DANVILLE — In this holiday season of giving, Danville Area High School students held their fourth annual futsal tournament on Sunday — a benefit event for the Casa Materna birthing clinic in rural Guatemala.
The tournament was held in the middle school gym.
Futsal is essentially just soccer, but played on a court rather than a grass or turf field with only five players on either team.
“In our version of the game, we play (3 on 3) without goalies,” said Madison Sauers, an organizer.
“Our futsal tournament has been somewhat of a tradition within our Spanish Club for the past few years.
“The first futsal tournament was played a while back, before I was in high school, but we had one last spring for the first time since COVID. It is a great way for the club to share some Hispanic culture through sports and food, and is usually very well received.”
Casa Materna, which is run by Geisinger Dr. Erica McElroy, receives all proceeds raised.
Each team that participated paid an entry fee of $20, which was a source of the funds raised. There was also a concession stand with tamales made by the club for purchase.
Tournament day
The turnout on Sunday “was smaller than we were hoping for,” said high school Spanish teacher John Keller. “We normally hold this tournament in June, so this is really the first year for a mid-year tournament.
Plus, the storm slowed our organization toward the end of the week, which is when we usually see enthusiasm building.
We ended up with just 4 teams. Consequently, we organized a sort-of ‘World Cup’ round-robin event with a final between the top two teams.”
More than $200 was raised for the Casa Materna clinic in rural Guatemala, Keller said.
The annual project was a result of discussion among those students in the Spanish Club, said Keller.
“Among the other things we do,” Keller said, “is that we always try to have some kind of community service. For example, when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, we had a concert and with all of the money we raised from that, we were able to help out a school there.
“We recently shifted our attention to the women’s clinic in Guatemala, which had a local connection to that,” Keller said. “It is an area in Guatemala that has one of the higher infant mortality rates.”
When the group decided to fundraise for that clinic, “the kids were really excited to be helping out,” Keller said. Students also helped prepare the tamales for the sales event.
“It’s a fun activity,” Keller said. “At the same time, it is helpful for people at the clinic, and a way to learn about the culture there.”
