I love this game

A few weeks ago, I told you about opening day of the local soccer league.

It turns out that that league is now my second favorite soccer league in the community.

There is a soccer league with mothers from the local school. They get together on Sunday mornings and play on the little field at the escuela.

Let’s just say that nobody watches these games to see top quality futbol. Winning is of secondary importance. Most of the time is spent chismeando ("chatting") or laughing at the game. It is a great community activity.

All of the mothers from the school are divided into teams. My madre plays, but she missed last week’s game for religious reasons (mass).

We are only in our training community for a couple more weeks. So I probably won’t have the chance to watch my mom play in her soccer league. I would put that at the top of my list of regrets during my time in Ecuador.

There are so many outstanding elements to these games. For instance, the uniforms and lack thereof. Some mothers wear typical soccer clothes (shorts and jersey), others wear a traditional dress and jersey, some wear the traditional dress and top and then put a jersey over that, and some will even wear their traditional hat.

One time, a women got hit in the head with the ball and her traditional hat fell off. I just about died laughing and I wasn’t the only one.

The two goalies wear traditional clothing.

I would say that one of my favorite moments in the game was when the goalie dove on the ground to make a save. There were about nine people surrounding her, and she was on the ground, in her dress and blouse, trying to hang on to the ball.

For some reason, the goalie on the side of the field I was sitting on didn’t kick the ball. Ever. She would make a save and put the ball on the ground for another person on the team to kick or, for a goal kick, she would just put the ball down and let her teammates do the rest.

The game I watched ended in scoreless draw. But I wouldn’t describe it as a defensive struggle — more like an offensive struggle. They had trouble connecting on passes or dribbling up the field or doing anything for that matter. It reminded me of youth soccer where nobody stays in their position, and, instead, they all chase after the ball.

And the crowd is equally tremendous. There aren’t many males at these games. It’s just the women from the other teams taking advantage of the opportunity to talk.

To be fair to all genders, there is a male volleyball league that plays at the same time. I did some calculations, and the volleyball league is about 59 percent less hilarious than the women’s soccer league.

But because it is the only organized volleyball league in town, I guess it is also my favorite too.