other, because there was also things for er, at first we couldn't see anyone.
I managed I think also to see also the opportunities of this period of COVID and, uh, also, um, to make myself a faster bike rider, for example, a faster time-trialler. I took some opportunities for that and some challenges and, um, I think I used the period's quite useful
RAYA HUBBLE 00:04:56
With travel restrictions in place Annemiek was forced to adapt her plans, swapping the Alpine climbs of her typical training camps for the notably flatter roads of her native Netherlands.
She hit the headlines when it was revealed. She'd completed a mammoth 250 mile or 400 kilometre ride to keep her training interesting.
So how difficult was it to adapt to training at home?
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:05:19
Yeah, that's also took me a little bit time to find a rhythm, um, in the Netherlands in training and I had sometimes to do six hour rides and yeah, pff. Then after in the altitude, I look forward where to go. For tomorrow I have a six hour ride and I can’t decide where to go because I love it so much all the mountains.
In The Netherlands was a bit more challenging but in the end I find also with Strava. It's, it's funny to, um, uh, to prepare a route beforehand. And, um, I try to go to places where I was never before and to actually also to discover the beauty of the Netherlands. Um, and then I shared the GPX file with my friends and we wrote the route together.
So in the end, it was not so bad. Also I went sometimes to the South of the Netherlands Limburg to catch up with some friends or with my coach there. And then next day I went back. So, um, yeah, I think I, uh, I, in the end I had a good period.
RAYA HUBBLE 00:06:20
So did Annemiek miss the mountains?
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:06:23
Yeah. As soon as the borders opened and Italy said like a people from the Netherlands can go to Italy, I was there.
So, uh, yeah, the periods without mountains, it was really long for me. Um, and now since then the borders are open. I can train more in the mountains, prepare myself in the mountains and it makes me also a little bit more happy bike rider.
I have invited here now to altitude my friends. So at the moment my cousin is here with his girlfriend and in the first week a friend joined. So, um, I take my social life from the Netherlands. I invite them to go to Italy. So, uh, so I see also in the evenings I have some, uh, yeah, so nice, uh, catch up with my friends and family. So, um, yeah, that's been really good. I really enjoy training here in, in the days. And in evening also have good company
RAYA HUBBLE 00:07:12
With a brand new condensed calendar. Is she concerned there are too many races too close together?
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:07:18
I tried to stay away a little bit about, uh, the worries that were like, not to complicate. It is not too full; the calendar. Um, I think I have the attitude. Like I just want to prepare myself for the races that are coming. Um, I don't want to get really worried about “it's maybe too full” because I think if everything that is on the calendar will go ahead, then we need to be super, super, super lucky.
So in the Netherlands we have a saying like “don’t make problems before they are there”.
So, um, yeah, in the end, um, I take it a bit more month by month. I think I'm working really hard to be at the, my, uh, top level in Strade, Bianche, and that's what I have in control.
And for the rest. Um, yeah, I, uh, I see, uh, my goal is to not maybe to prepare myself for specific races, my goals a bit more to be just at my top level. And then I will see what races I can get show this
RAYA HUBBLE 00:08:21
One event that didn't make the new 2020 calendar is of course, the Olympic games. In 2016, her Dutch teammate Anna Van Der Breggen won gold, but it was actually Annemiek who was most remembered for the Olympic road race.
Annemiek crashed heavily while descending the final mountain and lay prone on the floor for several minutes, as viewers around the world feared for her life.
She was fortunate to leave Rio with a severe concussion and three fractures to her back. In the aftermath Annemiek tweeted. She was quote “super disappointed”after the best race of my career”.
So is Olympic gold in Tokyo, the last big goal for her to achieve as a professional?
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:08:59
No, not at all, actually.
I don't like to reduce a year only to the Olympics because there are so many more beautiful races to target and to reduce it only to those two races, will be disappointing.
I will approach it the same as last year. Like I go full a hundred percent committed to the spring classics.
So until Liege-Bastogne-Liege,. Um, and from after Liege-Bastogne-Liege certainly as my focus will switch to the Olympic games.
Um, and maybe they're like the Tour of Flanders to win that one again is a really big dream. Um, I I've never won Fleche Wallone, for example, So also really something I would like to have on my list.
Amstel Gold Race in my home country is also not another race that I, I have won, so yeah, there are so many more goals and dreams and races I would like to target.
