Chepe invited us to play in the local men's league with his team yesterday. At first we couldn't tell if it was just a gesture on his part, a sort of thank you for giving four of the teams new game balls and taking their head shots, but we quickly realized that everyone was growing curious about how we play. Marching out with the starting lineup, we had to laugh at ourselves as people seemed to appear out of the bushes to watch the game. Apparently it was a big game, the teams are rivals, so we knew we had to try our best not to blow it.
We only had about 20 minutes before we had to leave for the girls' futsal finals, and thank goodness for that. It was so hot and dusty that after about 5 minutes I needed an IV. The score was 0-0 when we left, due in part to the fact that I launched a volley well over the crossbar from inside the box. We are invited to play again next weekend, so all in all I suppose it went well. Later in the day we learned that a fight broke out after the game. Chepe claims that "muchos machetes" were involved, but perhaps something was lost in translation.
The futsal tournament (men's and women's) was held in the middle of the town square on the cobblestone. They put up little goals and lined the "field" with flour. Four lampposts were in the middle of the field, a concussion (or ten) waiting to happen. The disparity between the teams and equipment was shocking. Some girls played in what looked like slip-on Keds and jeans, others had on full uniforms. The team we're coaching won the tournament after an exciting round of PKs. They then had to wait for about two hours for the men's final to finish, and they juggled the entire time, psyched to have an excuse to confidently juggle in public without disapproval.
Later in the night Chepe and his sister insisted that we go to "El Club" for "mucho fiesta." Assuming that el club meant some sort of bar/club, we agreed to another night of ridicule for our dance skills and headed off with them. Turns out that the actual name of the place was "El Club"...how creative. We ended up having an hour long conversation in broken English and Spanish with Chepe about our mutual vision for the project. Chepe may be young but it was great to hear that his heart is in the same place ours is and he wants to help launch the first girls' league within Granada. Granada is divided into "barrios" or neighborhoods, where we believe there are groups of girls either already playing or interesting in playing, but with no way to organize. If we can reach out to, equip, pay ref fees and find coaches for them, the hope is that eventually we could get a women's league, of the same structure as the men's, off the ground. He also envisions an Academy/Club (FC Granada?) with its own field, coaches, dormitory, office, and classroom so that the players of Granada can develop as players, as people, and as representatives of their town. It's an intimidating undertaking, but we're anxious to see how many steps down that road we can take in the next five weeks!
Starting tomorrow we'll be coaching phys-ed classes in elementary schools, trying to rouse up interest from girls to attend our camp in March. We learned last night that "campo" actually means field and not camp (campomiento?) so people probably think we're crazy for spreading the word about a week-long "field" in March. Glad we got that straightened out.
Pictures posted on Facebook if anyone is interested! They should be public, under Mary McVeigh. I think this link can be followed by anyone not on Facebook: http://dartmouth.facebook.com/p.php?i=655030920&k=Y2D643T433VM5CEAUA52PP
No comments:
Post a Comment