Dominican football?

Soccer does have some appeal here in the Caribbean...

....as reported around June of this year on the Jim Rome sport show.

Quote:

"A machete fight took place as scheduled in Jamaica and a soccer game almost broke out.

Great.

You have to love a game where people get killed. I know, I know?soccer is so passionate and full of creativity.

One man is dead and two others are badly injured when a crazed fan lost it with a machete.

Fans began to argue about their respective teams in the stands when Carlington Hilton went nuts?with his machete. He took off before fans could grab him, but eventually they caught up to him and started hacking him up with their own machetes.

Nice stadium security. You can?t even bring in a backpack full of food to a stadium in this country, but in Jamaica you can bring your own Machete? The Dodgers won?t let lesbians in, but you can bring a machete to a soccer game in Jamaica.

How about the dead guy getting into an argument with a guy with a machete? If the guy you want to argue with who likes the other team happened to bring his machete and you didn?t?you probably don?t want to argue with him.

Great soccer. A guy brought a machete to a soccer game. Not a pocket knife, not a switchblade, but a freaking machete.

You?re right, I just don?t get it soccer. I don?t get how somebody thinks about and is able to bring a machete to a soccer game.

If you are going to have a no-smoking section in stadiums, you need to have a no-machete section too.

But the thing is, you?re not going on safari, but to a soccer game. Nice. You go to a soccer game and a machete fight broke out. But like they say, never bring a soccer game to a machete fight.

Soccer is not a sport, it?s a reason to riot. You don?t go to see a game played... you go to kill someone or be killed."

lots of soccer played in Jarabacoa and it is a big sport in the catholic schools.

Dominican Football sucks and here is why

Back in the late 60's there was a movement towards f?tbol. In 1970 I became directly involved and trained the team at the , then, UCMM. Since there was no university based league and the Dominican Football Federation was so poor, almost any team with 10 or eleven jerseys could play.

I set out to recruit players who knew the game, I had the good fortune to have a couple of cigar smoking Danes and a Dutchman who knew the game as well as a couple of Spaniards and a few Dominicans that had learned the game at the Salesian Fathers schools in Jarabacoa and Moca or the Augustinian Father's school in La Vega.

We trained under the lights at the softball field every Tuesday and Thursday and played every Sunday. There were teams from Moca, San Francisco de Macoris, Haina, San Cristobal, Santo Domingo, the UASD, and San Pedro de Macoris. Eventually, by 1971, We had 12 teams playing a league and Cup schedule.
UCMM, Moca, La Vega, Villa Tapia, Haina, UASD, Espa?a, Refor, San Pedro de Macoris, Unphu, La Aurora, and San Francisco de Macoris.

the universities enjoyed a marked advantage: They could offer scholarships to students in order to attract them to the team. There was no such thing as transfer charges, it was all amateur stuff. Intense, but amateur. I even got my university to build a real football field!

By 1972 the UCMM was a powerhouse. I had recruited from the Salesian Philosophy House, the Salesian school in Jarabacoa, Haiti, Spain, and the best Dominican players. Some I got jobs for, some had scholarships, some I paid their high school so they could eventually get to the university. some I even bought tools for so that they could enter our technical school and learn a trade! We rolled over most teams and won the league but finished second in the Cup. In fact i never did win a Cup!
1973 was the same. In 1974 we were undefeated in the league but again lost the cup. I was like 50-4-2 over theyears as a team manager. We went to Haiti and played, winning 1-0 and losing 0-1 against the same team but reinforced by members of the Haitian national team that went to Munich in 1974! And their refs!!!

Because of the pressure from the other non-university teams, the Federation President decreed that from then on no Universities could participate in the league or cup. this was mostly directed at the UCMM team (the NY Yankees of DR football), since he had been fired from his job at UCMM!

Before this thousands of students would attend the games, we filled the Olympic Stadium with kids to see Pel? and the New Yoirk Cosmos, we played in the CONCACAF playoffs, against Surinam. We played in Jamaica, and we played and won in Curacao and Puerto Rico.. We hosted a team from Uruguay-Deportivo Cerro, and filled the Quisqueya ballpark and the Estadio Cibao. I can remember taking 10 school buses, bursting at the seams, to Santo Domingo to play the UASD or UNPHU or Espa?a. We had huge headlines in all the press and Monday's papers carried all the scores. That is pretty much gone now.

Since then, and in spite of US$250,000 in FIFA money they have not been able to get a really good team together.

Seldom has anyone been able to point a finger at one event that destroys an entire sports movement. By the way, the guy is still around, he is now an alledgely corrupt judge according to reliable reports, and has been kicked upstairs to avoid having to put him in jail. He is also banned for life from any Olympic activity. What a loser!

