Monterrey, Mexico (Part 1)
After a program at home, I was excited to get back on the road, traveling to a new place. A new location and organization always makes me feel giddy and nervous. Butterflies flying in my stomach.
This was our first collaboration with Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a global network of casa hogares focusing on the betterment of children all over Latin America. They operate in several countries, such as Peru, the Domincan Republic, and Mexico. We share more than just geographic similarities. We share a similar mission to provide new opportunities for kids who may not have the chance to experience them. I was incredibly excited to work together. Hopefully this is the first of many collaborations.
I reached out to their main office in Mexico, proposing an hour-long session. This was our first ever program in Monterrey, una ciudad in northern Mexico. Fue emocionado – I was excited to travel to the northern region of the country for our first ever program in that area.
A representative responded eagerly, saying she would put me in direct contact with Casa San Luis’s director, Jesus. He was ready to collaborate with us, saying that it was the perfect time for such a program. The home is for university students, so this program would be with young adults, rather than young kids.
“Our young adults are on a week-long break from classes, so this will work out perfectly!” he said. “They just have work in the mornings, but anytime in the afternoon you can come and run a program.”
After a day of rest and settling into Monterrey, a new and unfamiliar city environment, the day of the program had arrived. I prepared all our equipment and excitedly opened the door, ready to head out and teach.
The clouds were grey. The sky was dark. My heart sank as I dropped my bags to the ground in defeat.
“This is Monterrey,” one of the participants would later tell me. “One day it’s sunny and hot, the next rainy and cold.”
I immediately took out my phone to contact Jesus, asking if he wanted to move forward. I proposed an alternate program the following day – forecasted to be cloudy, but most importantly, without rain.
“It’s okay, we can proceed with today. There’s another space we can use,” he reassured.
I hopped in my Uber and was on my way, cautiously optimistic. La casa was very close, maybe only 5 minutes by car, not nearly enough to inflate the 18 or so soccer balls I needed for the program. When I arrived, Jesus and a few others were already waiting outside, smiling ear to ear. My bags were grabbed out of the trunk and we walked past the office to a free space that doubled as a playing area.
“Can I help you with anything?” Jesus politely asked.
“Well…. all of these need air,” I said, flipping open my bag to reveal a near 20-piece of soccer balls.
“I got it!” Jesus said, departing and quickly returning with an old school manual bicycle pump.
I was stunned and despite my constant reminders that I had an electric pump – he chose to move forward with the manual one. “Look,” he said, “Already done with one,” he smiled.
Meanwhile, some of the older students and participants took the other half to a nearby vehicle to inflate. Students began to trickle in, leaving their rooms to see what the ruckus was all about. Some of the older boys had their favorite soccer jerseys on – Chelsea and Pumas were some of the ones I recognized. Down below, their indoor soccer shoes were loosely hugging their feet.
I introduced myself, introduced our program, and then jumped into our active listening drill. Many of these students spoke English, so I tried to somehow incorporate that into the session – but we’ll get to that in a bit.
Following our active listening drill, we broke into some technical work – stepovers, dribbling, and more. After that, we divided into three groups and grids, working on basic ball control – passes, volleys, chest control, thigh control, and headers.
The students knew their stuff and had excellent control, so this was more of a formality – a practice rather than a lesson, if you know what I mean. After a quick break, we broke into our crowd favorite, you guessed it, mano o cabeza.
After a few vueltas and a winner or two emerged, I gathered everyone’s attention and posed a question. “How’s your English?” I asked. “It’s not bad.” “Good enough,” a few participants responded.
“Okay then, we’re going to try this again – but in English,” I told them.
“Wait though… because we could literally translate it to ‘hands’ or ‘head’ if you want, but they’re quite similar. When I was a kid we would do ‘head it’ or ‘catch it’” I shared.
“Ketchup?” one of the girls said.
“Uh oh,” I thought – this might be a shorter game than I had expected.
We went around a few times, and these guys were pros! I pulled out all my tricks to catch them and yet no one would mess up. I felt myself going round and round the circle endlessly, with no result. Finally, the game had produced another winner and I gathered participants once again.
“Which was better? English or Spanish?” I asked. “English!” they said, much to my surprise. “Okay then… how about this time we try… Spanglish?” I said, unaware of the monster I had just created.
For about ten minutes we played a hybrid version of mano o cabeza with various commands of “mano” “head it” “cabeza” “hands” “catch it” and “head”. I even messed up my commands a few times because the game was so complicated! Yet the students really still showed out and wouldn’t budge. I was shocked!
Finally, we broke into three teams for scrimmages. Street rules, two goals and then the loser was off. Our numbers were uneven, so occasionally a player would sub in if needed.
The program was intended to be an hour long, but after all our scrimmages, we spent more than 2 hours together. The scrimmages were spirited, yet clean, with an audience providing its share of oohs and boos, when applicable.
At one point, one player booted a ball over the goal, over the fenced enclosure, and I’m guessing to a nearby building. “Is it gone, forever?” I asked. “No, we’ll get it back sometime,” the original culprit said. “Good,” I said, “Because that one’s your ball” I added, as we both shared a laugh.
Finally, we wrapped up and got to passing out some new soccer balls and drawstring bags, as well as our trademark custom soccer bracelets. As I began to pack up my things, I remembered a few OWPP soccer balls and a permanent marker I had brought with me.
“Wait, friends, mira – I have another program later this week, with kids from some difficult situations, from the streets, without parents, like that. It would mean the world to me if you could write some words for them on these soccer balls, algunas consejos, deseos, como asi,” I said.
“Sure!” they said.
Some were unsure quite what to say, while others got to writing right in the moment. I wanted the students to write things that they had been told or maybe things they wish they had heard while growing up. The advice they would give to a younger version of themselves.
One boy was writing several lines while another participant jokes, “He’s writing an entire carta!” “¡Como un libro!” another added.
Their sentiments were incredibly special and significant, and I knew they would resonate with our young beneficiaries when the time came. One incredibly talented girl showed me what she had written on hers, “Just Do It”. I smiled and pointed down to her shoes, “Just like Nike” I said. “Exactly,” she smiled.
Some of my favorite mensajes were:
Se el mejor – Be the best
No hay un sueño que no puede cumplir – There is no dream you cannot achieve
La vida es bella y más cuando juegas fútbol – Life is beautiful, especially when you play soccer.
We had some leftover soccer balls, which I gave to Jesus’ wife to keep at the casa. “These students all play on different teams during the weekend, so they’ll be able to use these during those practices as well,” she said, excitedly.
As I prepared to leave after thanking the students for their time, and especially, their messages of affirmation, someone asked me if I needed a ride back home. “It’s close by, don’t worry,” he assured. “Sure! If you don’t mind.” I said.
We loaded up an empty bag and got to driving. He told me he had been at the casa for quite a bit, just recently graduating in 2019 and now working during the days. I excitedly congratulated him as he spoke very highly about Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos. He gave me a few tips of places to eat and places to try Monterrey’s famed carne asada. As my mouth began to salivate, I was back at my crib.
I unpacked my bags and took out the signed soccer balls, turning them over and reading each and every message.
A personal favorite, “My best wishes for you, always remember to be strong.”
