Play Ball

Following carnival and its madness, I had assumed classes would resume and continue uninterrupted for several weeks. After all, there arn't any Catholic holidays on the calendar until Semana Santa and Easter nor are there any important civic celebrations in Ecuador nor Zamora-Chinchipe.

Yet, classes were once again suspended for more than a week for the annual sports championships. In the absence of organized youth sports, students rarely have the opportunity to compete in formal competitions. The colegio, therefore, organizes a week of athletics each year in which each parallelo competes against their peers in basketball and soccer. Students can also elect to participate in an ecuavolley tournament (a national version of volleyball in which the net is a bit higher and athletes can palm the ball), table tennis, and chess.

As an avid athlete, I eagerly awaited the week of competition although I did admittedly question why sports were being prioritized over academics for such a long period of time when the games could easily occur after classes. Moreover, I was a bit skeptical of the uniform requirement; rather than utilizing “pinnies” to differentiate between teams, athletes were required to purchase their classes chosen uniform. These were not cheap; a complete uniform including the requisite shorts, socks, and shirts valued roughly $14.00. In a city in which six pound of potatoes costs $1.00, this is a lot of money.

Many students, therefore, could not afford to compete. Yet, they still had to come to school and watch their peers play in games that they love as well. Fair? No. In fact, such discrimination—and it is discrimination in my opinion-- could have consequences that will extend far beyond the end of competition on Monday. By barring impoverished students from competing without uniforms, the school is subtly suggesting that they are not full members of the community. This, I suspect, could potential increase the numbers of poorer students leaving school given that they do not seem as valued as their more affluent peers. Wouldn't it be a better idea to buy a few pinnies to use in each game and allow all to compete?

In spite of my anger regarding the uniform rule and its overemphasis on appearance as opposed to inclusivity, the week was rather enjoyable and quite interesting. As basketball is a relatively new sport in Ecuador, few teachers have even a rough grasp of the rules. I had to, therefore, referee a ridiculous number of games which proved challenging as I barely know the rules and the students have little experience in organized athletics. As they—especially the young women—rarely have the opportunity to play, few can successfully play following the rules. Thus, they resort to hitting and kicking their opponents as a means of competiting and winning. Moreover, they seem unable to control their anger on the court perhaps due to a lack of practice. Girls, therefore, expressed their frusterating by physically fighting with each other. Not an ideal situation for an inexperienced basketball referee such as myself.