As a result of the scholarships, I can proudly point to MDs, BAs in Business, Philosophy, Education, Agronomy, a major league ball player (Damaso Garc?a, our captain for a while). Some of the kids, now men, still come by to talk of the old days...We had names like the big teams: Garrincha, La Piedra, Conde, Leduco, Mariano, Damasito, Tavares, Cabrera, Rijo, Sousa, Chila, Belman, La Tabla, Juan Torrens, Bietman, Knut, Poul, El Caballo de Hierro, Manolo, Juan Manuel (He is now a tenured professor at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid!), Hector...

Those were great times...
HB

BAYAGUANA, is a no baseball town all they play is Soccer and Volleyball out of curiosity i ask relatives and told me that they preffer Soccer.

Intec had (has?) a team...

It was been managed by Jorge Rolando Bauger and I used to go see them at the UNPHU field when they were playing. Actually that's how I started sort of liking football, a bunch of my girl friends and I would go to the stadium to watch the guys playing... we never learnt much about the game though.

Jorge Rolando Bauger now has a football school for kids in San Ger?nimo. If you drive by on a Saturday morning you'd think the Queen of England is throwing a party, judging by the variety of expensive vehicles parked outside. I commented this to Uncle Rob who came up with a good theory-explanation: rich Dominicans (high middle class and above) look down on baseball (and most things American) while they look up to our European cousins (Spain). They would not consider letting their children play baseball, because hey! who are the Dominican baseball heroes after all? KnowwhatImean?

I tend to agree with Uncle Rob.

Clara,
Yeah, lots of the upper middle class go to Jorge Rolando Bauger, but he frankly is the only coach for kids wanting to learn futbol in SD who does it right. My son wanted to learn "soccer." We heard about a group that Pascascio teaches on Saturdays at Loyola high school on Av. Bolivar. Pascascio coaches the girl's team at the school & in return can use the field (a pretty good one, or was anyway) for his classes & his summer soccer camp. Pascacio has heart & loves the game & promotes it hard but focuses more on inclusion & fun & less on skill development & knowledge of the rules. In terms of really teaching the skills & rules & discipline, Bauger was much, much better.

So we switched, even though Bauger's schedule was far more cumbersome for us. The difference in my son's enthusiasm was remarkable. "This is soccer, dad!"

BTW, my son has continued with soccer here in Northern Virginia's local leagues, and although he is not able to match the Bolivians, Salvadorians, Peruvians, other Latins & the Aussies (yes, Aussies!) that abound here, he enjoys it alot still, so yours truly is willing to continue knocking myself silly to get him to all those practices & games.
Best Regards,
Keith

f?tbol dominicano

Thank you Hillbilly for THE history of football/soccer in the DR.
I was briefly on the squad at UCMM in the early 1980's while in medical school there. Nice memories. We were coached by Belman (your Bietman?). We played against teams from other universities. UCE had good African and South Americans. Most of our players @UCMM were indeed still a mix of kids trained by the Spanish clergy in Moca, Jarabacoa and some from La Vega.
Other players were foreign born (Arabs, South Americans, Mexicans) and a couple more were from the ranks of the upple-middle class in Santiago; Hippo's son, Ram?n, was one of our teammates. The economist Padre Alem?n would attend even some of our practices and the games were usually well attended. My only goal ever in that league made it to the sports page of La Informaci?n. My biggest moment of glory. Unfortunately soccer has never had mass appeal in the country and continues to lag well behind other sports. FIFA is still trying to help. My 2 cents.

-Tordok

Belman

Belman Mej?a--no relation- was the goalkeeper during the glory years. Bietman D?az graduated as an Economist from UCMM. Belman worked for years in the Phys Ed Department. He left to go to NYC where he umpires sopftball in the Spring and Summer and Winter League Baseball in the DR during the winter months.

Those were the Intercollegiate Years and the teams were supposed to be students..

Garrincha, Manuel P?rez, from Moca, was in the second graduating class from the med School...


HB

Belman

Hillbilly,
Thanks for the clarification re. the 2 men with a name starting with a 'B' and ending in 'man' from Santiago f?tbol. I have team photos somwhere in my basement with Belman Mej?a as our head coach. A retired goalie by then. We had UCMM printed in our 'camisetas' and we played on the same campus, but my UCMM team only shared the name "UCMM" with those teams that you refer to from the 1970's. Those guys were the stuff of legend for us. I wouldn't dare compare the teams or leagues of the 70's with those of the 80's. By the time I wore the uniform it was indeed an intercollegiate league that was pretty balanced but not of the level of the teams you led.
my respects,
-Tordok

Dominican soccer has experimented a considerable growth within the last 10 years. Football or soccer is far more accesible to even lower classes nowadays than it was 10-15 years ago. Proof of this is on soccer fields at Santo Domingo, San Cristobal or Moca and a few other towns and communities in the north. It is growing very slowly since dominicans find it appealing. Historically it has been most spread trough middle classes as it can be seen on Santo Domingo and Santiago, such practice is encouraged by private schools led either by clergy or non clergy authorities, strenghtened and supported by southamerican and european colonies settled in this fine country.

