The Underdogs

(Mark) One of the big highlights recently was the opportunity to organise and run the annual Arco Iris football tournament for the street kids. It seems the best time to hold this event each year is when there is a male gringo in town. Well, there I was, so let the games begin!

Every Saturday morning in March I awoke with the same dread: I'm stepping onto a pitch with an aggressive mob of 7-27 year-olds where literally anything can happen. OK, a slight exaggeration, but the first day I was nervous! The tournament was supposed to be 5-a-side on a small concrete pitch, and we'd spent the past 2 months spreading the word, psyching them up, and constantly reminding them to get their teams in order. This was going to be epic, a mammoth clash of unruly, ill-disciplined teens with no respect for authority, battling it out against other groups made up of rival shoe-shiners from hostile areas of the town. Everything was going well... until the first whistle. The gringo, of course, found himself reffing as plenty of hard tackles and 'how's your mother' abuse filled the pitch. Still learning my rural Peruvian street lingo, I was a bit slow on calling the players up for dissent and swearing. Maybe it was this, or just the 30 degree heat, that led to the first fist-fight of the match, 10 minutes in! Although a poor kid ended up with a bloody nose, it was quite comical to see their Rocky impressions. I'm sure I took some abuse that day, just like reffing hockey at BGS.

Some kids played without shoes, others half-drunk, still others with a vicious determination to get to the final that they'd do anything to win. Our grand idea of a multi-team competition never really materialised as the same 2 teams who played in Week 1 remained the only 2 teams for most of the tournament! Thanks to an over-enthusiastic 'guard' who gave us the full-size grass pitch at the rented school, our ideas of a smaller 5-a-side tournament evaporated like the Huaraz rain waters, and with them our whole planned agenda!

Oh well, play on. Despite the initial bloodshed, the remainder of the competition went well. One team, calling themselves 'The Falcons', repeatedly stuffed the other team, the originally self-named 'Those from the Square' (guess where they were from). They didn't seem to mind too much though. Meanwhile, the gringo and his 65 year-old side-kick were busy totalling points, recording goalscorers and trying to manage any unfolding carnage. Every week I gave a half-time team message about life from a Biblical persepective, likening it to a game of football. No doubt this was a strange novelty listening to the gringo waffle on about Manchester United, the Champions League and verses from Romans! They seemed to listen though.

By Week 4 the rains had become so heavy, our grass pitch was now a swamp. Luckily, we improvised and found an actual 5-a-side synthetic pitch at the other end of town (that would have been much better for tournament play from Week 1). Lesson learnt. Leading by about 20 points, the Falcons went into the final at the FIFA-affiliated training ground of 'La Videna' just outside Huaraz, expecting to give another thumping to their counterparts...which they did. The final represented all that went well during this tournament: good team-work from the Arco Iris Street Team; competitive yet fair play from the guys; a good level of attention to the half-time message; and no real fights. In the end, The Falcons were presented with gold medals, shirts and a trophy which their captain is apparently keeping hidden somewhere. Meanwhile, 'Those from the Square' received silver medals and a football each, and will hopefully reflect on their woeful choice of team name before next year. With reggaeton music blasting, their prize ceremony was broadcast via microphone and plates of the local dish 'chocho' (onions, tomatoes and beans mixed together) were served to each player. Hopefully they'll leave this year's tournament with fond memories and remember why we actually ran the month-long event.

A few new kids arrived during Weeks 4 and 5, leaving annoyed at not having received prizes. Unfortunately that's the nature of working with street kids in Huaraz, attendance is irregular, they 'disappear' for long periods of time without mentioning where they're going, and relationships take a long time to build. It's a difficult area of ministry to work in, but God has a purpose for each of their lives and all we can do is trust Him. So, the work continues. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us over the past month.