Sports with the Locals | Jason

On April 1^st, we were in Sabana Grande and with the day being April Fools Day, the guys and girls were planning on doing some pranks on each other. Not very many pranks came out of it but what really stuck in my head was when we played soccer and ultimate with some locals!

Everyone started off the day working and doing construction. There were people making desks, laying block, painting, and there were a few of us at Pierre’s house making concrete columns on his house! We were also cleaning up garbage and weeded around the lot. Rachael had told us at lunch that we were playing soccer and ultimate against some locals after we were done working so we worked until 4 o’clock and then rushed to a baseball field close to the base!

When we got to the field, it started pouring! There were nets made out of bamboo that we already set up for us to play by a guy named Dustin! He was from Oregon and he definitely made an impact on one person in our group (*cough* Rachael *cough*)! He had been in the Dominican for around 2 years volunteering with the American Peace Corps. When he first came to the DR, he didn’t know a lot of Spanish. He had no plans of what he was going to do but he knew he wanted to go to Sabana and make a difference there. He was there by himself and he lived in the sketchiest part of town because it was cheap. He taught some teenagers in the neighbourhood how to play soccer and a little bit of ultimate! Rach can probably tell you more about him including what his calves looked like!

So back to the sports! Dustin got the soccer game started and in the pouring rain, the teams were the TD Falcons against the Dominican locals! We had a few fans watching because some other locals who were going to play baseball had to delay their game or practice because of us as well as the rain. We split our group in half and played in shifts. So within the first 5 minutes, we took the lead and our fans were going crazy! People were falling all over the place including Addy and Amanda both going towards the ball, miscommunicating, and both sliding onto the ground! We were controlling most of the game in my opinion (biased), but the Dominicans battled back and before we knew it, it was 2 -1 for the locals! The game was nearing the end and we had control of the game but we were still behind. But it the final minute, Mark VanOfwegen, the kid from good old Georgetown, Ontario netted a goal short side on the Dominican keeper. So the game ended in a tie and by that time, the rain had stopped.

Dustin had also planned on playing ultimate frisbee with us so we weren’t going to the let that opportunity go to waste even though dinner was going to be ready soon at the base! We mixed teams with the locals and had some locals go on our team and all the chaperones and a couple girls go on the other team! The game was really fun! The locals were getting used to how to play the game and it was really competitive! Everyone had a smile on their face including the Dominicans and that was really the only thing that mattered.

It was a really cool experience where we could engage with the Dominicans and do something that links our two cultures together. Sport is an awesome way to bring kids together from different places and we were fortunate enough to play with teenagers from a different country!