Um, so it's, it's always a little bit annoying for me if people reduced the year of Olympic games only to the, to the Olympic games, I think in some sports. Yes.
But in cycling, we have, we are so lucky to have way more nice races
RAYA HUBBLE 00:10:13
At 37 and with the Olympics still a top target, if not her number one priority is Annemiek concerned that the race would arrive one year too late.
Or does she share a similar view to her Mitchelton-Scott teammate Amanda Spratt?
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:10:27
Yeah, I think, uh, my teammate said it really well, like “only the date's changed, my dreams haven't changed.”
And so, yeah, it's just postponed with one year and um still the same dreams, uh, still the same goals.
Um, only that insecurity, like, um, my contract is ending this year.
Um, so it would have been nicer, with that, to have it this year. Yeah. My dreams haven't changed and, um, it still will be a really important goal next year.
RAYA HUBBLE 00:10:59
Her dominant solo win in Harrogate at the 2019 World Championships stunned even seasoned observers, used to seeing attacks take place in the final 10 or so kilometres. So what was she thinking when she attacked - barely a third of the way through the race, with 100kms to go?
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:11:13
When I was solo on the top of the climb and you're like, “okay?”. And it was on my Garmin that it was still like 103kms to go or something and I'm like, Oh my God, this is maybe I feel so strong. And now I'm maybe killing myself. And this became even stronger on the flat section after I had descended.
Cos after the descent, I got the message from the national coach, like, “okay, continue” because it's a good situation for us. Uh, but it was a flat section.
And then when you know that seven girls are chasing you behind you and working together with Anna Van Der Breggen sitting in the wheel, um, yeah, you feel like, “Oh, I had such good legs today and then maybe I'm now killing myself” because the girls behind me have a more easy day than they have me on the flat section with headwinds, uh, here 1 40 kilometers, uh, by myself solo.
At that point I was worried that maybe it was not such a smart move.
RAYA HUBBLE 00:12:10
After working so hard to win the prestigious rainbow Jersey. Is she concerned that she hasn't had many opportunities to race in it?
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:12:22
I always have the attitude- I don't want to be negative or I don't want to be sad about things I can control, um, yeah.
That I can’t race that much in the new jersey - It's not something that made me very sad because, uh, yeah, it's just what it is.
I just enjoy more the training and I have to say here in Italy, people might be a, that's also training in the jersey is also really nice because I hear so many Italian’s shouting my name it's, it's like unbelievable.
Um, but, um, yeah, I just focus on what I have in control and that's, uh, to, to be there in a, in the next race system that there'll be organised.
And, um, I am very happy. Maybe I have not said that many this year, but at least there are some more races. that are hopefully coming that I can show off my rainbow jersey
RAYA HUBBLE 00:13:10
And Annemiek will hope to repeat the feat this year in Martigny Switzerland. And it's fair to say, she's pleased with the route selected.
ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN 00:13:19
Yeah, for sure. The world championships this year. One of my biggest goals, uh, it's a left. So, um, I look forward to, um, to racing Martigny I was very, very, very happy when they announced that they would organise it.
OJ BORG 00:13:38
Thank you very much Raya
Now, FIA Formula 3 is long established as a stepping stone to Formula 1. Eight current F1 drivers, well they've earned their stripes in the class or its predecessor GP3.
One man who is aiming to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Valtteri Bottas, George Russell and Charles LeClerc is ART Grand Prix driver, Théo Pourchaire. Théo became the youngest ever winner on an F1 weekend when he took victory in the fourth round of the season in Austria.
With the F1 circus, moving to Hungary, he picked up another victory, this time in the longer feature race - breaking more records in doing so - the youngest ever double race winner and the youngest feature race winner in F3 history.
If I was a tabloid right now, I'd call him a Tyro.
But first of all, I wanted to find out how did a man used to flying around the racetracks at high speed find the more sedate pace of lockdown.
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:14:27
All right. It was a bit long, but, uh, yeah, I could do a lot of, gym, um, and yeah, I was waiting to drive again as, uh, all of the drivers, the other drivers, but now we, we back to racing and it’s so good, uh, to, to do a lot of racing. Um, we, we already did a yeah, uh, Three race weekend and now we have again, uh, uh, uh, yeah, six race weekend to come. So yeah, it’s super
OJ BORG 00:14:55
You talked about six races that have happened - in that time you've already become the first double winner of the season and the youngest ever winner of an F3 race. What was the reaction from the pit lane - When you won that race, becoming the youngest ever?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:15:06
Yeah, for sure. It's amazing to be the youngest ever winner in Formula Three and, um, as well, uh, to be the only driver who, uh, yeah, won two races this year. So it's amazing. I know I have to keep working hard.
