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Bring Your Team Or Youth Player To Play Soccer and Plant Trees

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Bring Your Team Or Youth Player To Play Soccer and Plant Trees

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Bring Your Team Or Youth Player To Play Soccer and Plant Trees

I met with Dr. Argueta of the Liga Menor de Futbol Intibucana to answer the concerns of parents and coaches about bringing your young teams and individual players to Honduras.  We are excited about the prospect and feel it would provide lasting benefits to both our groups. We would benefit from the new skills that would be imparted to us by your elite teams.  Your group will benefit from getting to know some of the skills of players from a different culture. In addition, they will be offered a chance to broaden their horizons through seeing a different culture and way of life.  In addition they will learn about the Lenca Indian culture and learn some Spanish. There will be SoccerNSpanish lesson each morning for those who wish to participate.

To address possible concerns one by one:

1. The reception the players will receive

You have to understand that every Honduran wants to go to the States.  Their dream is to live there.  It is almost a worshipful thing with them.  And the fact that you play soccer takes you to an even higher level.  I brought my grandson here and he was immediately asked to play with different groups. He doesn’t speak Spanish but by the end of the first day  he was playing soccer with young people in the street.  The Liga Menor coach invited him to play with the team the first Saturday.  He couldn’t play because he had already been invited by one of his new friends to travel to Siguatepeque with his parents and stay two days to play with his Play Station 2.  Young men came looking for him but he had already left. And he had not been in Honduras 5 days.

Our plans for your welcome include:

a)      a parade with a banner that we will make for your group, similar to the parade in the photos that I sent to you, and your team will march through town with our local Liga Menor teams

b)      a reception at the local high school with the mayor of the town.  The candidate for mayor is a medical doctor, Dr. Miguel Fajardo, who is one of the owners of Atletico Esperanzano, a second division professional team here in La Esperanza.  We will also invite the head of FENAFUTH and the Regional director of our state and the national Liga Menor chairman.  We will invite teams from the Liga Menor as well as the local high school teams. Our present senator, who just happens to be secretary of the Congreso Nacional of Honduras, who will likely be head of the Department of Education in all of Honduras, will be a guest of honor.  He is very interested in the development of soccer tourism in Honduras and will welcome you personally.

c)      We will publicize your visit in the national newspapers of Honduras including El Tiempo as well as local radio stations

d)      We will interview you at the local radio station and television station at the beginning of the visit and will provide you with a translator so you can speak to the people in Spanish

     In addition, we will involve the local bilingual schools which have students who can speak Spanish and English

2. The Soccer Program - Tournaments

On the program we fluctuated between a tour and having most of the activities here in La Esperanza.  We decided a tournament here in La Esperanza would be more appropriate. Of course because you are bringing elite teams from the States, everyone will want to come to participate.  We have a special team, Atletico Lenca which you will be able to play against in a friendly if desired.

Of course we will invite teams from all the major cities such as Tegucigalpa, Comayagua, Jesus de Otoro, Siguatepeque, San Pedro Sula, Jutialpa de Olancho, Danli, Choluteca, La Ceiba, Cortes.  In addition we will invite elite teams from the local high school.  We would invite the Under 17 national team but they demand payment to come and play.  They came to play at the tournament we held last year. Also each of the teams of the Liga Nacional de Honduras have youth teams who may want to participate. And if your Under 19 team is strong enough, I can arrange for them to play against Athletico Esperanzano since one of the owners, Mario Martin Vijil is married to my goddaughter here.

The question is how many games per day can your kids play? We would guarantee that you would play against at least 8 teams per age group. Of course if they are up to two games a day, let us know.  Everyone will want to play you guys.

3. Soccer Off the Field Aspect

We will emphasize your soccer activities because this is a country where soccer is the most important thing in the world. They live for soccer.  So the fact that players from the US are coming will be one of the major events of the year here.  One of my projects is development of tourism here. Intibuca is called the Oregon of Honduras because it is an agricultural and forest state. We intend to take your kids on what is called “La Ruta”  which is a tour of Intibuca.  That is only the beginning of what we have planned. 

4.  Off field and Cultural Aspects

We plan to integrate your kids with those here in Honduras through a unique program.  We will set up a friendly program separate from the actual team.

A. Picnic on the grounds of the Hotel Molino Real

Each young person from your group will be given a number.  He will be required to find the others who have his same number. Each team that comes in will get numbers also. We will set it up so there will be at least 11 different number ones, number twos, etc.  All the number ones will form an informal team. We will hold a picnic in which all those with the same number will eat together. This picnic will be a fun day with sack races and other games such as volleyball (a big sport here in Honduras).  Teams will play against each other and gain awards.

