Soccer Practice

I've mentioned before that we recently formed a soccer team of about 35 kids that will begin playing in a local league here in La Ceiba starting in March. A very generous and beloved donor sent us a significant amount of money so that we could purchase uniforms, cleats, balls and sundry other necessities; without this aid we wouldn't have been able to get off the ground. I found a coach from the community who agreed to train the kids on a voluntary basis and we began practicing about 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately the field that we have in the dump, if you can call it a field, is pitifully small and thus not well-suited to training in upwards of 40 kids at a given time. The Mennonites here though have a massive field about 25 minutes away that often sits vacant so we decided to make the trip out there about once a week to give our kids a feel for playing on a full-size field. This past Sunday after church we made our first trip, we loaded 35 kids onto a public bus and made our way out to the Mennonite Retreat Center in Bufalo. The kids were giddy with excitement and in that this was the first time that they would be playing with their brand-new cleats they were practically beside themselves with anticipation.

having just arrived and already exhausted

trying on the new cleats

ripping into them

and getting caught in the act

they took a while to get themselves organized

and opted for shirts vs. skins

konrad played with the youth from the church while they waited their turn

nano waiting patiently for a chance to play

cristian with a shot on goal...unfortunatey for him practically nothing gets past this goalie

memo enjoying the wet grass

watching all the action from a safe distance

bairon trying to dance around jimy

apparently somebody saw something of importance

duke and yuco fighting for possession

we brought some of the girls along to be cheerleaders but the were content to simply indulge in vanity and take pictures of themselves

after our game we stayed to watch the mennonite youth play some of the locals

anwar inspecting his new cleats

we stayed longer than we should have and ended up having to hail an out-of-service bus and beg him to take us back home

chucu taking a break on our bag of cleats

ever the victim of o.c.d. here i am sorting and organizing the cleats

while the kids look on

but daddy's happy

Blessings to you all. peace!

- mlk