Grass Legend: FSM's First Football Team
/So far, Micronesia (Team FSM) lost 30-0 to Tahiti, 38-0 to Fiji, and 46-0 to Vanuatu at the PNG2015 Pacific Games in football (soccer). And so far, the media has painted a less-than-rosy image of the team. Everyone who's a sports journalist is having a field day at the office. A usually unknown country is now known worldwide across soccer fans... for being bad at it.
So I wanted to upload this video to YouTube. A documentary called "Grass Legend", which tells the story of FSM's first football team, and how they learned the sport, bonding with their Israeli coach, Shimon Shenhar, and went on to defeat the Northern Mariana Islands in a football tournament.
This video not only shows Yapese sarcasm and humor at its finest, but also the heart and drive that these young boys had (though they're now grown men today) to learn a new sport and be the best at it. I'm sure the youth of Yap and the FSM will be able to live up to its goals of placing in FIFA, the World Cup, and all these other football competitions that I don't really keep track of.
So moving forward, the question is which picture will we ultimately remember? Online articles written by random people who have no impact on our lives except for trying to bring our young nation down?
Or the picture of champions, those past and those to come?
"Grass Legend"
About Grass Legend:
Due to FSM's strong diplomatic support for Israel, Israel became the second country to establish diplomatic ties with the newly-born country. As a "gift", Israel sent Coach Shimon Shenhar to teach football in Yap for the FSM similar to what Coach Stan Foster is trying to accomplish today. Shenhar would go on to become named FSM's Honorary Consul in Israel by FSM President Joseph Urusemal. Shenhar passed away in 2012. As far as I know, no other copy or even reference of Grass Legend exists on the internet. Directed by Yoram Zak and Hagai Lapid of Israel.
Read Clark Graham's Tribute to Coach Shenhar here:
https://www.facebook.com/326085167517397/posts/326896380769609/