As I´ve mentioned several times, one of the teams Gerson works with is a women´s indoor soccer (futsal) team. They play soccer inside on a basketball court. The goals are smaller and the rules are quite a bit different from soccer rules. Instead of 11 players like in soccer, in futsal, there are only 5 from each team on the court at a time. Also, the soccer ball they use is a bit smaller than the standard soccer ball. Gerson´s father is named the coach, but we go to almost all the games and Gerson ¨coaches¨ from the sidelines!
Last night we had a game. We are now in the final rounds and we are one of the top 6 teams in Santa Cruz. It is now down to double elimination. Unfortunately for us, we lost last night´s game. That means we have to win this coming Tuesday in order to make it to the semi-finals. I tried to take a picture of the scoreboard 30 seconds before the game ended. As you can see, it's fuzzy! We are the team with 3 points. At the point when I took the picture, the opposing team had 4 points. However, right after I shot the picture, the other team scored a point from mid-court, finishing the game with a 2 point lead. We were disappointed, but we're hoping the season doesn't end for us on Tuesday!
The team is made up of mostly university students. Several of the girls are still in high school, and Gerson is trying to recruit them for the university next year. They are a great group of girls, but most of them do not have a personal relationship with God. This does not stop Silvana, Gerson's sister, from initiating prayer before every game. Although many of the girls aren't Christians, they are constantly being reminded of Him during their times of training and playing. Continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will work in their hearts and draw them to Himself.
This is during half-time. As you can see by some of their expressions, they have a lot of fun and normally there is quite a bit of comedy going on before, during, and after the games! Our team is really good, and actually we've beaten every other team in our division. Our problem lies in that the girls don't show up on time for the games and rush in unprepared mentally. They have also stopped going to practices due to scheduling conflicts. These two things have caused several important losses for the team.
Many times after our game, Gerson stays behind for the next game to do the stats. That's what happened last night. We were disappointed he was asked to do it, because Silvana left the futsal game to go to her basketball game. We've been too busy to go to any of her basketball games this season and we were looking forward to seeing her play. However, we stayed behind to do stats. By the time the second futsal game was over, so was Silvana's basketball game. Oh, well, maybe next time!
I enjoy going to the futsal games. Unlike soccer games, they are fast-paced and only last 40 minutes rather than several hours. I often find myself doing odd jobs while watching or waiting for the game -- babysitting, tutoring an athlete in English, or talking to parents of the athletes. It's great for building relationships! Keep praying for Gerson and me as we try to reach youth through sports!
As I´ve mentioned several times, one of the teams Gerson works with is a women´s indoor soccer (futsal) team. They play soccer inside on a basketball court. The goals are smaller and the rules are quite a bit different from soccer rules. Instead of 11 players like in soccer, in futsal, there are only 5 from each team on the court at a time. Also, the soccer ball they use is a bit smaller than the standard soccer ball. Gerson´s father is named the coach, but we go to almost all the games and Gerson ¨coaches¨ from the sidelines!
Last night we had a game. We are now in the final rounds and we are one of the top 6 teams in Santa Cruz. It is now down to double elimination. Unfortunately for us, we lost last night´s game. That means we have to win this coming Tuesday in order to make it to the semi-finals. I tried to take a picture of the scoreboard 30 seconds before the game ended. As you can see, it's fuzzy! We are the team with 3 points. At the point when I took the picture, the opposing team had 4 points. However, right after I shot the picture, the other team scored a point from mid-court, finishing the game with a 2 point lead. We were disappointed, but we're hoping the season doesn't end for us on Tuesday!
The team is made up of mostly university students. Several of the girls are still in high school, and Gerson is trying to recruit them for the university next year. They are a great group of girls, but most of them do not have a personal relationship with God. This does not stop Silvana, Gerson's sister, from initiating prayer before every game. Although many of the girls aren't Christians, they are constantly being reminded of Him during their times of training and playing. Continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will work in their hearts and draw them to Himself.
This is during half-time. As you can see by some of their expressions, they have a lot of fun and normally there is quite a bit of comedy going on before, during, and after the games! Our team is really good, and actually we've beaten every other team in our division. Our problem lies in that the girls don't show up on time for the games and rush in unprepared mentally. They have also stopped going to practices due to scheduling conflicts. These two things have caused several important losses for the team.
Many times after our game, Gerson stays behind for the next game to do the stats. That's what happened last night. We were disappointed he was asked to do it, because Silvana left the futsal game to go to her basketball game. We've been too busy to go to any of her basketball games this season and we were looking forward to seeing her play. However, we stayed behind to do stats. By the time the second futsal game was over, so was Silvana's basketball game. Oh, well, maybe next time!
I enjoy going to the futsal games. Unlike soccer games, they are fast-paced and only last 40 minutes rather than several hours. I often find myself doing odd jobs while watching or waiting for the game -- babysitting, tutoring an athlete in English, or talking to parents of the athletes. It's great for building relationships! Keep praying for Gerson and me as we try to reach youth through sports!
4 comments:
Oh Gerson - - - I LOVE the moustache and goatee!!!! That looks GREAT
I´ll tell him. Of course, he shaved it all off today!!! He´s a clean shaven man, again! He likes to keep me on my toes.
Oh bummer!! I really liked it. I say, "Grow it back, PLEASE!!!"
Okay, I'll give him the message. I'll have to remember to tell him to grow it out when we go to the States. :) Then you can see it in person'!
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