Game inches forward in Guatemala
Resources scarce, spirits high in land where fútbol is king
SAN JOSE PINULA, GUATEMALA On fourth down, Hans Mansilla rolled right and heaved the football deep. Moments earlier, Anthony Velasquez had been lying on his back on the sideline, both legs in the air, a teammate trying to help stretch out cramps in both of his calves. Now Velasquez was running downfield near the other sideline, watching the ball’s flight in the gathering dusk — and for at least an instant, doubting his ability.
“I didn’t think I was going to have the gas to win the game,” Velasquez said moments later through an interpreter. “But when I saw that ball coming, I said, ‘This is my ball.’ ”
Velasquez’s catch gave the Toros a 12-6 win in doble tiempo extra — the second overtime — and the eruption that followed was familiar in any language. As the Bulldogs trudged away, the jubilant winners spilled onto the field, all high-fives and hugs and yells: “Vamos Toros!”
This is American football in Guatemala, a different yet very similar game. The Toros and Bulldogs are part of the Asociación de Guatemalteca de Fútbol Americano (Guatemalan American Football Association). It sponsors various football instruction and several flag football leagues. But on Saturdays from May through August, AGFA features full-contact football. The six-team Liga AGFA resembles semipro football in the USA — if it were played almost exclusively by novices.
“Sometimes they don’t have any idea of how to play,” said Diego Morales, president of the AGFA. “But they have the enthusiasm to play.”
AMERICAN KICKS IT OFF
As in so many other places, Guatemala’s most popular sport is soccer — fútbol. Football, American-style, registers as barely a blip. It’s a relative newcomer.
Although there was a team that played at least one game in 1978, those affiliated with American football in Guatemala trace its establishment in the country to 2000, when an American essentially appeared out of nowhere. Tom Kelly brought 30 sets of helmets and pads and taught the rules and fundamentals of the game — or, at least, as much as could be taught in a few sessions at Universidad Rafael Landivar. A salesman by trade, Kelly, from Indiana, describes himself as “a mad linebacker,” saying his college career at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., was cut short by injury and might have fueled a desire to introduce football to other countries.
His presentation was only an introduction — “They either drop the sport or they find a way to keep it going themselves,” Kelly said — but in Guatemala they kept it going. His brief visit piqued the interest of Morales, then a university student, and Marco Antonio Cobar, who was 26 and had completed his studies but had been a football fan since watching the 1985 Chicago Bears.
Together, Cobar and Morales have been instrumental in the gradual growth of the sport, which was at first keyed toward irregular one-off games against teams from other Central American countries. The full-contact league began several years ago with six-man football, progressed to nineplayer and then, finally, to 11 — or football “the right way,” as Morales put it.
“We’re very near high school football level (of play),” said Cobar, a civil engineer who is the vice president of the AGFA. “But we’re still underneath it if we compare it to the U.S. We have improved slowly but steadily.”
The league’s six teams are based in or near Guatemala City. From May through August, when the league championship (the Mayan Bowl) will be played, they play games back-to-back-to-back each Saturday at Gatorade Arena, a new facility with artificial turf. A multipurpose building beyond one end zone houses locker rooms, offices and a covered club area for spectators, where vuvuzelas compete with piped-in music. Banners surrounding the field include advertisements for Fox Sports, Pepsi and Gatorade; the games are broadcast via Facebook Live.
“They’re feeling professional,” said Miguel Monterroso, general manager of Gatorade Arena. “That may be the first step. They’re believing in what they’re doing.”
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
A.J. Westendorp, a 26-year-old American who coaches the Toros, doesn’t disagree. He played quarterback and tight end at Central Michigan. When he and his wife, Alaina, moved to Guatemala City in 2015 to serve as Christian missionaries, he planned to use soccer as a vehicle to work with kids. He didn’t envision finding any football — or know what to expect when he did.
“I figured it wasn’t going to pop up in Guatemala,” he said. “I didn’t look for it and wasn’t really focused on it.”
But at church he met Josue Godoy. They hit it off in part because they’re Green Bay Packers fans. Godoy is in his fifth year playing on the offensive and defensive lines for the Toros. When he learned of Westendorp’s background, he invited Westendorp to watch them practice.
“Thank God, he ended up being our coach,” Godoy said — and it was almost that simple.
Now Westendorp teaches football’s fundamentals and installs very basic sets. He likens the level to what you’d see at a ninth-grade or high school junior varsity game. He sees coaching the Toros as a way to build relationships with a group from diverse backgrounds (the roster includes a 17-year-old who recently dropped out of school, a 35-year-old attorney and almost every age and occupation in between).
