6-week, lunch-break season ends with Boca Juniors capturing
championship.
GILROY – Lunch break at Gilroy High means one thing for most students – time to play in or watch the Latinos Program indoor soccer league in the main gymnasium. Hundreds of student-athletes flock inside to watch the five-on-five, six-week intramural league – which just concluded its third season Wednesday.
“It’s competitive. There wasn’t one team that we thought was going to win. It’s very competitive,” said Horacio Arteaga, a senior captain for the boys varsity soccer squad as well as a player for the GHS Fusion league team. “It’s a lot faster and there’s more shooting. The keepers have to be really good because there is a lot of shooting from the outside.”
Anyone can form a seven-man team (five starters, two subs) to partake in the competitive and popular soccer league – which was formed two years ago by members of the Latinos Program. But it’s not just the Latino students, this year there were teams made up of football players, basketball players, and water polo players.
“It started lunch time two years ago. We had 20 kids. Eventually, it turned into eight teams. This year, we have 16 teams,” said physical education teacher Armando Padilla, who coaches three junior varsity sports and even played on a league squad this season.
“It’s popular with all the students, not just the Hispanic students, the Anglo students as well,” he added. “We have teams of basketball players, football players, water polo players. Everyone made up a team.”
This year’s championship team was the Boca Juniors (named after an Argentina club team). The Boca Juniors’ roster was comprised of Jorge Plata, Thomas Gonzalez, Juan Llamas, Wilber Chavez, Gildardo Ramirez, Luis Esqueda, and Arnulfo Velasquez.
“It means a lot. It’s like a dream come true. I always dreamed of winning a championship,” said junior netminder Luis Esqueda, following Wednesday’s 6-1 victory over the Rojos Del Municipal (a Mexican club team). “It was really tough. We played some tough teams.”
The Boca Juniors team name will now be inscribed on the GHS Latinos Program Soccer Trophy – joining past winners, Hurricanes in Fall 2001, and The Crew in Spring 2002. The trophy sits in program director and three-year science teacher Jose Hernandez’s classroom for all to see.
“It feels good because most of the other teams did not think we would make it. We showed the other teams we’re invincible,” Plata said. “We showed we are the best. It’s not only one person that wins the game, it’s the whole team.”
Hernandez created the Latinos Program two years ago and, after a sitdown with its members, formed the intramural soccer league – not knowing how much interest it would generate. Hernandez and fellow teacher Scott Bunes referee all the games.
“I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. We had 16 teams of seven all three tournaments,” said the 1996 Gilroy High graduate. “Our goal is to get outside schools like Live Oak and Hollister involved and have our champ play their champs.”
Adding to the international-esque atmosphere in the Gilroy High gymnasium are the daily 100-plus, boisterous but friendly crowds – which cheer on their fellow classmates throughout.
“They get rowdy, especially when the game is really excited,” Arteaga said. “It gets the whole school involved. They come play and have some fun… It gets you ready (for the varsity soccer season) and the coaches can see the players.”
Before entering the main gym, spectators must pay a 25-cent entry fee – which goes into the Latinos Program fund. The money is then used to help needy students for school physicals and insurance as well as buying soccer cleats.
“We use all the money to help kids. Some can’t afford it,” Arteaga said. “It’s nice because even those who don’t really know how to play just come out and have fun.”
Official indoor soccer rules are used as nothing is out-of-bounds unless the ball goes into the crowd or hits the ceiling. Everything else is playable off the walls – making for a fast-moving, action-packed contest. A soft yellow indoor soccer ball is used in games.
“It doesn’t bounce as much and it’s softer,” Arteaga said. “There are always very quick shots and passing. You shoot a lot and play quick one-two touches. There are a lot of rebounds.”
Bicycle kicks and fancy footwork are the norm in these intense matches – which have two eight-minute halves during the lunch break hour.
“This is great. It’s a great fundraiser for the Latinos program,” Coach Padilla said. “It’s really involved with the trophy. The kids take pride in it and it mixes the students together. They all come at game-time.”
And at game-time, play is intense and the crowds are rowdy – banging on the bleachers with their feet and singing the famous international chant, ‘Ole… ole, ole, ole’.
“There’s a lot of pressure,” Esqueda said. “You have to look at the ball, carefully.”
Plata added: “You get nervous the first time you’re out there, but when you’re playing you don’t look at anyone, you just see the ball.”
