Page 8 January 29, 2015 EL SEGUNDO HERALD Soccer Coach from front page a Hollywood movie.” Sesay’s mother, Marie Ma, now lives with him in Hawthorne. In addition to coaching soccer and running his organization, he also works at Palos Verdes High School as a computer technology aide. But drawing from his past to help others remains his number one passion. “The most important thing I learned is to never give up hope, to care for one another and give back to the less fortunate,” Sesay said. “Explaining about my life experience took me back to my home country of Sierra Leone. In our world today, sports at any level is played in an atmosphere where we have a preponderance of athletes who deny they have a responsibility to be role models, let alone idols of the young. We see in the news that many of them get into trouble by defying the norm of the team. I never understood why they were willing to risk being exposed to such scrutiny when they could have simply just followed the code of conduct with integrity and honesty.” Sesay admitted that there were times during his own soccer career playing in local and international competitions that the pressures would get to him to the point that he was tempted to give up the game altogether, or Abdul Sesay. Photo by Ignacio Torres. The Give Back to the Children Project (GBCP) Organization traveling from town to town to inform the local community as to how to prevent the spread of Ebola. Photo by Abdul Bangura. walk off the field in frustration. But the game’s sportsmanship code along with the values instilled in him by his parents won out in the end. “This has taught me the important life lesson of perseverance,” Sesay said. “It has strengthened my mind to persist even when the going gets tough. When faced with struggles, I have trained my mind to focus solely on my objective, not allowing any setbacks to overwhelm me or give up or simply rebel… In all sports, the game is never mastered. Perfection is never achieved. There will always be opportunities for improvement and success. We should definitely try to perform as best as we can, but remain humbled by our abilities, maintaining the right attitude in all circumstances. After all, as the saying goes, a game will be just a game, but the life skills that you carry will follow you forever.” These philosophies extend to Sesay’s coaching methods. When he first learned of the merger of the two beach city teams, he was thrilled. “They are joining a club that puts children before anything else,” he said. “I’m happy to be part of these communities.” Believing in building kids’ confidence through positive feedback that rewards effort, Sesay pointed to the importance of taking a strong interest in each player. “I strive to talk with all the players one-onone at some point during the practices and games,” he said. “I believe in trying to make practices as fun and entertaining as possible while providing the instruction that they need to improve. I also always try to tell the kids how important it is for them to support each other and to always be positive towards their teammates.” And while competition is integral to sports, Sesay doesn’t like to talk to kids about “needing to win” a game. “I feel my role and that of the parents is helping the kids develop the ability to deal with competition in a healthy way,” he added. “Rather than results, effort and attitude are my focus. If we achieve those, then chances are we’ll win the number of games that we are capable of winning.” Sesay’s approach resonates with both kids and adults alike. Team manager Greg Schwartz, whose son Jason plays for the squad, noted that the coach has not only taught the young men the importance of giving back but has also opened their eyes and ears to current world challenges and history. “The boys have learned and grown as individuals as well as a team through facilitating car washes, managing yard sales, playing in numerous tournaments such as Kick for Hope for Africa in San Diego, and participating several times in the Santa Monica eight-mile Run to Africa,” Schwartz said. “His charity is just another example of Coach Abdul’s ability to help provide more opportunities for everyone to help people in need. He challenges all his players to grow as people and his leadership, dedication and actions set great examples for everyone involved.” Other parents would echo Schwartz’s comments and for Sesay, getting through to these youngsters and making a positive difference is a victory that trumps anything ever achieved on the playing field. “For me, the most important thing why I love to coach kids is because I want to teach them about life,” Sesay said. “Teach them how to be happy and successful… and how to live with integrity and confidence.” Those interested in donating to help the orphaned children in Sierra Leone can do so by logging onto wee.gofundme.come/iquiq2g. To directly contribute computer technology, books and basic classroom supplies to Sierra Leone primary schools, go to http://www. givebacktothechildrenproject.org/ • Tech Talk from page 3 demographic. Here’s how I would categorize them. Over the past 5 years, Facebook has transitioned from a younger audience to an older audience with a focus mainly on social connections. LinkedIn has many professional contacts and is good for Business to Business connections. For a younger audience, Twitter is your best bet, attracting mostly those in the Millennial age group. Finally, Pinterest is used primarily by a female population of various ages. So, for example, if you’re selling your product or service to another business then your focus should be on LinkedIn. Always start by seeking out the best social media match to your customer base. Now that you’ve focused on the platform, think next in terms of extending your messaging to reach a vast audience. This is the great advantage of social media over traditional networking. Through traditional networking you can make contact with 25+ people at an event. Through social media you can reach hundreds, thousands and sometime many, many more. The messaging in social media is quite different than in traditional networking. Previously, your business card, 30-second commercial, and trifold were often the most common components to convey your message. With social media it’s all about content and how that content resonates with your customer. You’ve seen this when a YouTube video goes viral or your website receives 24,000 hits overnight. With this type of reach, you need to think differently. No longer is your goal to reach the 25 people you met at an event last week but instead, to reach the 24,000 people who saw the message you posted last night. Dear Readers, this column addresses frequently asked technology questions by small business owners. If you have any questions you’d like answered, email to pr@heraldpublications. com and we will try to answer them. Thank you and enjoy! • CyberPatriot from page 3 Call toll-free: 1-800-409-2420 January 16-18, top teams in the Open and All Service Divisions’ Platinum Tier and the top three Middle School Division teams nationally will advance to the CyberPatriot VII Finals Competition in Washington, D.C. More information is available at www. uscyberpatriot.org or from the CyberPatriot staff at info@uscyberpatriot.org. • Team Bulldogs consists of six members (L-R) Emilia Thompson, Andrew Solanto, Kaushik Korlapati, Atharva Deodhar, Paul Brozenec, and Brian Carr (backup). Are You Still Paying Too Much For Your Medications? You can save up to 93% when you fill your prescriptions at our Canadian and International prescription service. Get An Extra $10 O & Free Shipping On Your 1st Order! Call the number below and save an additional $10 plus get free shipping on your rst prescription order with Canada Drug Center. Expires June 30, 2015. 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All trade-mark (TM) rights associated with the brand name products in this ad belong to their respective owners. *Generic drugs are carefully regulated medications that have the same active ingredients as the original brand name drug, but are generally cheaper in price. Generic equivalents are equal to their "brand" counterparts in Active Ingredients, Dosage, Safety, Strength, Quality, Performance and Intended use. It may vary in colour, shape, size, cost and appearance. Children and members of GBCP standing in front of one of the GBCP computer labs for children. Photo by Abdul Bangura.
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