The night of the picnic there will be a “Fogata” where local dance groups from the schools will demonstrate traditional Lenca dances.  We will have a bonfire and roast hotdogs and other food.  The young people will eat with and share within their “teams”.

Any team wanting to can play a friendly short game during the picnic.

We will involve your youth in our tree planting project.  We plant trees as part of our soccer gear donation project. We plant trees in various parts of the city and as well in areas that have been deforested.

C. In addition, Dr. Argueta invites you to read to children in the hospital. It would good if each member of your team could bring a Spanish language children’s book to leave in the hospital

D.  Of course we would appreciate any donation of old soccer gear that team members could bring to  be given to the Liga Menor.  Any players who requests it can participate in our homestay program, staying with members of the teams of the Liga Menor.

E. We are also developing our Soccer Coaching Volunteer program to include individual mentors. Any of your players who would like to mentor at a particular position may participate

5.  Safety and Security

I have brought my own 17 year old grandson here to live with me because it is safer than Florida where he was living with his mother. This is the most tranquil part of Honduras.  We are lucky to have a unit of the National Police stationed here which keeps everything tranquil. 

There are some problems which we are working to deal with. But they are not related to crime or security. We are developing a community responsibility program with the school through the offices of the Senator we mentioned.  We want to have each school in La Esperanza be responsible for the cleanup and policing of a specific section of the town.  There will be contests for the cleanest area by school groups and the winners will go to San Pedro Sula to the new Theme Park there.

As for security, our present mayor is one of the owners of the second division team, Atletico Esperanzano. The local police stop by daily to chat with me since they all play on teams and have children in the Liga Menor.  They have been very involved with our programs, offering free security for our tournaments and programs.  They have their own soccer field which is used by the community.  There is no danger here for your young people.  And with the number program we envision for your players, they will always be with members of their “special teams” and be protected.

6.  Parent Involvement

a. Within La Esperanza

I will personally be offering some seminars on empowerment and personal potentiation for parents of participants. In addition we offer them a basic soccer program where they can learn to play soccer at a basic level so they know what their kids are doing. In addition, they may be able to participate in our Spanish Language Institute, in a beginning Spanish language class for soccer vocabulary.

The Basic Soccer as well as Spanish course will require payment.

b. Also, we can set up an optional tour for them to visit other parts of Honduras.

The fees for these will depend on the number of days desired

1.  Gracias to visit Aquas Termalias (hot spring)

2.  Copan to Mayan temples and ruins

3.  North boast beaches of Tela and La Ceiba

4.  Pulpannak waterfall and Heliconia gardens in Lago Yahoa

5.  Fishing on the Lago Yahoa

6.  Bird watching, butterfly farm and botanical garden in Lancetillo

7.  Erandike opal mines

8.  The tourism aldea of San Juan provides for them to roast their own organic coffee.

7. Cost of these activities

This will depend upon what is wanted.  When you tell us how many teams are coming we will define the prices.  We need to know if your teams want Homestays, or to stay in hotels or in dormitories of the local schools  such as the Normal or Forestry schools.

We can offer line items or offer them as part of a complete package.  We prefer the package idea since we will then be responsible for buses, food purchases in advance. It will also depend on the food required.  If they can eat regular foods (this is the major area where fruits and vegetables are produced in Honduras) such as chicken, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, rice, beans and simple foods like fish, there will be one price.  If special diets or foods are required which we have to bring from Tegucigalpa it will change the price. 

Bottled water is available throughout the town so that will not be a problem also coca cola, Pepsi and other soft drinks.  Many American foods like candy bars and chips are also available. In Siguatepeque there is a Wendy and many nice restaurants.  It is about a one-hour drive from la Esperanza.

8.  Soccer Equipment and Reciprocity

We welcome donations from each of your team members if they chose to collect some used (or new) gear to bring to donate. We have goals for 5000 kids to play but we are a long way from that at this time.

We would love to send teams to the US to play with your group. The problem will be finding the funds to pay for their airfare and lodging while there.  This is a poor country and there is just no money to pay for that.  Our kids are very interested in traveling to the States to play. It is a matter of money.

We are excited about building this relationship as a long-term partnership. We would welcome your visit here and would provide you with all hospitality including a meeting with FENAFUTH in Tegucigalpa.

If you would tell us how many would be coming we can then give you a cost estimate.

Looking forward to a long and productive relationship sharing the “Soccer Language”.

Yours sincerely,

Carol Cross, Ph.D

soccer@satglobal.com