Recruitment and Registration!

The Granada office began February with a huge push to recruit participants for our newly starting season (February-May). These efforts led us to multiple radio shows: Erupción Deportiva, Sí Mujer and Deportes Granada where we had the opportunity to not only recruit but speak about SWB, and also to San Matías, a soccer complex that houses the main men’s soccer league, where we hosted a friendly match and halftime competition to generate interest in SWB. Without question the most interesting, gratifying and effective recruitment tool was making house visits to all of the families of the girls that have been active participants in our regular programming and/or January camp. The Nicoyas, Estrellas and Mariposas broke off into their respective groups, organized their participants according to barrio and then spent the better part of last week canvassing the city and having conversations about SWB with over 60 households. The families of our participants were extremely welcoming and generally excited to talk about their daughters, nieces or granddaughters involvement in the program. The conversations were a great forum to discuss each player’s development and what special qualities they bring to team and also allowed parents/guardians to discuss any of their questions or concerns. Hopefully talking to each household individually shows our participants and their families that SWB is invested in their development and will encourage all to have growing trust and confidence in our programming.




Recruitment week concluded with the first-ever official registration for SWB Granada. For three days, Tres Pisos was filled with girls who wanted to sign up for our spring season. It was great to see nearly all of the girls whose houses we had visited as well as some brand new faces. Many participants were even accompanied by their parents or guardians and the registration gave many of them the opportunity to see the office for the first time. The registration was a huge success. All three groups surpassed expectations of how many girls would sign up and the event generated a lot of excitement for this coming season. Every girl who registered was also given a back-to-school kit complete with a notebook, pencils, pens, erasers and a pencil sharpener so they are ready for school registration next week too. Thank you to all of the volunteers from January camp who brought down school supplies! As this season begins both spirits and numbers are high. Now the challenge is to maintain all of that through May.

T.E.A.M. Camp 2011

Down here in Granada Larkin, myself and new intern Anna are still trying to recover from the annual T.EA.M. Camp that was held the second week of January. 20 volunteers from the United States and Guatemala converged upon the city and teamed up with our local staff to make the camp a huge success. We had soccer practice every morning, an activity in the office every afternoon and countless dinners and workshops with the American volunteers.



The theme of the camp was unity (unidad en español) and throughout the week both on and off field activities focused on creating team unity among each of the age groups. During the camp, and as the rest of the year unfolds I will be working with a new age group aged 11-15. Previously in the Soccer Without Borders world we only had two age groups, the grandes and the pequeñas. The week of camp was the first time the new mediana age group was introduced and for that reason was the first time that many of the girls this group had every worked or played together. The beginning of the week was definitely a struggle. Adolescent girls are awkward and made even more awkward when they don't know their teammates well. Luckily, we had a strong turnout throughout the week and after working together consistently, the mediana group began to shed some of their awkwardness and come together as team. Proof of such was that we ended up winning the overall unity contest for the week and were rewarded with a trip to Eskimo, the local ice cream shop.


The week leading up to camp, and all of camp itself was a complete whirlwind. Larkin, Anna and I along with the other SWB staff were kept extremely busy not only planning and executing sessions but also ensuring that all 20 of the volunteers were comfortable, fed and hydrated. To get a better idea of the excitement, chaos and fun that camp brought, check out these video blogs that director Mary made (there are five videos in total, you'll need to scroll down the page to find them all).

The medianas!!

The camp was really fantastic. There was high energy and spirit throughout the week. The girls enjoyed themselves completely and now participants and coaches alike are geared up to start the season!



Thanks to Kristin Gladney, camp volunteer for these photos!

Todos Pueden Jugar!

Here's a shot of the final product of our November mural project, "Todos Pueden Jugar" (Everyone can play). We're hoping to make mural painting a more consistent season-ending project. Stay posted for another one in May!