The Team: Change of Guard
In this episode of The Team, Johari and Tina are haunted by their pasts, each differently tarnished by the recent widespread violence in Kenya. Will the teammates' experiences bring them together-- or tear them apart?
This episode is about the differences between the players: ethnic, class, gender. Some of these differences we carry with us into new situations. In this episode, we see both Johari and Tina haunted by the recent past. Johari has recurring dream about the night she and her family were chased from their homes. Tina has post traumatic stress and we see violent flashbacks of scenes we later will come to realize was her vicious rape at the hands of a police officer. Johari has Ben in whom to confide, but Tina refuses to open up to anyone. Both on and off the pitch, the team’s differences threaten their fragile unity. Both gender sides of the co-ed team blame the other for their loss. The coach shows a video that proves everyone has a lot to learn about teamwork and all of the players are humbled. The coach replaces Abbas with Johari as team captain on the basis of merit.
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ABOUT THE TEAM
The Team is a dramatic TV series which was created in response to the devastating violence in Kenya following the 2007 general elections. The series dramatizes how the newly recruited members of the co-ed 'Imani' soccer/football club learn to overcome their tribal, ethnic, social and economic differences. The Team was created by Search for Common Ground and Media Focus on Africa Foundation in Kenya.
This series is a metaphor of Kenyan society. Imani FC ('faith' in Swahili) members and the Coach have been brought together from many of Kenya's tribal groups to play together on a co-ed league. The league has been formed and financed by a group of wealthy international philanthropists and businessmen who believe sport will be a way to neutralize the ethnic hatred that shook Kenya after the last elections.
The characters are from broken families, even as Kenya is a broken country. In that way, the team becomes a surrogate family for our players. They each want a 'family' but no one knows how to reach out and get it. Each of the players, and the Coach, struggles to overcome ethnic hatred that sparked violent confrontations after the elections. The purpose of the series is to show that it is possible for people to overcome their differences and that co-existence is possible.
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