Tourney a Step To Grander Prize

Hispanic Group Roots for Own Soccer League

The men of Fuerte Aguilares looked deflated, and it was not even noon yet. They sat on the sidelines of a Sterling soccer field yesterday, recovering from the morning's 1-0 loss to Centro America, musing about what separates winners from losers.

"In soccer, it's luck," said Coach Federico de Jesus Castro, 43, a white towel slung around his neck.

"It's the ones who put out the most effort," said Alberto Anaya, 35, who, like nearly all his teammates, hails from Aguilares, El Salvador, and lives in Leesburg.

De Jesus Castro offered another idea: "Those who score goals win."

The men nodded. Nobody could argue with that.

While they waited for their next game, the men cheered on Colonial, another Salvadoran team, against a Mexican team in one of the early games of the event that had drawn them all there: a two-day men's soccer tournament put on just for them by a Hispanic immigrant advocacy group. Twelve teams gathered at the Potomack Lakes Sportsplex in hopes of taking home the big trophy and $1,200 grand prize.

Organizers said they hope that the tournament, which continues today, will encourage the men, most of whom are Hispanic immigrants, to reach for a grander goal: a league of their own. Currently, the teams play pickup games at schools but only if a field is available and no neighbors complain. Many of the players lack proof of Loudoun residency, which is needed to participate in the county's men's league, said Laura Valle, director of La Voz of Loudoun, the organizer of the tournament, now in its second year.

A formalized league with more flexible residency rules, she said, would give the men more access to fields and, with the presence of referees, help prevent injuries, she said. Formal leagues also usually offer health insurance plans.

The tournament was also a sort of bait, Valle acknowledged. She hoped to lure the men to a resource fair that had been set up in a parking lot near the fields, where banks were handing out information about checking accounts and businesses were recruiting workers.

Young Hispanic men, Valle said, often are neglected by outreach programs, which tend to cater to families, senior citizens and children.

Men "suffer the brunt of discrimination, and they're less likely to integrate," she said.

Of course, few young men are attracted by the term "resource fair," Valle said. But she knew they would come for soccer.