Sorry but you are wrong!

Football has always been there for the "lower" classes.

Hell, I made about 7 fields myself with the sponsorship of Texaco back in the 70s. Mao, Esperanza, La Herradura, Villa Vasquez, Casta?uelas are the ones I remember....

There were teams in Villa Tapia, Haina, San Cristobal that competed in the First Division in the 70s.

Moca Jarabacoa and La Vega were always hot spots for football.
Who can forget Padre Epy at Refor, Padre Joaquin or any of the others that shaped young men in football???? Or the Bolivian Fortunato Quispe Mendoza who created the Aurora Football Club out of nothing. Or the time their bus broke down and Villa Tapia ran the last 15 kilometers to the game!

HB

Well it was my point of view, not a statement, i'm obviously not as old as you are, i'm only 27, hence i cannot argue about soccer amateur histories dated as far back in 70's. I did not say that soccer was absent for lower classes, just that it was more spread through middle classes than lower. BTW we dominicans always welcome every foreign soccer enthusiast wether regardless of nationality. In regards to contribution to soccer in this country, my opinion is that Jorge Rolando Bauger is the No. 1 contributor followed by Quispe Mendoza.

Oche

If you had posted thirty years ago, the sports reporters would have said Rosendo Sep?lveda, Jos? M?jica and Luis Midence were the prime movers of f?tbol in the DR. Bauger makes his living with football and noe of the above mentioned ever tried to do that. Neither did Fortunato Quispe Mendoza....But those were other days...

HB

History is History

Oche,
I think that I may be a bit older than you but still younger than Mr. Hillbilly. I can respectfully tell you that HB is the most knowledgeable person regarding organized f?tbol's development in the DR of anyone I know, as he had a big role in it. His other point is also quite relevant. Mr. Bauger's contribution to Dominican soccer is pretty obvious and important, but it also is a two-way street for him since he makes a living out of it too (TV, academy, etc.). Nothing wrong with that. However, the people HB mentions were true pioneers, sponsoring our beloved global sport among Dominicans of all levels and preceding Bauger in time.
They also did it truly for the love of sport and never went into it expecting material rewards. That, to me also, is a significant distinction when looking for who has been more influential.

-Tordok

I respect your opinions gentlemen, i never did question the contribution of the persons mentioned herein, nor was my intention to offend anyone. BTW, i'm glad that Mr. Bauger, makes a living out of Soccer in this country.

Too hot for soccer

If I may be so frank I'd like to suggest that the reason why soccer is not very popular or widespread in the DR is a combination of the climate and the psyche of the people. It is too hot for soccer, where you basically have to be physically active, running, jumping and kicking, most all of 2x45 minutes. OK, so it is hot in Mexico and Brazil too, where soccer is a craze, so part of the reason might lie in the psyche or attitude of Dominicans. No offense, but are Dominicans just that more laid-back?

I remember walking by a soccer field (near the Malecon) in Puerto Plata a couple of years ago. It was in the early evening, and the game was in full swing. The air was hot and sticky, and I thought to myself, how do they stand playing under these conditions? Must have been a dedicated few.

I suppose baseball is far more suitable here, a game where the extent of physical activity more or less is limited to swinging a bat or jogging a few yards every once in a while, with plenty of chance to rest in the shade in between. And chew some tobacco. You are also protected from the sun by long sleeve jerseys and long pants or stockings (or whatever they are called) plus a cap on the head. Has anyone ever seen a soccer player wear an outfit like this?

What first captured the hearts and minds of the people also must have something to do with it. If soccer had already caught a certain hold before the yankees introduced baseball in the DR way back when, things might possibly have been somewhat different (The US never occupied Brazil or Mexico, as far as I am aware, and certainly not in the early years of the past century. This argument also belongs in the first paragraph above.)

If soccer is more popular in places like Jarabacoa, could it be partly because the higher altitude climate is more benign?

Just a few unqualified thoughts that weren't meant to be taken too seriously.

(Arve: Heia Norge!)

For those soccer lovers, it's never too hot, too wet, too dry, too cold, etc, etc.... if you love the game you'll do anything to play no matter the conditions.

I'm an active soccer player, I was never close to be a wrold class soccer player, but I had my great moments playing for different clubs in South/North America and Europe.

Rain?? No problem!!!
Heat?? No problem!!
Lighting!!!! Ohhhhhh well... that would be a problem.. hehehe

I see plenty of future great players, that only need the correct coaching to better their skills. I've seen kids with the same interest, skills and dicipline as other kids in the rest of the world.
First time I went to DR (2 years ago) I had the impression that the only sport to see and to practice would be baseball... wrong!! Now, every time I go to DR, I make sure to pack a pair of shin guards and soccer cleats.... and i'm ready to have fun.
Personally, that's a great way to make friends, besides.. girls like to see a good player with skills.. another way to make more friends
Regards,
Jorge