GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!

Every Saturday, from 1pm-5pm, the kids from the area come and play soccer at the field at the clinic. The great thing is that the games aren't even pick-up games. Peter and his mother, Norvelle, created a soccer league for kids to play in. There are six teams, each playing one game every Saturday. Peter is the captain for undefeated Team Clinica. They just played their six and final game of group play, finishing with a record of four wins, no losses, and two ties. Today, Clinica played the only other undefeated team, so a matter of pride was at stake. Peter ended up scoring the game's only two goals, one in the first half and one in the second to seal it.

You really have to see these kids play to truly understand how hard they play. Sure, kids in the states play hard, but let me try to paint a picture of the futbol games in Ahuas.

First, the field. One side looks fine and mostly covered in grass. The other half bottlenecks towards the goal (A short throw-in can land in front of the goal) and is primarily dirt. There are no lines. There is however, a road that cuts the field in half. The out-of-bounds are barbwire fences on one side and the crowd of observers on the other (The barbwire used to tear up the balls so they lean sheets of scrap metal against them.) If they're lucky, the pilots will let them have some oil to paint the lines. The goals have been made from logs; two standing up and one nailed across the top. Clearly, none of this screams "regulation size".

Then come the players. In the states, every player has to have shin guards, socks, and cleats to play. I would say that of the 22 kids on the field, only four had all three. The majority of kids play with bare feet. Some are lucky enough to be able to share a pair of cleats with a teammate. And by share I don't mean they switch at halftime. I mean one kid wears the left and his friend wears the right. But not even that can slow them down.

A few days ago I asked Ben and Tobi who was better at soccer: kids in Norway or Ahuas. They hesitantly said that kids in Norway might be a little better, but Ben was quick to point out, "But kids here play way harder." He's not kidding. The motto for these boys might as well be "No socks, no shoes, no problem".

I hope to get some pictures and maybe a video in the coming weeks so you can see for yourself.

"Futbol is a matter of life and death, except more important." - Bill Shankly