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July 19, 2010
World Cup: Shining the Spotlight on South Africa
Ours is a sports-loving family, and we particularly love soccer—both Charlotte and Edward played on their high school teams, and Charlotte even served as co-captain of hers—so all four of us looked forward to watching the world’s best teams compete in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
And we weren’t alone: hundreds of Grand Circle associates, both in our Boston headquarters and our regional offices, shared our enthusiasm. So we decided to host a mini-World Cup of sorts during our annual BusinessWorks event. It was a rainy day in early June when the two teams—Boston and Worldwide—met on a soggy field in Kensington, New Hampshire, for a spirited “football” match. I didn’t participate myself, but Alan did (he tended goal for the “home” team), and Charlotte and Edward played, too. I couldn’t have been prouder as I cheered them on—to an eventual victory (final score: Boston 2, Worldwide 0)—from the sidelines.
Among the players on our Worldwide team was Beauton Stuurman, Grand Circle’s Regional Finance Manager for Africa, who works out of our Cape Town office. After the match, I had an opportunity to talk with Beauton about the World Cup, the start of which was just days away. He told me how proud he and other South Africans were that their country had been chosen to host the tournament—the first African nation so honored.
He also shared with me his high hopes for South Africa’s squad, who are known as Bafana Bafana (a Zulu term meaning “the boys”). Beauton reminded me how, when the Springboks, South Africa’s national rugby team, won the Rugby World Cup in 1995—just a year after apartheid was officially abolished—the victory helped unify their profoundly polarized society. And, while South Africa has made great strides in the 15 years since, he believed that a strong showing by Bafana Bafana this year would also bring together South Africans of all ages, skin colors, and creeds.
As Alan and I watched South Africa take on Mexico in the tournament’s opening match a few days later, I kept thinking about what Beauton had said. And when the cameras panned to the crowd, I couldn’t help but smile: the joy, and hope, writ large on the faces of South Africa’s fans was almost palpable. And although Bafana Bafana didn’t win the match, they did score the first goal in the 2010 World Cup … undoubtedly filling the hearts of South African men, women, and children with pride.
Have you ever participated in or observed a similarly unifying event—sporting or otherwise—in your own travels? If so, I’d love to hear more about your experience. You can share your thoughts with others by posting your comments below this Journal entry, or you can email me directly at harriet@gct.com.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be featuring Italy, Eastern Europe, and Holland and Belgium. If you’ve explored any—or all!—of these fascinating destinations with Grand Circle, I hope you’ll send your stories and pictures to me at harriet@gct.com.
Harriet Lewis