Fútbol sin Fronteras plays in the city final!

Since July, a group of the grandes from Fútbol sin Fronteras has been playing in a Granada women's soccer league. The playoffs lasted all of October and culminated in the final this past Sunday at multi-estadio. Fútbol sin Fronteras squared off against Las Gran Sultanas (the great sultan's). Prior to the final we had lost to them in penalty kicks at the peace day tournament, but beat them during regular season play.

Both teams and the refs walking onto the field to sing the national anthem.

The game started off pretty slowly, the first half being a series of break aways and offsides calls more than anything. Samari, from FSF, was able to capitalize on one of the fast breaks and score the first goal of the game. Going into half time, we were up 1-0.

The action, intensity and quality improved a lot in the second half. In a span of three minutes Las Gran Sultanas scored to tie the game, FSF responded to re-take the lead and Las Gran Sultanas scored again to tie the game but again. Halfway through the second half Las Gran Sultanas scored another goal to take their first lead of the game at 3-2. We had some good opportunities at the end of the half, but couldn't finish any of them and ended up losing 2-3.



This season was the fourth season in a row that Fútbol sin Fronteras had gotten to the league final and lost! I think we're cursed. After the game, there was an awards ceremony for both teams. Our girls were comforted by the fact that the second place trophy was prettier than the first place one. Afterwards we headed back to the office for a pizza party to celebrate the season and the second place finish.

A Smattering of FSF photos

Angela, me, Doña Chilo and Larkin in Doña Chilo's kitchen before eating lunch.

Chepe and a group of participants from Pipitos a Nicaraguan NGO that works with handicapped children. Fútbol sin Fronteras equipped a group of kids from Pipitos with shoes and uniforms to compete in the Nicaraguan Special Olympics, "Los Olimpipitos."

Year-end dinner with all of the coaches and youth-leaders in the office.

Chepe and Cesar painting the background of the soon-to-be Fútbol sin Fronteras mural in multiestadio.

Cesar, Larkin and Chepe assessing the mural wall before painting.

Our street, calle Santa Lucia, taken from the top of the office.

"Folkloric" dancing by some of the younger girls to celebrate el día de la raza.

Playing tiro blanco (butt's up) at practice.

Relay races during practice.

Sweating profusely and buying cleaning supplies for the office in the mercado.

Office hours at tres pisos.

Visit to American Nicarguan School

Last week a group of 21 grandes and five staff members went on a field trip to American Nicaraguan School. American Nicaraguan School is a K-12 college-prep school in Managua, the capital. All classes are given in English and students are largely children of Nicaraguan diplomats/government officials or international students. A former Soccer Without Borders volunteer, Hailey McCarthy is currently a teacher there and started a Soccer Without Borders Club among her seventh and eighth grade students. In an effort to introduce the Fútbol sin Fronteras Granada group to the Soccer Without Borders Club, the school invited our group to their campus for a friendly soccer tournament and diversity day celebration.

The day began VERY early. I was really impressed that all 21 girls and 5 staff members (César, Cindy, Karen, Larkin and I) were there and ready to go by 6:45! We experienced a minor hiccup when we got to the bus station and there were no buses, nor any busses coming in the future. César ended up going to a different bus station, getting a bus for us and we met him and the bus driver in the center of town. In morning traffic it takes a little over an hour to get from Granada to Nicaragua. The girls were very excited for our big city adventure, and spent nearly the entire bus ride shrieking at every turn or practicing our new FSF cheer.

The ANS campus is physically impressive and clearly well funded. If any of you readers have ever watched the TV series the O.C., it reminds me a lot of that, terraced land, open-air classrooms, multiple sports fields, a pool, etc. We were a little worried about the visual shock/intimidation value that might impact our girls upon walking into the school and interacting with kids their age of such different economic backgrounds. Because of that apprehension we spent the two activity nights before the field trip talking about respect for others and diversity.


To encourage the two groups to get to know each other, upon arriving at the school, we split the kids up into four mixed teams (half FSF Granada and half ANS Soccer Without Borders Club). The fútbol sala tournament was organized so that each team played each team. As the games progressed you could see the two groups beginning to interact a bit. Even though our girls were a bit hesitant and nervous to interact with the kids from ANS,

The kids from ANS did a great job of being welcoming; including our girls and asking them a lot of questions about Granada and Fútbol sin Fronteras. Our girls were definitely hesitant and nervous initially, but by the end of the mini-tournament many of them were engaging more with the kids from ANS. It was great that they had soccer to rely on as well. Most of our girls are very competent soccer players and some our really good. I think having soccer to rely on throughout the process of meeting new people gave them some confidence.



Once the soccer-playing portion of the day ended we watched the school's assembly to celebrate diversity day. The event was quite varied, ranging from poetry readings to electronic music performances to a rendition of "I Have a Dream." Unfortunately, most of the program was in English, so our group generally had no idea of what was going on. The eighth graders did the finale and sang Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror"...a little bizarre but enjoyed by all.

Once the assembly wrapped up, we headed back to the bus station and back to Granada. The event was pretty typical of how events have been unfolding here: seemingly well planned out, very chaotic at first (especially when we couldn't find a bus) but ultimately ends well. The girls definitely enjoyed themselves, the opportunity to go to Managua and the soccer tournament. All in all un éxito.

Torneo de Paz

On October 2nd, Soccer Without Borders held a city-wide women's tournament to honor the 2010 Global Peace Games for Children and Youth. It was the tenth anniversary of the games which are held every fall in conjuction with the United Nation's International Day of Peace. The point of the Global Peace Games is to highlight the power that sport can have in uniting people of all races, genders, social classes, religions, etc. Another goal is to demonstrate to youth that by coming together in sport they can have central roles in working towards global peace.

Our tournament went pretty well. Preparations for the day itself were a great lesson and demonstration of the slow pace of life and slow pace of work here in Granada. The tournament was played at a stadium called multi estadio that is almost always occupied by a boys baseball league. In order to host the tournament there we needed to get permission from the Mayor's office. Doing so required multiple and often fruitless trips to the office and didn't actually come through until the morning of the tournament. Other logistical obstacles included trying to formally register the teams and getting a guest speaker to read messages from the president of FIFA and a UN advisor.

On the afternoon of the tournament however, things managed to come together. Six different teams from throughout the city emerged upon multi estadio where two small-sided fields and even refirees were awating them. Before the soccer playing started, the two messages about the Global Peace Games were read to all participants (see links if you're interested in reading them).
Message from Fifa. Message from UN Advisor Wilfred Lemke.

All participants also signed a Peace Manifesto who'se pilars are respect, rejecting violence, listening to arrive at understanding and contributing to community development.


Once the soccer started, the tournament began to develop the feel and energy of so many summer tournaments I participated in as a kid. Teams that were not playing in the first round of games were warming up on the sidelines, friends and siblings cheered for their respective teams, coaches disputed with the referees when they disagreed on calls and the crowd was captivated every time a game went to penalty kicks.



For both Larkin and I, the day was a very nice opportunity to relax, enjoy soccer and enjoy the company of many of our participants and co-workers. So often, especially with the girls in the program we are instructing or leading them in some manner, however once the soccer playing started and our responsibilities for the day more or less wrapped up, we got to just hang out with them and watch the soccer games unfold. In the end, the Soccer Without Borders won the tournament and a new set of jerseys!

The winning team! Fútbol sin Fronteras.