Photo by: Greg Wolf

A player of team Talabre (in purple) keeps the ball from two players of team Palestino (in orange) in Sunday's finals. Talabre, ranked fourth in the league, defeated fifth ranked Palestino.

Passing the Cup

Sundays in San Pedro, the sandy soccer field comes alive-whistles blow, players run amidst the dust, and spectators cheer from the sidelines.

Soccer for this small desert town in northern Chile is a respite away from the responsibilities and trifles of daily life.

As Dagoberto Ramírez puts it, "Here, (in San Pedro), soccer is the only form of entertainment for men, because there aren´t any other healthy activities we can do."

In 1926, San Pedro formed its first official soccer league. From March to July, the 12 teams in the league play 17 matches and a day of finals, completing the winter season championship.

There are difficulties involved for the players, however. In addition to daily time constraints, the extreme temperature variation in the Atacama Desert doesn´t favor physical exhertion.

Still, this does not lessen their desire to play.

 

Dagoberto Ramírez

Shouting, clapping, and blowing horns, 11 members of the Ramírez family cheer wildly from the sidelines as Dagoberto Ramírez scores yet another goal in the championship soccer match. At the final whistle, the entire Ramírez family dances onto the field to celebrate with the team.

Dagoberto, with the help of his teammates, scores nine of Le Paige´s 15 goals to Quitor's one, thus winning the championship. With those goals, Dagoberto becomes the leading scorer in San Pedro´s soccer league, totalling 34 goals in one season. [Full Story]