“My motive is to invest in the guys, love the guys, show the guys who God is and what it means to be a part of a brotherhood. … Just having a window of trust into these guys’ lives,” Westendorp said.
Players pay 300 quetzales — about $40 — in league fees, not including the costs for uniforms and gear. To offset costs for those who can’t afford it, the Toros hold fundraisers including car washes and clothing sales. Some equipment was donated. Some teams’ jerseys are sponsored by local businesses.
Other teams’ rosters have similar makeups.
“That’s been probably our biggest quality,” said Cobar, who also is defensive coordinator for the league’s Dragones. “This is where I’ve really seen people from different social or economic backgrounds get together, and that’s what football is to me.”
DOING THE BEST THEY CAN
Morales also operates Touchdown Academy, teaching kids ages 9-18. The oldest of his students now play with the adults, for the Dragones — who sit atop the current standings.
Cobar once coached a precocious teenager who wanted to play football more than anything. David Giron was talented enough that Cobar let him play with adults in a game against a Honduran team. A running back/receiver, Giron later played two years of high school football in Texas, walked on and earned a scholarship at Western Carolina and now plays for the Frankfurt Universe in the German Football League.
“People in Guatemala thought I was crazy,” said Giron, who had played soccer in Guatemala’s national system. “‘How can you like a sport that nobody plays? You’re little. What makes you think you can play football?’ But from the beginning, I just loved the game.
“The path I took to play football in the U.S. was basically a blessing,” Giron added. “The resources in Guatemala are few. It’s getting better with the teams and the (adult) league. The problem is the weight training, the food and the nutrition. Everything I learned in the U.S., we didn’t have it in Guatemala. It’s years apart.”
But for most players, who started playing football as adults, it’s hard to even begin to catch up. Practices are conducted on soccer fields, basketball courts, grassy spaces in parks — whenever they can find room. Most teams practice only twice a week, with whoever shows up.
With the Toros, Wednesday evening is for conditioning, working on technique and running plays. Friday means no pads, essentially a walk-through review on the eve of a game. Although the Toros have 37 players, their practices might include only a dozen.
“The hardest thing is getting a high percentage of the players there,” Westendorp said — and he’s echoed by those affiliated with other teams in the league. “The hardest thing for football is practicing with half your team there. And then Saturday the other half (of the roster) comes and they didn’t hear what you worked on Wednesday.”
Julio Gramajo, who grew up in California and played defensive line at Western New Mexico University, said it was the same when he played for the Antigua Rhinos.
“Everybody is either going to school or they’re working, so practice is not really a practice,” he said. “It’s just looking over the play once or twice, if at all.”
That’s not unusual, according to Cobar.
“If an American came out to one of our practices, he would go nuts: ‘What the hell is going on here?’ We’ll have eight people at practice, but we’re used to working with what we have.”
Westendorp says it can be frustrating, but he understands.
“These are guys that have lives and families and jobs,” Westendorp said. “And in Guatemala City, if you get stuck in traffic, it’s over.”
‘TOUGH ONES’ PLAY GAME
Long term, the growth of football in Guatemala depends on whether the sport can steal players from other sports that have traditionally captured the nation’s interest. And that might depend on official recognition by the Guatemalan government, which would provide funding and support.
Morales and Cobar say they have submitted applications several times to the Confederación Deportiva Autónoma de Guatemala (CDAG), but without success. In a text message, a representative of the CDAG asked USA TODAY to submit questions via email, then did not respond.
“We’ve tried everything we can imagine to introduce this sport to our culture,” Cobar said. “But it’s a very difficult sport to learn, a very difficult sport to teach and a very expensive sport to practice and play. We don’t have the best athletes in Guatemala, but that’s what we’re trying to attract.”
Morales said football has already at- tracted “people that have the guts to play the game.”
“The kind of players we have is the tough ones, the ones that want to challenge themselves and do more than soccer, more than basketball, more than tennis,” he said. “That’s the kind of people we have in football. It’s pretty cool, because they sacrifice a lot of time with their families and even money to play the game.”
The rewards? At least for the Toros, those were evident last month after that win in doble tiempo extra. In a tight huddle on the sideline, they thrust their helmets into the air. Godoy led them in a cheer: “Quiénes somos?” “Toros!” “Quiénes somos?” “Toros!” “Quiénes somos?” “Toros!” Nothing was lost in translation.