Um, I have a lot of things to learn. I'm still really young and I know I can do a really good job this year, but I need to still, uh, working hard.
OJ BORG 00:15:32
Do you feel pressure, pressure that you’re the youngest winner? Pressure that you’re the only person to win two races a season?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:15:38
For sure. I think everyone has a bit of pressure, but I try to stay calm to, uh, don't think about the pressure to don't think about to, to be the youngest winner in Formula Three I try to yeah... Focus on what I need to do. Uh, my object is, is to win and I try to stay focused on that.
OJ BORG 00:15:57
Tell me what that feeling was like when you took the checkered flag at the Red Bull Ring, when you took that first race just a couple of weeks ago. What was that feeling like as you went over the line?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:16:07
Yeah, the feeling was amazing because the race was really hard for me. I was not super-fast but I was still okay, I was P3 in the race, but then the two two first guys, um, collided and the race finished under safety car and was, yeah, a lot of pressure for me. The first win is always like that. A lot of pressure, but then yeah, when I crossed the line, it was just amazing. The team was so happy. I was so happy. And, uh, yeah, it was a mega job.
OJ BORG 00:16:35
What did they say to you over the radio as you crossed the line?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:16:37
Yeah, I just screamed on the radio and uh, yeah, my engineer, my race engineer as well. He was so happy. The first win for ART of the year and yeah, everyone was so happy. And, um, after that, uh, in Budapest, we were really fast again. We won again, so it's amazing.
OJ BORG 00:16:56
In order to make the step to Formula One, junior drivers need to gain points in junior Formulae towards a license, which is known as a super license. It's notoriously hard to obtain, but if Théo were to win Formula Three what he have enough points to get his super license?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:17:10
Yeah, for sure. If I win this year’s Formula Three, I will have the super license points, but to try it in Formula one, uh, you need to be 18 years old. I think. Um, I have to check that
OJ BORG 00:17:22
We checked and Théo’s right, you do need to be 18
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:17:25
For sure. I try to stay concentrate on Formula 3 this year. And um, for me the next step, I hope it's Formula 2. And after if it's possible, uh, for sure Formula 1 is my objective is to be world champion in formula 1. It's the highest level in motor sports. So, yeah,
OJ BORG 00:17:44
I mean, you forget how young you are, because, am I right in thinking you don't actually have a license to drive a car on a normal road?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:17:51
Yeah, exactly. I don't have the driving license. I'm still a 16 in France you cannot drive on the road before 18. So yeah, it's a bit incredible to drive Formula 3 and to not be able to drive on the, on the road. So, but yeah,
00:18:06
I mean it blows your mind that you're winning races in high performance sports cars yet you couldn't get in the smallest Renault Clio and drive down to the shops.
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:18:14
For sure.
OJ BORG 00:18:16
What does your family say to you when, when they realise, you know how well you're doing a motor sports, but yet you don't have a license? Do they mock you for that? Is there much ribbing from the family?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:18:24
Yeah, but my father loved motorsports. My mother as well, my sister as well, they all love motorsport. They all love what I'm doing. They know that I'm young, really young, but yeah, they, they love, uh, looking at me on TV, everything, uh, for them it's super. They support me a lot, a lot, so yeah. I'm really grateful. And, uh, yeah, for sure. It's, I, I'm doing an incredible sport for that time. Yeah. Grateful.
OJ BORG 00:18:54
I read this great story on the internet about you and where you got your first racing experience. Tell me if this is true or not, were you just two and a half years old when you first raced in a kart?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:19:03
Yeah, exactly. I was only...
OJ BORG 00:19:04
Two and a half!
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:19:05
...two and a half years old I was really, really young. Um, that's why maybe I'm still a young in Formula 3 because yeah, I started at two and a half years old in a little baby karts and yeah today I’m in Formula 3 at 16 years old, so it's incredible. But yeah, I love this sport and this is because of, uh, the, all the fault of my family. My father put me in the karts and yeah at two and a half years old and we never stopped. So it's amazing.
OJ BORG 00:19:33
Did you used to fall asleep at the kart track? I heard that you used to fall asleep there.
