A storm blew in overnight, which didn’t cause us much concern until we arrived at the fields and were informed that all games were cancelled, for the day at least. Previously, large tournaments had been held in Medellin, where backup fields were on sand…which was a major cause for complaint. Now, however, sand was looking good compared to the prospect of no games at all.

Just a question for myself…does UPA Nationals have backup fields? What about College Nationals? I assume they do…but then again, I am not sure that I know where they are. Perhaps I assume too much.

We were told to stay in touch with tournament directors, and we left for a touristy afternoon at the local salt mine…which doesn’t sound nearly as cool as it was. This mine goes down forever, is a massive foray into the earth, and has been transformed into a cathedral, with statues and a grand antechamber hewn out of the rock. Really, really awesome.

I got to talking with some of my teammates about the cost of the sport, and they mentioned ‘Inter’. Inter is a government agency that provides funding for any youth that want to play sports. They get practices, equipment, some travel money, uniforms…whatever they need. The catch is that they must go through the paperwork and have a coach signing off on them…and they have to go to and work well in school. This is a high hurdle for Colombians from families that historically work hard, go to school infrequently if at all, and who believe that early work is a more family-faithful activity than sports of any kind.

In the afternoon, we were called to tell us the location of the backup fields; two small fields with a grandstand in ‘downtown’ Cahiqua. Upside: we get to play. Downside: Games are now 50 minutes, and less if the previous game goes overtime (up to this point, DV was experimenting with 90-100 minute games, a first for Colombia). Upside: all of the teams are in one spot, and everyone gets to watch everyone else, which makes for a really fun atmosphere and a crowd for all of the games. Downside: Very little warmup space, no margin for error, and the finals would be played, Monday night, at around 9pm. Wow.

We played Aire, a team that loves to put the disc out in front of their athletes, in a very smooth game for our O-team. Fields are skinnier now, which means that traditional flat-stack teams absolutely must find a way to break through saggy 3-person defensive fronts, or it is going to be a long day of gunning forehands into tight windows. With only one short game this was almost a rest day, which was much appreciated.