A Small Ball and Ten Men

Futbolito literally means small football or soccer ball—and that is exactly what it is. Starting in November, the basketball court in the middle of the park in front of the Catholic Church became the home for futbolito every night. Hundreds of Talangans filtered into the three step ‘stadium’ seating that surrounds the court to cheer on their team or boo for their rivals. Just like at high school football games, most of the girls came dressed to the nines and the guys came to see them. Some nights the crowds came dressed for the cold with scarves and hats and other nights, the cool summer nights were perfect t-shirt weather. Each night, three games were played until the last couple of weeks of the tournament that would decide the winners.

Any team could enter futbolito—and so in total, there were about 30 teams of varying ages and physiques. For example, the Mayor’s team was comprised of slightly older men and the local youth group at the Church, the Emproistas, had a team of twenty year olds or so. Some players had lots of experience and others not so much. And depending on the level of experience of the players, different games turned out closer than others. This also happened to be the funnier part of futbolito. The ball is tiny and some of these men were a little bigger and didn’t seem to have played much football—and so the combination provides a very funny visual..

In addition to the games, local food vendors set up stations around the park. You could find a sample of some of the most common dishes here including puposas, carne asada, licuadas, and especially greasy French fries. One of my personal favorites was the yucca stand. I have never eaten yucca before Honduras—but it’s delicious. It tastes very similar to potato but with a slightly different consistency. Another part of futbolito that seems almost as important as the game was the oranges. Every morning, the park would be scattered with orange outsides and some games at night were even paused for orange fights. Oranges are eaten differently here. Instead of peeling them, they cut the peel off the edge kinda of in a spiral and then cut them in half. It is then your job to suck as much orangey goodness out of the halves. Hondurans also enjoy eating oranges with salt and pepper. It’s an acquired taste that I have yet to acquire. But the oranges that Glenda, one of our friends, sold were delicious—like little pieces of yumminess that I will now always associate with futbolito.

One night, three of us went to futbolito with Naza, Isaac, Sadie, and Gloria (four kids/friends). It started raining as the Emproistas game started but we were pretty well bundled up so we stayed to cheer them on. Sitting on the front step, you have to be ready to dodge flying balls and slide over if one of the players wants to do a free throw. As the rain started to get a little heavier, second half started and then out of nowhere, the power went out. It was pitch dark and being in the park in the middle of Talanga with hundreds of people was not where we wanted to be. It was crazy—I don’t think I’ve ever been in the middle of a town in complete darkness. We took the kids home and then made our way back to our house where the power returned about 10 minutes later.

Futbolito: A small ball and ten men.