Grace Protopapas caught up with Los Murciélagos, Argentina’s blind football team, before they headed off to London to compete in the 2012 Paralympics.

Camera and editing by Hans Fresen
Lead image by Luján Agusti

Photo by Randall Bass

Lacrosse is an internationally emerging sport. It is no longer restrained to the confines of all-girls schools in England or jocks in Hollywood films. In fact, it has arrived in Buenos Aires. 

Argentine Lacrosse Association (ALA) founder, Richard Acuña,  explains how he was introduced to lacrosse in 1997. “I went to a sports museum and became intrigued by the concept of lacrosse. From there, I enlisted some friends to help me start a league in Argentina and we have been steadily growing in size ever since.”

By all means, it is still a modest organisation, but due to the sport’s increasing international popularity, the ALA has been steadily growing ever since. New members are both Argentine citizens and ex-pats, some with years of experience and some who have never held a lacrosse stick before. 

Steph Migchelsen is a 25-year-old Canadian who at the time of the most recent tournament had only been in Argentina for a week. “I found out about the league through Facebook. I’ve played lacrosse for three years and I wanted to continue playing during my stay in Argentina.”

New members are trained by both players from the US and Argentina, although in England I played lacrosse sporadically for 12 years, and the rules that they are learning are somewhat different to what I was taught. 

The Game

For example, in English women’s lacrosse it is illegal to tackle someone with an empty stick in an attempt to prevent them from intercepting the ball. Not so in Argentina. In England, goalkeepers and male players are required to wear shoulder, shin and chest pads, helmets, goggles, gumshields and protective gloves. In Argentina, the helmet and gloves are sufficient.

Photo by Randall Bass

Acuña explains the differences, saying, “the ALA adapted the international rules of lacrosse to better suit the space that we have.” 

There are two different sets of rules for lacrosse, depending on whether you play indoors or outdoors. Generally, the game starts with a ‘draw’, where two players place the ball in their sticks and attempt to flick it to a member of their team. The player who catches the ball then ‘cradles’ it, making tackling more difficult, then passes or runs the ball towards the goal themselves.

Lacrosse is certainly not for the faint-hearted. When a player was hit in the neck by a wayward lacrosse stick brandished by a beginner, one of the spectators muttered: “God, it’s brutal!” and he’s right. Men are allowed to do almost anything to get the ball, including tackling the body, ramming, and hitting players with their stick.

In Argentina, however, there appears to be an added danger for spectators. Whilst attempting to gain possession of the ball, two male players collided with a female player sitting innocently in the crowd.  

The League

In general, Lacrosse is more popular with male beginners because in reality men’s lacrosse is easier at the beginning. Although both sports eventually require the same level of skill, women play with a shallower stick and therefore initially find it harder to throw and catch the ball.  

The women’s league is therefore  dramatically smaller. There are only enough players for two teams so all their matches are friendlies. They also enlist the help of female spectators in the crowd to bulk up team numbers. I arrived in flip-flops and denim shorts merely to report on the league, yet after they learnt of my lacrosse experience, I was handed a stick and told where to stand!

The February women’s match was the first of its kind and marked the beginning of women’s lacrosse in Argentina. Acuña therefore anticipates it will grow just as the men’s league did. 

Photo by Randall Bass

Argentine men’s lacrosse is more established. There are currently six teams of around ten players who come together once a month to play and practise. New members are just as welcome, and are simply assigned to one of the teams after a brief training session.

The February tournament was Jose Villafañe’s first lacrosse game. The 43-year-old from La Boca works as a rugby coach but wanted to try something different. “It’s not easy,” he commented. “No sport is easy, but then no sport is impossible and I wanted to experience something new.” He was put on the same team as Gonzalo Cejas, a 19-year-old student with three years lacrosse experience. Gonzalo studied at school in the US for a year where he learnt to play the sport quickly and successfully.

Despite the obvious differences to the international game, the ALA has created a successful league. The players are willing and enthusiastic and the organisers are welcoming and helpful. It appears to be a mixture between a social sports gathering and a training session for a serious national team with ambitions to compete in the Manchester 2010 lacrosse championships, and with such an obvious amount of skill and passion available, it seems they are well on their way.

If you are interested in joining the ALA, they play matches on average once a month, membership is free and open to anyone. Check out www.argentinalacrosse.com.ar or the Facebook group ‘Argentina Lacrosse’ for more up to date information

Photo by James C. Lowen

After plenty of rain continually prevented the commencement of play, the Argentine Cricket Association was finally able to hold the 109th North vs South Argentina cricket match on Sunday 9th March. A three-day match had been planned, but owing to the weather, a one-day match instead took place at Belgrano Athletic Club. The North side, led by captain Alejandro Ferguson, closed the first innings after 50 overs with 155 runs. The South side, captained by Esteban MacDermott, took the second innings with 156 runs, six out, after 33-and-a-half overs, winning the match.

The losing team lost no time in pointing out mitigating circumstances, perhaps as an excuse for the game’s result. James Lowen, member of the North team, said: “The match would have been closer had the elements not intervened. For the first half of the day, the pitch was still very damp, meaning that batting was slow and hard. Hence we [North] scored far fewer than we needed. By the time the South were batting, the pitch had dried and batting was a lot easier.”

The North vs South Argentina match has been played annually since 1891, and is considered ‘the jewel in the crown’ of Argentine cricket, the biggest, hardest-fought and most precious fixture in the Argentine Cricket Association’s annual calendar. The golden age of the match was in the twenties and thirties, when the standard of play is said to have reached national level. Following the Second World War, many of the long-time team members dispersed and the end of the contest was predicted. However, the contest was revived following a rejuvenation campaign by the ACA, and cricket in Argentina now has a good future ahead of it.

Photo by James C. Lowen

The match brings together players from all over Argentina, natives and expats alike. At the moment the North team includes players from Hurlingham Club, Belgrano Athletic Club and Colegio San Jorge Norte, while the South XI includes members of the Lomas Athletic Club, St Alban’s and Colegio San Jorge Quilmes.

A bit of history

Cricket has been played in Argentina since 1806. The Argentine Cricket Association was formed in 1913, and Argentina has been a member of the International Cricket Council since 1974.

Argentina first played international cricket against Uruguay in 1868 and up to the Second World War, 29 encounters took place, with Argentina winning 21. Argentina’s closest rival is Brazil – the series of matches between them dates back to 1888. Matches have also been played against Chile, the first in 1893, with the team taking three and a half days to reach Santiago, crossing the Andes by mule!

Photo by James C. Lowen

Argentina was runner up last year in the World Cricket League, in the second division. They are ranked 22^nd in the world.

Like many other sports in Argentina, such as rugby and polo, cricket was introduced to Argentina by the British. Indeed, in the leafy suburban surroundings of Belgrano, along with the delightfully quaint village-green-style pavilion, it did feel like a typically English cricket match – a bit of Britain in Buenos Aires. Most remarkable was that many of the calls on the pitch were made in English, despite all but five of the players being Argentine.