Sports in San Nicolas

Here is a blog by the illustrious David Wiegner about his experience playing sports in Northern Nicaragua. His batting average may be below average, but David has been known to attract the attention of more than a few 9th-grade boys at recess with his soccer-juggling skills.

Baseball

When Sarita and I first arrived in San Nicolas I was approached by our neighbor Henry. He asked me if I played baseball. I said, “Yeah, sort of.” Unlike many other Central American countries where soccer is bigger, Nicaragua is a baseball country. Baseball is not my forte, but I was thinking that I could potentially be all right. Growing up, I had played informal baseball games at family reunions and catch in the park with my friends. Anyway, my word was put to the test when the manager of Guingajapa's (a community about 5 kms away from San Nicolas) baseball team showed up at my door with sign-up papers one day. It happened so suddenly. I was hoping for some kind of tryouts or preseason. (The normal baseball season goes from October to May.)

Well, let me give it a shot, I thought. Our first game was two weeks after my sign-up. We had to hike several kilometers in the campo, traversing bean, corn, and chia fields, before reaching Guingajapa's baseball diamond. Once we got there, it was hard to even tell who was on what team because everyone's uniforms were any jersey from any team; the only requirement was that you had to wear a jersey with a number. Warm-ups were easy, just catching and throwing the ball. But I suddenly had a slight nervous breakdown when I was called up for bat.

What do I do? How do I stand? Hmm...the bat is heavier than I thought. Just swing. “Strike uno,” they shouted, “Strike dos, fly ball, OUT”! (A few English baseball words that are used here in Nicaragua are: strike, home, pitcher, home run - pronounced “on ron,” fly ball, foul, outfielder).

My baseball record proceeded as follows: two games, playing right fielder in both of them, two strike outs, one hit. And then I was never called to play again. Needless to say, people here are very serious about baseball. Apparently I wasn't good enough for that sport, so let me try something else, I thought.

Soccer

Even though baseball is the most popular sport here, soccer has a large following as well. When we first arrived, the soccer season had just finished, but it should start up again soon in the next month or so. I am a lot more hopeful about this sport, considering that it is my favorite. In addition, I grew up in Costa Rica and Mexico, both of which are soccer fanatics. I played for my varsity soccer team in middle and high school, and in college I played with intramural teams. This looks a lot more promising, right? I hope so.

After talking to the PE teacher (who is also the coach of all the high school teams) about sports at the high school, I realized that the materials they have to work with - a flat basketball, flat volleyball, and flat soccer ball - are not conducive to having much fun. So that got me thinking about ways to help out. With funds from donors in the US, we have been able to buy a new soccer ball for the school. In addition, since the FIFA World Cup is coming up, right now I am doing a raffle with the school and community of San Nicolas to raise additional funds to buy more equipment. Students and community members have been filling out brackets to predict what team will win the World Cup. I hope that having students and folks from the community join together to help support their own teams will instill enthusiasm and energy towards high school sports.

Also, I have started to practice with the high school's team on weekday afternoons. It is really fun, but exhausting to play again. Sarita snapped some pretty good pictures of the soccer team and me. (Note the blue and yellow soccer ball - that's the ball that was donated).

If you're interested in supporting the high school sports teams in San Nicolas, you can make a special donation to VMM indicating that the funds are for this project. Or join San Nicolas in filling out a world cup bracket, and we'll see who wins!