Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Futbol

One thing we have enjoyed doing during our time here in Haiti is attending many "futbol" or soccer games.  There is a field right across from the road from COTP so we go there often, and we have also traveled to a few other villages to watch friends play.  Before Christmas a tournament was planned for adult males and teams played every night for about two weeks.  Our aunts and children love to go also, so almost every evening several people from the Grace House could be found at the soccer field.  One thing we have learned is that the games rarely begin when they say they will begin, so you have to try to guess when is the right time to go so that you aren't sitting around waiting for the game to start, but you don't miss most of the game either.  Gabe is now our resident "check the status of the game" guy and he runs up to the field to report to us whether the teams are there or not.  

The week between Christmas and New Years another tournament began.  This tournament was for boys ages 10 to 20.  Yes, quite an age gap.  Gabe was asked to play on a team and he was so excited.  He became diligent with his practice, and would play with anyone who would play with him, including our aunts.  

The day came for his first game and we were told it would begin at 5 pm.  We were on a walk with some friends and some boys from his team came to find us, saying it was time to play at around 3:30 pm.  He ran to the field and the rest of us hurried there, only to find that the other team was not there.  I went home to start dinner and the game did indeed begin after 5 pm.  Being the scheduled person I would like to be, this constant changing of game times drives me a little crazy, but I am learning to "go with the flow".  

The team Gabe played on used donated uniforms from a school in America that the adults from Lagossette use when they play, also.  When I walked over to the field I had to laugh because the guys on Gabe's team were at least a head or two smaller than everyone on the other team.  It is obvious that making the teams equal was not a priority.  We talked to Gabe about David and Goliath and just encouraged him to have fun and play his best.  It was a double elimination tournament and they lost one game 1 to 0 and one game 2 to 1 so they did quite well for playing against much older and bigger guys.  
Gabe really enjoyed playing, got to know a few more Haitian boys, and will probably play again on another team soon.  Here are some photos from one of the games.
Four of the team members--they play five on five and have a very small goal.


Getting warmed up


Dan joining in on the fun!



Prayer before the game

A friend and opposing team member



Sugar cane is a popular snack!
They are sitting on the goal, so you can see how small it is!



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