The GuateGringa: Lacrosse Festival in Guatemala

I first heard about Safe Passage through my brother’s former prep school, Millbrook, because Will and some other of his teammates traveled to the project last March to share their lacrosse talents and knowledge. I was surprised to hear that such an elite and preppy sport existed in this poverty-stricken country, but then again if I had better known the man responsible for implementing the lacrosse program, Drew Casertano, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Drew is incidentally the headmaster of Millbrook School, and one of the most passionate, energetic, dedicated, and funniest men I have met. Four years ago, Drew, Liz Duhowski (sp?), the women’s lacrosse coach at Millbrook, and I think some other US lacrosse players/aficionados decided to bring lacrosse to Guatemala, and more specifically to Safe Passage. And, so, my first impression of SP itself was a place where Guatemalans who live near the city dump played lacrosse. It wasn’t until I looked at their website to read more that I actually realized it was much more than a lacrosse program, and knew that it was a place where I would enjoy volunteering.

Every year since the lacrosse program began, Millbrook has brought a “Support Team” of 15 boys and girls lacrosse players to the project for a week, culminating in a two-day festival. This year was the biggest festival yet, including 5 boys and girls teams from different regions in Guatemala: Ciudad Quetzal, Cobán, Livingston, Guate City (SP kids), and Palin. On Saturday (the last day of the festival), a boy’s team came from Sheila, and they even had their own uniforms. On the first day of the festival, we held clinics for beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups, so that the kids could learn about the sport from the lacrosse experts. And on the second day we played games. Overall, it was a huge success, and I know the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.

I could describe every detail, but I prefer to write about what I felt were the three highlights of the festival:

1) Participation of both the US Ambassador to Guatemala, Stephen McFarland, and Julie Chappell, the British Ambassador to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Julie, who is only 31 and played for the British national team, made an appearance on Friday for the inauguration of the festival, where she played in the women’s exhibition game. She has also expressed interest in working with the SP girl’s program on a more frequent basis, which is very exciting. Steven came on Saturday with his teenage son who plays lacrosse and played with the boys. I introduced myself to him and had a brief one-on-one conversation about where I was from, and mainly about the volunteers’ role at SP. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask him if he had any job openings in the embassy, but hopefully we will meet again…

2) The team from Cobán came from a tiny Mayan village in the Northwest part of the country, where their primary language is not Spanish, but a Mayan dialect. Some of the older girls understood a bit of Spanish, but they had a translator with them! Their language was so cool! So beautiful! So, here we were, where I was helping the Millbrook girls translate from English to Spanish, and then the Copán translator was translating from Spanish to Mayan. Very cool, although sometimes frustrating, especially when the translator disappeared (which happened more than you would think). These girls had never played lacrosse before, so they were very happy to learn the basics. Oh, and, they all had matching shirts, name tags, and matching sticks, which is more than the SP girls can say (many of them show up for practice in skinny jeans and flats-something I am going to try to change!).

3) The team from Ciudad Quetzal was my favorite mainly because they were very happy to be there and interested in learning how to play lacrosse. Probably my personal favorite part of the festival was the mother-daughter players from Quetzal. The mother, María, was not only really good at lax, but also extremely appreciative of the festival and of my help with her and her team (before the festival they didn’t know any of the rules, the set-up of the field, or how to pick up a ground ball). On Saturday, she gave me a pair of earrings that she had made, as well as her phone # and address in Quetzal. It was a very special moment. Hopefully, I will be able to visit them at some point!

Overall, it was a lot of fun, and I hope the girls learned a lot. During the week, there was talk of a permanent girls lacrosse coach position at the project which would include a stipend, as well as a one-year commitment. Drew already appointed me to that position, but it has to go through the board, the stipend has to be approved, and all the logistics need to be straightened out. Either way, it is definitely a position I would be interested in, because I have many ideas on how to build-up the girls program.

I must admit, it is quite difficult working with some of the girls because of the great cultural differences and attitudes towards female participation in sports. For instance, many girls wear clothes that I would wear to a bar to play sports! I attribute my involvement in sports to a lot of my personal strengths and who I am today. Playing sports makes me happy, and makes me feel good about myself. I know that sports such as lacrosse can provide a space for these young SP girls to develop a higher sense of self-esteem, as well as crucial leadership and teamwork skills in a society not incorrectly known to be machista and male dominated.

Here are some pictures: