It's cold. For anywhere and in particular for La Jolla. Parents in ski jackets laugh together as they drink their Starbucks and watch as the boys warm up and the frost melts in the sun; one undefeated vs another undefeated match scheduled for 8 am Saturday morning. Most normal people, non soccer people, are curled up in bed and smelling the coffee and bacon, not freezing in layers of clothes wondering if they are still in sunny San Diego.
The match between CAMPE ELITE from Guatemala vs SURF BU9s White was played early early morning and parents and players alike could see their breath as they huddled together awaiting the start of the game. There was a lot of anticipation for this match. The Guatemala team had traveled so far to compete and there was electricity in the air. Both teams were undefeated in their respective soccer leagues. In fact, the Guatemala team were National Champions and had not lost a game in 2 years.
It was 7:15 am and the warm up practice for this decisive match was underway. In the Surf Soccer Thanksgiving Tournament, the Surf team had 19 points -- only one small point ahead of their competition, Futeca.
Richie Arenas, owner of the Guatemala Soccer Academy was at the field, equally complaining about the cold weather and chatted with us parents on the sidelines. Arenas’ soccer academy has sponsored more than 50 soccer players for college in the U.S. and an additional 6 players for High School. And, these are great colleges, including Cal State Fullerton and other D1 schools. A former soccer player himself, Arenas was on the Guatemala U 20 National team and also tried out for the LA Galaxy team. Failing to make the pro MSL team, it was suggested that he try out for college soccer and earned a place on the prestigious roster at Rutgers. In the National Residency soccer program since the age of 14, Arenas is highly skilled and knowledgeable soccer player.
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| Richie Arenas chats with Surf BU9 Parents; Hegardt, Breziner and Uno |
Everyone wanted to know what soccer life was like in Guatemala and our parents were impressed to hear that the U9 team practices Monday through Thursday an hour and half and then plays matches on Friday and Saturday. Most kids growing up in Guatemala have played since childhood, as there are not many other organized sports to choose from.
Arenes was quick to point out that we have better athletes here in the States, as it is important and beneficial for children to play multiple sports for better agility, coordination and performance.
Surf won 4-0 - Surf ended up winning the competition with a total of 29 points and Guatemala remained at 18 points. I spoke with Arenas later that evening while he and his teams were attending the San Diego Sockers game. He admitted being surprised by their loss, and complimented the Surf team for the win. Overall, the comments were reflective of the incredible depth of players on my son's team. He also said he can't wait for our teams to play each other again and extended a warm invitation to us and any other competitive soccer teams that would like to visit Guatemala. In fact he would love to hear from any teams that would like to participate in a soccer tournament in Guatemala.
The stats for the tournament are:
The Surf Thanksgiving competition continued the next day and the team played their local rivals, CV Manchester. The score was, once again, that magical number of 4-0. The team did not have a chance to celebrate together as it had been a long series of games in the cold over a busy holiday weekend and everyone just went home. Happy, satisfied, proud and tired.
Chris Hegardt was named MVP of the Tournament and awarded the heavy gold trophy by coach Salas. According to Salas, "Last year, Chris was battling cancer, now he is battling for Surf."
More great picture coming soon!
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