About The Team

Napoka has come to the city to find a job. He is unable to do so because he lacks the proper identification. He pays someone to add his name on the eligibility list so that he might be hired for work. The plan backfires.

La Lutte De Femme (2):Gender-based violence

Napoka’s girlfriend, Sarah, runs away after her father tells her that he has arranged for her to marry a complete stranger. Napoka, though equally heartbroken, doesn’t want to be the person who comes between Sarah and her family and advises her to return home. Isadore beats Natalie because he believes she’s withholding money. Natalie flees to find safe refuge.

L’Amitié (3):AIDS and the Power of Friendship

Safi, Napoka’s half-sister, appears in her familial home in tears after being thrown out of her house by her husband because she is ill. Their father is not sympathetic and doesn’t want to take Safi back – she’s another mouth to feed. Napoka takes Safi to a clinic where they learn she has AIDs. Napoka is sympathetic and kind to Safi but he doesn’t want anyone to know about Safi’s condition. Out of ignorance, friends and family shun Safi. Afraid and alone, the girl attempts suicide. When Napoka finds Safi unconscious, he calls for help from Herve, the one reliable person in his life.

Le Renvoi (4): Tribalism

Napoka must find a job to help his family out. After great difficulty, he finds a job and all is well until he is fired without warning. Napoka finds out that his boss has a history of ethnic prejudice. Napoka’s teammates want to beat up the boss, but the Coach tells them that violence is not the answer. When the Coach is confronted, he admits his belief that having someone from a “rival” tribe on his payroll will cost him business. He agrees to give Napoka another try.

Enfant en Danger (5): Child Trafficking

Herve and Napoka find a young child wandering alone. They attempt to locate the child’s parents, and a child trafficker claims the child as his own. Child trafficking is a serious and growing problem in Côte d’Ivoire, particularly in impoverished areas.

Histoire de Bouba (6): Child Labor

A young boy is frequently seen hanging around the football field, in awe of how Napoka and Herve play the game. He tells them that he doesn’t have time to learn how to play the game because he has to work. Herve is deeply dismayed that the child has to work. The team gives him a paid job as the team ballboy but the Coach insists that he also has to stay in school.

L’Operation (7): Integrity and Personal Corruption

Napoka’s mother needs an emergency appendectomy within 36 hours or she could die. He cannot find the money. With his mother’s life on the line, Napoka accepts a bribe from the coach of an opposing team who preys on his desperate situation. His mother recovers, and Napoka admits his deceit, offering to resign from the team. The Coach points out that Napoka was very brave to admit his wrongdoing and he challenges the team’s members to be understanding enough to forgive him.

Sybille (8): Prostitution

This episode revolves around the personal choices that some women make out of financial desperation. Herve learns that his girlfriend is earning money as a prostitute to pay her expenses, and he breaks up with her. A mother pays for medicine for her sick child by earning it as a prostitute.

Le Parti (9): Good Governance

Herve’s father wants to run for political office but corrupt party officials try to stop him. Herve convinces his father that to give in to corruption is to condone it. After a kidnapping and threats are made, the corrupt officials are identified and jailed. Papa Herve agrees to participate in the political process.

L’Examen (10): Sexual Harassment

A professor uses a student to trade money and sex for grades. Herve and Napoka help Sybille catch this sleazy professor.

Chez Tantie (11): Environmental Degradation

Napoka is hospitalized with a serious case of food poisoning. The contamination, caused by illegal dumping, is widespread. Napoka and the team work with local officials to stop this problem.

Responsibilities (12): Sexual Responsibility

Herve and Napoka drink too much at a party and have unprotected sex with women they don’t know. When the Coach hears about what they did, he makes them go to the clinic for tests. The doctor tells Napoka and Herve that they must tell the women with whom they had sex that they also need to be tested.

Moses (13): Juvenile Delinquency

This episode focuses on family indiscretions and secrets, criminal behavior, and bribery.

La Scolarisation de Jeune Femmes (14): Female Education

Sarah’s father wants her to quit law school. However, when he runs into terrible legal trouble, the lawyer who saves him is a woman! He finally admits that there is an advantage to having an educated daughter.

Sida (15): Personal Responsibility

Napoka’s HIV-positive half-sister is pregnant and without resources. Napoka is the most supportive person she has, but, even for him, the responsibility is a big problem. Herve’s mother is a social worker, who puts Safi in touch with an NGO that specializes in women who are in her situation. Herve insists that if Safi wants to turn her life around, there are people who will help her do that but she has to take responsibility for her actions now and in the future.

Pardon (16): Religious tolerance

Napoka and Sarah want to get married. But their parents object to marriage between a Christian and a Muslim, saying that marriage is not just between two people but also between two families. The disagreement is exacerbated by an argument that gets out of control and ends in violence. Ultimately, Sarah’s father realizes that his intolerant attitude toward two kids who love one another has lead to unintended consequences.

Cherete de La Vie (17): Corruption

Napoka’s family is evicted from their home because the greedy landlord sees an opportunity to make more money as the cost of living rises.

Un Match Amical (18): La Terre – 1

An old friend of the Coach’s invites the team to play a match in a village outside Abidjan. Napoka doesn’t want to go because it’s the village of a tribe that doesn’t like his tribe. When the players arrive, they are caught up in the middle of a nasty land dispute between members of a family.

Un Match Amical (19): La Terre – 2

Herve and Napoka agree to stand in as players on the team of the Coach’s friend from the village. The land dispute settled previously erupts again when the family patriarch dies and his heirs decide they don’t agree with what was settled. They refuse to abide by customary law and insist on involving the authorities.