THÉO POURCHAIRE
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I was really young, so I was tired and, um, yeah, I was, uh, driving then I was too tired to continue and I stopped the karts and then sleeping in the kart. So it was a bit, uh, yeah, it was incredible, but, uh, yeah, that's why I, I learned a lot from that and, uh, yeah, it's amazing.
OJ BORG 00:20:01
Let's talk about this weekend then. So you’re in Milton Keynes right now? You’re ready for a pit walk tomorrow? Four races at Silverstone over the weekends. What are you hoping for this weekend? What do you expect from this weekend?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:20:11
Yeah. Uh, first of all, I will discover the track. Uh, I never, uh, drove, drove on Silverstone so I hope, uh, it's a good track. Um, I did a lot of simulator with the team. Um, but yeah, I think we have the speed to do a good result. I need to take a lot of points, uh, I think, uh, because, um, yeah, the leader of the championship, Piastri is really, really consistent. That's why he’s first in the championship with 20 points in front of me. So yeah. I need to take a lot of points, but we can do some podiums or victories, for sure. It's my objective. But we will see
OJ BORG 00:20:48
Let's say we talk again in 24 years time, by that point, you're 40 years old. What would you like to have achieved by that point? What would be on your Palmares? What would you have won?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:21:00
Ah Bah! For sure Formula 1 World Championship for me, it's the most important thing. Uh, Formula 1 world championship and, um, maybe there is a lot of good races, like 24 hours of Le Mans. This is magic and, uh, as well, 500 miles of Indianapolis, but yeah first of all Formula 1 World Championship. Yeah, it’s my dream.
OJ BORG 00:21:25
So you would race anything, anything with an engine, stick it on a race track, that's you?
THÉO POURCHAIRE 00:21:30
Exactly
OJ BORG 00:21:31
That is the fully charming Théo Pourchaire there. Depending on when you're listening to this podcast, he’ll either be racing or have raced at Silverstone and for the next fortnight supporting the F1 races in the UK. Now I'm not a betting man, absolutely not a betting management. The few vices that actually have, but you would be silly to lay money against Théo Pourchaire not just winning Formula 3, but in the future, becoming a Formula 1 World Champion, possibly multiple times.
And now from Milton Kings to the South Bronx. Mark Payne has been looking at how South Bronx United has been changing lives in New York.
MARK PAYNE 00:22:03
Earlier in the year, when award ceremonies were still possible, the great and the good of the sporting world were gathered in Berlin for the Laureus awards. Nicknamed the Oscars for sport, it’is the biggest annual sporting ceremony.
And the guests in attendance were jaw dropping Arsene Wenger, Michael Johnson, Ruud Gullit, Boris Becker and amongst those receiving awards were Simone Biles, Lionel, Messi, and Lewis Hamilton, arguably the best ever at their respective sports.
On the stage, also receiving a prize and sandwiched between awards for cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkhar and South Africa's rugby world cup winning team was a Man
ANDREW SO 00:22:40
Andrew So, Co-founder of South Bronx United...
MARK PAYNE 00:22:42
and two students picking up a prize from Hugh Grant.
ANDREW SO 00:22:45
Oh, well, first off that seems like 10 years ago. It's hard to imagine that I was this year.
MARK PAYNE 00:22:52
The Sport for Good award.
ANDREW SO 00:22:53
Yeah. In the moment, you know, it's kinda just like.. you blank out all the like famous faces in front of you. Like everything just kind of goes, black and you're just standing there next to Hugh Grant, and it was amazing and I felt a lot of gratitude.
MARK PAYNE 00:22:53
But what had Andrew achieved to find himself sharing a stage with Hollywood A-listers like Hugh Grant and a herd of goats, like Biles, Messi, and Hamilton.
Well let's roll it back.
In 2009, Andrew founded South Bronx, United a football club in the middle of New York. City's most troubled neighbourhood.
ANDREW SO 00:23:25
I knew I wanted to make a difference and then work in the area where there was a lack of educators, a lack of well trained teachers, where there were youth families and students that needed support.
MARK PAYNE 00:23:44
According to a recent report, the South had the highest rate of poverty in New York city, the lowest salaries, and nearly half of the neighborhood students didn't graduate from high school. He made his first appointment
GEORGE NANTWI 00:23:54
My name is George Nantwi
MARK PAYNE 00:23:54
Bringing George in to coach the team.
GEORGE NANTWI 00:23:57
Y’know, initially I was just excited. At the time when I was fresh out of college, I was like, “Hey, I'm excited to just coach”
MARK PAYNE 00:24:02
but George quickly realised there was a lot more to do than improve his team's first touch.
