Futbol!

Andrew's first futbol game was Friday night. He played starting keeper for the JV team. There is some discrepency about his school year and birth year. He's a junior, but'96ers play JV. It doesn't really matter. The more he can play the better. They will choose players for the SAAC team at the end of the season. He's hoping to earn a spot on that international traveling team. We'll know more about that later.

The game was at home and it was a beautiful day. You can't go wrong with soccer futbol in the mountains. The land behind the school is used for cattle and horses. I guess the maintenance people keep horses/cattle back there. We were able to watch them herding during the game - lasso and all.

There were some fun Nido fans in the stadium. They brought one of those big ole' marching band drums and were chanting for our team. (in spanish - so not sure what they were saying) At one point, I think they were singing the Nido school song. Fun to play with an excited crowd.

They lost 0-1 but really, with only 2 practices under their belts, playing a team that has not only played together for years, but has been practicing for a while, they did FANTASTIC! I can't wait to see what they will be able to do when they've actually had some time together. The teams at Nido turn over quite a bit due to the population of international students, so this was a promising start!

Pre-Game pep talk. Andrew is in yellow.

He had a few nice saves - and nobody scored on him. They have a great defense, so he didn't have to work too hard.

Here is the view from the bleachers. A beautiful backdrop for the national sport!