Brockton PostBROCKTON—Jose “Tuca” Rodrigues and his four teammates didn’t expect to walk away with the championship trophy for what is hoped to be the first annual Balizinha soccer tournament--a form of street soccer played in city parks around the world. “It was fun—better than sitting at home watching TV,” he said (Pictured above in red pinnie).
Not only did the team not waste their time watching TV, they walked away with a trophy and bragging rights. Initially, the adult division was to get a cash prize, but because teams did not pay to register, the winners have the honor of being the champs.
“We didn’t expect to win,” said 18-year-old Brockton High grad Zaias Andrade (Pictured below holding the championship trophy with Alex Resende, 14, of Brockton).
The tournament was sponsored by Self Help Inc., and organized by Fredson Gomes, the community and outreach coordinator for the agency’s community development division, with the help of Arnold Danielson, a founder of Greater Brockton Society for Poetry and the Arts who helped serve burgers and hot dogs during the matches which began at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and finished around 1:30 p.m.
The Taunton River Watershed Association and Brockton Symphony Orchestra set up informational tables near the sidelines and Jacinto “Djessa” Gomes, Fredson Gomes’ father, made miniature soccer nets for the tourney from recycled metal pipes and netting.
The tournament featured five teams of five players who passed, dribbled and scored on a concrete tennis court that was overrun with weeds before the match, and from all accounts is hardly used.
“No one plays tennis anymore,” said Lily Gomes, a soon-to-be freshman at Brockton High School and Gomes’ sister who helped register players.
Teams played two 14-minute halves with each side playing with four players on the court and one substitution who could jump in on the fly.
Organizers received help sprucing up the courts located in a section of Harold D. Bent Playground on Belmont Avenue—commonly known as the Ash Street Park—from a handful of Americorps volunteers who have been in the city since the torrential rains and subsequent flooding in March.
The volunteers pulled weeds and unrelenting shrubs from the cracks (Pictured below) in the surface and helped clean the area of potentially dangerous debris.
Jacquie Baker, a Doylestown, Penn., native and a spokeswoman for the AmeriCorps group currently in the city, said along with numerous other volunteer tasks, members are also required to help with a community-wide event, such as the Balizinha tourney.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun and this is a great idea,” Baker said of the tournament.
While the numbers of players—about 25—and spectators—about 25—was not as many as hoped, Danielson said it is something to build on.
“I can see this exploding, I can see this happening—a festival, something,” he said.
His enthusiasm isn’t without merit.
The five teams who came to play brought a high level of skill and spectators were treated to a fast-paced, hard-fought game of soccer that featured blind behind the back passes, ankle-wrenching cuts and twists, and ballet-like turns away from opponents.
The winning team, calling themselves “Angola” and wearing red pinnies, stuffed opponents with strong defense and took the most of its opportunities, including a rocket from 27-year-old Brockton resident Rui Santos,(Pictured above scoring a goal in the finals) whose second goal of the finals put Angola up 3-0 early in the second half over team “Battles" who wore yellow pinnies.
Things got tense when Battles busted through Angola’s defense and popped two goals into the net, cutting the lead to 3-2 with more than 9 minutes left to play.
Referee Moises Rodriques, (Pictured below) a member of former Mayor James Harrington’s staff, said after the match he was looking for the match to get intense, but happily the men playing didn’t get too feisty and throughout the tournament there was little to no foul play.
Fredson Gomes, who refereed the games with Rodriques, only threw one yellow card—a minor infraction--in the entire tournament.
“It was a great day, and we hope we’ll be able to do it again,” Gomes said.
For a previous story about the tournament, please see http://www.brocktonpost.com/2010/08/balizinha-soccer-tourney-hits-brockton.htmlarchive.
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