GEORGE NANTWI 00:24:07
I remember one of the first sessions we go, you know, you're trying to get to know the kids, you know, how they’re doing, and then, you know, all of a sudden you just realise that, wow, some of the stuff that they're going through, we had one kid who was just a refugee. He had just moved to America. He didn't even speak a word of English. And that the kid was having, you know, he was, he lived in a shelter. Another one was homeless. Another one, you know, was going through all kinds of problems at home with his parents.
MARK PAYNE 00:24:31
George and Andrew were now working incredibly long hours trying to find solutions
GEORGE NANTWI 00:24:36
We’d be up at 3:00 AM, just, you know, talking, emailing like, “Hey, how can we best help these kids?” Because we know with soccer they was gonna come, right? That's that's a given they're going to come and play football. That's not, it's no doubt about it, but how can we leverage their love of football to help them in other areas of their lives?
MARK PAYNE 00:24:51
How they chose to help was by hiring people who shared their vision as part of SBU’s groundbreaking backroom stuff. Like Sara
SARA GOMEZ 00:24:58
My name is Sara Gomez and my title at South Bronx United is the Immigration Services Program Manager.
MARK PAYNE 00:25:06
And Jess
JESSICA MARROQUIN 00:25:07
Jessica Marroquin and I'm the Director of College Guidance and Alumni Services at South Bronx United
MARK PAYNE 00:25:13
The pair work to eliminate barriers to success whatever they may be.
JESSICA MARROQUIN 00:25:17
A lot of it is legal issues as far as undocumented status for some. Obviously the first generation students. So they go through not knowing the system, not even the high school system, let alone the college system. Right. The New York city schools are overwhelmed with students, obviously, academically, they're not where they are. So the challenge there is how do we get them up to speed when they're about to go to college? And then on top of that, we're dealing with social, emotional stressors that come along with the population that we work with. So the diversity aspect of it, the financial aspect of it. And then again, the family issues that come along with some of their family members.
MARK PAYNE 00:25:59
There is a football team at the heart of all this. One that is beloved by the community that surrounds it as Sara explains.
SARA GOMEZ 00:26:06
Before Covid, if you were to show up to a game at like noon at a park in the Bronx, the entire field is packed with people, who've been there like all day. And there's like music. People are like having fun and the soccer games going on in the middle, it's really like a community event
MARK PAYNE 00:26:33
But in order to get on the field, players have to survive the rigours of the SBU classroom. For two after school classes, the students are tutored.
If they’re late, they lose game time, the same goes for if they misbehave or show a poor attitude in the classroom. For two more evenings students turn back into footballers on the training fields with weekends taken up with matches…
All that classroom time means that George and Jess often see more of each other at SBU
JESSICA MARROQUIN 00:26:52
Yeah. We've actually been together for three years,
GEORGE NANTWI 00:26:53
Two years
JESSICA MARROQUIN 00:26:53
Almost two years. So we met through SBU actually,
MARK PAYNE 00:26:56
than they do at home
JESSICA MARROQUIN 00:26:58
SBU is largely a part of our lives, obviously. I'm a full time employee. So I actually work from 10am to 6pm and then obviously George then goes from 6pm to about 10pm to the pitch.
So we don't get to see each other till the very end of the night and then on the weekends, he's in games. So I either go support him just to watch the games or yeah, that's, that's really what it does. So SBU is a very big part of our lives.
MARK PAYNE 00:27:27
... and on top of all that, while Jess is full time with SBU. George also works a full-time job at Columbia University.
And George isn’t the only person at Columbia who’s looking out for SBU students, his boss is too.
GEORGE NANTWI 00:27:38
He said, “Hey, do you think they'll be interested in the job”. I'm like, Oh, “I don't have to tell them twice. They’re asking me all the time ‘coach: do you know anybody that's hiring?’” and so we kind of came up with this program where we hired them as interns for the summer.
MARK PAYNE 00:27:52
The people around SBU give back because there’s a need for them to do so. If their students weren’t playing for SBU there’s a very good chance they wouldn’t be playing at all. The so-called pay to play model sees teams in the US charge upwards of $5000 to register a player for a season.
GEORGE NANTWI 00:28:08
These are living on, and Jess will know this better than me, they’re living on less than $20,000 a year.
