The Boys, The Boys, But We Cheer For The Girls Too

Christian Isquierdo makes his third entry for IMS as he reports in from South Africa.

The boys, the boys
Coca-Cola had outfitted the group with winter jackets, hats and scarves and then brought in face painters to decorate the kids to create some momentum leading up to the game. For hours the campers were getting ready, painting their countries flags on one cheek and or painting their entire face with the South African flags.

Kids from around the world gathered in the plaza and danced, sang songs and partied as we waited to board the buses. It was quite a spectacle since the American group was probably the least connected in terms of time spent together, or familiarity. The boys teams from Mexico and Turkey were some of the best dancers, singers and good time party boys of the camp. Our American girls were snapping pictures of and with the boys all night as light-hearted teenagers broke through language barriers to promote Facebook connections and camera-happy friends taking images that will be “tagged” and uploaded in the next couple of days.

When our entourage of 400 campers, staff and chaperones walked into the stadium it was one of those unforgettable moments when the crowd was dancing, the vuvuzelas were blaring and the awe-inspiring moment was shared by the entire group.

As the anthem of South Africa was starting you could feel and see the immense pride of the entire nation in singing their song. I was standing next to several of the event staff that were part of the Coke camp and their voices rang, their faces shined and I could feel the emotional excitement of the people as I just stood and listened to their voices sing with pride. During the game a woman who lived in South Africa sat next to me and told me how her brothers and family had worked so hard to bring the games here and that she was so happy and proud of her country for achieving the games. After the heart-warming story she told me how the ref had it out for South Africa and that he hated them. Time would tell only minutes later as the first goals and the red card was issued later that luck was not on their side, much less the ref.

For the most part the event was exciting as the noise was not as loud as I thought it would be, but was still a fun atmosphere.

As the game progressed you could feel the excitement wane and the frustration build as the boys weren’t playing great. Uruguay had a strong attack and after the red card, the crowd began to leave. The final goal was very nice, an early cross set up the looping ball across the goal for a header. As a soccer fan, it was fun to see three goals, but I wished it was in South Africa’s favor.

The next morning as camp began, there was lots of talk about “the boys” played poorly, or the first game was a fluke, but you could feel the sorrow of the country as the coaches and event staff talked about the game.

National pride and identification has been a unique experience as I witness the surrounding countries play at camp. There are two parts of the camp, one competitive and the other developmental. The developmental group is part skills, part game and part fun while the competitive camp is made of eight teams from Egypt, Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico, Columbia, India and Russia. During each competitive match the national anthem of the country is played and you can feel the strong identity of the teens be expressed as they stand in the middle of the pitch representing their country.

The Mexico team brought both a girls team and a boys team. The girls have played in the developmental group and have demonstrated some great skills. During camp today they spent some time creating the best celebration after scoring a goal. It was fun to watch them create the celebrations and then perform them during the run of play. Even the chaperones got into the act as we played and the kids watched and cheered. My two goals were celebrated with the lads from Turkey and the boys from India. It was fun to get into the excitement with the kids.

Yet a side discussion ensued about how there were not any girls teams in the competition and as a girls’ coach I was proud that our girls were doing so well at the camp, but disappointed that they were separated as boys and girls since I felt that some of our girls could hang with the boys. It brought up a lot of talk amongst the girls about the rights and privileges that American girls have over their peers from other countries. Would India or Egypt even submit a team into the tournament if they could? It’s hard to appreciate just how far women’s sports have come in America when keeping it in perspective with the rest of the world. Would my daughter have the same opportunities in another county as she does here with women’s soccer in the USA? What can we do to break down the boundaries globally and at home?

Is it just a small step to appreciate the South African woman next to me at the game, alone and cheering on her national team without wondering if her daughter would also have the chance to play for hers? I know it’s a question outside of the realm of just soccer, but soccer is the global game that reveals so much about our society, our lives and our beliefs that we need to ask the difficult questions and then find the courage to engage in the actions that can change the world so that we don’t just cheer for “the boys, the boys”, but we cheer for the girls too.

Christian Isquierdo is a coach for Minnesota Thunder Academy and runs Leftfoot Coaching Academy. He recently won a contest along with four of his students which will fly them to South Africa to attend a game and participate in the Coca-Cola Live Positively campaign soccer camp along with 250 other coaches and youth players from around the world.