Futeca

As many of you know, soccer (or fútbol) is very big in Latin American culture (and pretty much everywhere else in the world besides the U.S.). Driving through Guatemala City you will see numerous expansive soccer fields with games seemingly occurring throughout the entire day, every day of the week. A variant of the game often played in Guatemala is called futeca, and it's basically small-field soccer, much like indoor soccer. I think it's actually more popular in the city than regular soccer, probably because more people can play more games in a smaller space.


Soccer was really the only sport I played as a kid, and I hadn't played in a game since high school before coming here. A few months ago I helped out and played with some teachers against some parents in a friendly, but competitive game at an evening school event. I had a fun, but exhausting time with it.

Numerous teachers--men and women--play in city-wide futeca leagues. I had been asked on more than one occasion to join a team, but fearing the games would get in the way of our weekend traveling, I kept declining.

After Christmas break, a regular pick-up game between teachers has been held every Tuesday afternoon at school. I started playing since it there was no real commitment and it was at a good time during the week to play. I've gotten hooked on the sport! We have a lot of fun and don't get too competitive, although everyone plays pretty hard and by the end of it I'm thoroughly worn out.


The city-wide league filled up fast this spring and for some reason, none of the teachers could register a team. So, we've now split up our Tuesday pick-up game attendees, added a few more, and made three teams to rotate and play each other weekly. This afternoon is the last game of the first series and we're reorganizing teams after spring break (the teams are a little lopsided). It's been a little more serious and competitive than before, but still just as fun. I look forward to every game and am bummed that I can't play today as I've already agreed to tutor a boy during the time. : (


A nice goal made by my team