By Sarah Dale
Beside a mountain and 3000 metres above sea level, children play the beautiful game
Ive never been very good at football. At school girls werent allowed on the football pitch.
We instead played hockey in the mud, with the big sticks, a game which was far more violent! Aimed at the right angle you can easily take out a full set of teeth. So when picked for the 'Huayrapungo team, a community in the mountains, surrounding Otavalo, I felt ill-equipped with the necessary knowledge or skills for the job. I had, however, two main advantages.
1) The opposition was roughly the same size as the ball.
2) I was roughly the size of the goal.
I should explain that Huayrapungo is a small school by the side of a large mountain. The football pitch slants dramatically towards a cliff like drop. This adds an unusual element to any normal game. That being running after the ball and catching up with it before it takes its final plunge to freedom. At around 3000m above sea level the air is as unusually thin as the pitch steep. The team playing down the slope had an unfair advantage, except no one appeared to notice the problem. Round these parts flat land is a strange, unfamiliar concept. No one else seemed to be wheezing either.
Kick off commences with a flurry of activity. I boot the ball in the wrong direction, out of touch, but the game continues indefinitely. Rules have no place here. I tackled a small girl before half time who had already lost interest in the game. Silvia, the little sweetie that she is, then raised her arms fully stretched saying carry me. I lifted her up onto my hip and proceeded to play on in goal. From that point on, I found it increasingly difficult to keep up my goalkeeping skills. I confess, I did let one in. The boys looked a little disappointed, but I was still a valuable member of the team based on my size alone. The game ended with the surreal sound of the school bell ringing out across the Andes.
