Tournament meets 'gooaal!'

For all-star midfielder Charles Murro of Liga Latinoamericana of Durham, soccer is like a religion.

Thanks to his childhood experience in Trinidad and Tobago - where the sport is the king of weekend entertainment and kids dream of growing up to play professionally in the U.S. - Murro has learned to rely on soccer as a diversion from drugs and a source of community and friendship.

"People have passion," Murro said of his experience in Trinidad and Tobago. "People cry, people commit suicide if (they) lose."

This weekend, the El Centro Latino Torneo Independencia, a soccer tournament at Chapel Hill High School Saturday and Sunday, gave that same cultural opportunity to the communities of the Triangle and its neighbors.

The event featured seven all-star teams made up of the best players from Hispanic leagues in Orange, Wake, Alamance, Chatham and Durham counties.

The team Liga del Pueblo won the tournament title with a 7-6 win against Irapuato, taking home a trophy and uniforms worth $4,000.

For El Centro, an agency that represents the 4.5 percent of Orange County's population that is Latino through festivals, support groups and various programs, the tournament was the first of its kind.

In years past, the festival centered its activities around road races that didn't reach out to the Latino population, said Ben Balderas, El Centro's senior program director.

This year's event, which included booths, music and, most importantly, soccer, aimed to increase awareness about El Centro while acting as a community event and fundraiser.

Chris Flanagan, who organized the tournament, said for an organization that has experienced financial and leadership difficulty in recent years, the event is a hallmark of the agency's recovery.

"We've been through some tough times, (but) now we're coming back," Flanagan said.

The agency faced financial difficulty and loss of leadership when executive director Tina Siragusa stepped down from the position this summer. Program Director Ben Balderas has assumed her duties.

El Centro is moving in November to a building owned by the Interfaith Council for Social Services in Carrboro at 110 W. Main St.

The organization, Balderas said, is on the upswing. El Centro sent out mass mailings for the first time this year to create a new sponsor base in the community and strengthen its bonds with former sponsors.

The publicity might help with more than just fundraising - it could build the organization's presence and trust in the Hispanic and greater communities.

"You need to show them that you want to be a part of their life, and then they will come to you like family," Flanagan said.

El Centro's goals, Flanagan said, are about helping to eliminate prejudice by promoting the Hispanic community's values, culture and celebrations to the greater community.

"(Hispanics and non-Hispanics) pass each other in the streets, but we're really in different worlds," he said. "This will be a great service for the community as a whole."

 

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.