Striker's Event

I should probably be posting more work related pictures, but I don't have my camera with me as often as I should... However, I was asked to take some pictures of the Striker's "Kickoff" event. It was kind of a inaugural game, that my friend Richard set up. However, he doesn't plan well and it subsequently didn't go off very well. However, there were a couple of things that I thought would be fun to share.

First, they needed a team logo for their jerseys, but the screen company wanted a lot of money to design one. So, I offered to design one for them. It turned out pretty good (if I say so myself...) I designed it from scratch. They loved it. I've included a copy of it below. We are still trying to get some money together to get the jerseys printed.

For those of you who are "soccer ignorant" there name "Strikers" comes from the name of the forward position in soccer which is called a striker. The "FA" at the top stands for Football Academy (they call soccer football everywhere in the world except for the USA). The SYS stands for San Juan Youth Strikers. They have an official uniform for the advisors, and since I was "appointed" an advisor, I had to get one (picture below).

Although the team colors are supposed to be royal blue and white, they couldn't afford the new uniforms, so right now they are playing in some borrowed uniforms in black and yellow. I took a pre-game picture below where the intermingled with the opposing team and then they all bowed their heads in prayer together to start the game. I have really been impressed down here with the way they are not intimidated to include religion in government, sports, etc.

We were supposed to have a cultural show as part of the event, but like I indicated, Richard didn't plan well and we got started too late and he didn't arrange a tent or facility for the performers to get into costumes. I was disappointed because I wanted to see the show even more than the ball game, so just as the game was getting ready to start I asked them if they would mind playing something for me. The band is mostly a family (cousins, etc) who play traditional Trini drums. As soon as I asked, they just grabbed their drums and started playing. I've got a short video clip of them playing but I have had trouble trying to post it. So, I am just attaching a picture for now. If I get it to work I'll post the video later, they were really entertaining.

The whole crowd got into the music. All it takes is a little music to get Trinis going. There was this group of young girls that got up and started dancing. They were so cute! I got a little video of them and will try to post it later as well. In the meantime I'll post a couple of pictures of them.




When they were done I asked if I could get a picture with them. They were very enthusiastic about getting their picture taken!



Unfortunately, the Strikers lost, but I got a great picture of the opposing team being awarded the trophy. The guy in green is their goalie. He was pretty funny...

That's all for now. Like I said, I'll try to add some videos later.