MARK PAYNE 00:28:12
By comparison, SBU has a nominal $85 fee that is waived for most students... With so many in the South Bronx from footballing hotbeds like West Africa and South and Central America, it’s no surprise that so many of the areas most vulnerable find themselves at SBU.
When they do, the team Andrew So has assembled are ready to work their magic…
...and during the coronavirus pandemic, the organisation has come into its own - just listen to the assistance they’ve provided to students.
ANDREW SO 00:28:39
When everything closed and we had to stop our programs the next week, we were giving out laptops to, a lot of our students to, to borrow for them, to use at school. Students and alumni, college students as well, who were sent home from their college
MARK PAYNE 00:28:53
But not just laptops, more, much more
ANDREW SO 00:28:57
Online tutoring, staff following up with schools, our immigration services program manager who’s a social worker held webinars in both English and Spanish and then as we realized that we were in this for the long haul; health and nutrition videos, teaching them how to cook healthy at home and fitness videos. They're learning, yoga, having fitness plans that they could do in their living rooms.
MARK PAYNE 00:29:25
But what about the students themselves? Meet Ronny
RONNY DELGADO 00:29:28
My name is Ronny Delgado
MARK PAYNE 00:29:30
Ronny’s a former South Bronx United student born in Ecuador. When he was three years old, his dad moved to America in order to support the family
RONNY DELGADO 00:29:37
Every time a plane used to pass by our house in the sky. She was like “Ronny, that’s your dad!” And I was like “Oh, that’s my dad” but sometimes I was thinking about like, “How can he send money to us?” Cause he used to send money to us in Ecuador, and I was like, “How can he do that?” Like he can throw the money out there?! So I used to believe that, but not anymore [laughs]
MARK PAYNE 00:30:02
Ronny moved to the U S in 2016 and found the adjustment hard.
RONNY DELGADO 00:30:06
So when I came to America, I was afraid to be honest. I was afraid of people talking to me and not being able to understand what they were saying. You know, I was afraid of making friends
MARK PAYNE 00:30:22
But with the help of SBU, Ronny graduated high school, went on to college and when I asked him what he thought about his time there, he had this to say.
RONNY DELGADO 00:30:40
If you spoke to anyone from SBU they always say good things about SBU. It's been a blast for me,
MARK PAYNE 00:30:41
Everyone I spoke to feels like SBU is a blessing in some way.
With so much success already under their belts what do SBU’s staff want from the future:
GEORGE NANTWI 00:30:48
The goal is if you start at SBU, let’s say at age four in our rec program, and you know that, “Hey, I could be with this club practically for the rest of my life”, right? in some capacity, right? So play four years away in college. “If I don't go pro I can still come back home and still play for a team.”
JESSICA MARROQUIN 00:31:04
I hope that we get to a place where there's no longer any waitlist. Where we could just have that service available for everyone
ANDREW SO 00:31:10
At the moment it’s trying to figure out how we can get facility space to start to accomplish that. So maybe we'll do a follow up in five or ten years and we'll have the South Bronx United home base facility with a mini field or something that you could come to New York and visit.
MARK PAYNE 00:31:29
The team has had many successes on the field, not least their former player, Prince Mponsah reaching the junior levels of the US Men’s national team. But it’s the off the field achievements of South Bronx United that truly set them apart.
OJ BORG 00:31:48
That is it. We are done.
We’ve ripped the cellophane off this very first episode, like a brand new mobile phone, and we hope you've enjoyed your time at the Good Time Sports Club.
If you have well, why not give us a follow on your social media’s and a five star review. Wherever you get your podcasts, that will make a massive difference. It means that more people can find us and join in to. And what we'd like to put in that review is your favorite random sports star. That at some point in your life, you've had an obsession because we will have a certain sports star from wherever the sport might be. For me, it was around about the age of 14. I got massively, well not obsessed. I just loved the Canadian figure skater, Elvis Stojko. What a guy! When everyone else was wearing taffeta, he was wearing leather.
In the meantime, if you want to get in contact, you can find us on social media and drop us a message, just search for the Good Time Sports Club on Instagram and Twitter.
Special thanks to our guests this week for taking time out: Annemiek Van Vleuten, Théo Pourchaire and everyone at South Bronx United. The Good Time Sports Club is a Shocked Giraffe production presented by me OJ Borg the show is produced by Mark Payne with additional production support by James Watkins Freddie Shires and Quinton Van Loggerenberg
Until next time, bye!
