The field is neither green nor plush like grass. Rather it is the hard wooden floor of an indoor gymnasium. There are colored jerseys with team names, but there are no fancy endorsements. Instead of 11 players, each team is limited to 5.
This is futbol sala, or indoor soccer.
It’s not the glitz and glamor of the kind of soccer that Spain is known for. The players are not World Cup champions: they are a group of friends who grew up together, watching and playing soccer, who now take time each Saturday afternoon to play .
There is a referee, and a few loyal fans who make the game somewhat more official than a pickup game in the park. However this team, Deporte Sprint, has been playing together for years. They are known as the Mafia de la Plaza because they are a group of friends who have known each other since they were growing up in Jerez. They became the Sprint team (Sprint is the name of an athletic store) in 2009.
Deporte Sprint takes the court and faces off against Fonta Jerez on this Saturday. The game moves quickly, limited by the two 25 minute halves. There is no coach, rather a captain, who makes sure everyone has equal playing time.
They have a small following, friends who have come out on this Saturday to watch the match. One of these is Angela Vasquez, who comes out each Saturday, and plays herself (although not for the team) when she gets the chance.
“It is a pleasant, fast sport, “ Vasquez says. “Not only because it is fast. It is also a sport more concentrated than a normal game, it’s a small field and everything goes quickly.”
Watch a few clips from the game on Saturday, Feb. 26: JerezFonta (red stripes) vs. Deporte Sprint (blue stripes).
Vasquez and her friends follow the action closely, cheer with Sprint’s approaches to the goal and exhale or sigh when a Sprint player kicks the ball and it barely misses the goal.
“I love football” Paco Perez Gil says. “All parts of playing: the fight, the strategy. It’s noble.”
Gil has played since he was 12 years old, first in his home in Toledo, through university and now in Jerez. Now that the whole mafia is back together, they can all get together for the weekly practice and Saturday games. The mafia has never lost contact with one another.
“My favorite part is to get together with my friends,” Juan Tirita says. “The results are not important. There are no stars. We are ten, and ten play. We are all part of the team.”
Tirita likes the game because it is fast. Substitutions are made frequently. Each person plays for five or six minutes before his friend takes the court.
Unfortunately to Gill, Tirita and others, Sprint doesn’t make a goal on this Saturday and Fonta Jerez wins with one goal. Tirita says it was a tough game with a fair result.
They shake hands with their opponents, who are other friends they have grown up with in Jerez.
Sprint seems disappointed, but not heartbroken. The afternoon is not over.
The team heads to the bar, and starts pouring some pitchers to split amongst themselves.
They laugh and cheer to celebrate Tirita’s birthday. While they may have lost, the mafia doesn’t let it show; they have next Saturday to put on the blue and white striped jerseys and take the court once again. This time is for relaxing with friends.