A youth in El Torito learns to play lacrosse

Brad Iula painting a post at the field in the center of town

Nico Ferrari (in white) and Steven Tynan during beach cleann up.

Gato caught a new friend while we were painting

The team photo in El Torito

Eric Scott tries to catch some waves

Dinner after a hard day at Soda La Perla. How is the food in a place with a pickup truck parked in the middle? Darn good, actually.

Eric Scott (blue hat) with one of the youth

Evan Peller during one of the youth clinics in El Torito

Shane Doss (right) tries to score on Ian Grady during a game of lacrosse on the beach

Sámara is a rural beach village of only 1,500 inhabitants on the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica bathed in both beauty and sunlight. Zephyrs from the Pacific tame the furious sun above. The town is unblighted by corporate influence.  There are no McDonalds or KFC.  You’d get a strange look if you asked for a Starbucks.  Not even a Hilton or Hyatt in sight.  

And the locals like it way.  

It is as if an omnipotent hand vanquished the town of Western influence, keeping the charm and identity of this small surfing village. Sámara is comfortable in its simplicity.

And we learned to like it that way, too.

On August 4th we converged in the Houston’s airport to depart for Sámara for one week of service, lacrosse and surfing. There were six students with us. Steven Tynan from Round Rock, TX; Eric Scott from Basking Ridge, NJ; Shane Doss from Glenridge, NJ; Evan Peller from Melville, NY; Nico Ferrari from Buckhead, GA; and Brad Iula from Medford, NJ.  They were joined by their chaperones, co-founders of Charity Lacrosse, Ian Grady and Jon Leonardo.  We also had some amazing help in Sámara.  Tess McGrath, a 2009 graduate of Lehigh University and a member of the varsity women’s lacrosse team, is an American expatriate working there.  She, as part of her graduate studies in non-profit management, is working in Costa Rica doing non-profit work, and has previously worked in Africa.  Finally we had Yofreth Quesada Rodriguez, or “Gato” as he is known locally, as our local guide.  He was born and raised in Sámara, knows everyone in the town (no exaggeration), and owns more pairs of swim trunks than most people do shorts (also no exaggeration).  El chico de la playa.  My goal after this trip was to become Gato one day.

One of the largest projects undertaken by the team was to help renovate a soccer field in the center of the town.  Soccer fields are frequently at the center of towns in Costa Rica, and this particular field will later be used for lacrosse as Fields of Growth works more and more in this town.  The goal was to paint about 100 unpainted fence posts blue, white and red, the colors of the Costa Rican flag.  

The work was fraught with tiny little dangers.  Fire ants, to be exact.  While we painted some of the posts they would come out of the ground like a tidal wave and attack the foot of the nearest victim.  I heard Shane yelp a couple times as he threw off his shoe – he had 12 bits in total that “felt like 20”.  Nico and Jon too became victims of these indiscriminate stingers. 

Stung feet aside, the field underwent an amazing transformation.  From a monochromatic fence to a pied boundary that finally exuded the same vim and distinctiveness that this village does. 

Another outreach activity, which I’ll speak for the group and say was the highlight, was spending time in El Torito, a diminutive town – one so small it does not show up on Google Maps – just outside of Sámara.  Our goal was to go there and teach some of the youth how to play lacrosse. When we arrived there only three kids were waiting for us. We worried that there would not be enough kids to do much of a clinic. But Tess said not to worry. The kids would start showing up soon.

And they did.

They arrived on bare-feet.  They rode on bikes down the dusty roadways.  By themselves or with a mother or sibling.  At least 20 youth showed up on the field. This little field in rural Costa Rica sprang to life with the chorus of children yelling and screaming, enjoying exposure to this new sport and their new American friends.

Despite some language barriers we were able to play the international language of lacrosse with no difficulty. The kids were scoring goals and making checks in no time. One kid learned from Eric how to make a fake pass.  It was as if they were born to play this sport. 

The kids also learned nicknames that had been assigned to everyone.  Nico was called by the group “Justin Bieber”.  The guys told a little girl that his name was Justin Bieber.  Nico protested to the girl saying, “No soy Justin Bieber”.  The little girl was unconvinced though.  Pointing to him with unstrained certainty she yelled, “No!  Tú eres Justin Bieber!”. 

“La pura vida” is often used locally to describe Costa Rican life and culture.  A literal translation would be the “pure life”, but it’s closer to “the good life”.  It began also to describe our time there.  Not becoming overly concerned with the retinue of schedules.  Shedding ourselves of our watches. 

One can’t go to Sámara without enjoying the beaches of course, and why just go to the beach when you can surf them?  One morning all the guys had surfing lessons at C&C Surfing School where our guide Gato works.  For many it was their first time surfing.  Imagine being able to say your first time surfing was on the beautiful shores of Costa Rica. Of course they won’t be able to say they had Kelly Slater moments.  I saw a lot of wipeouts.  So, not everything is pura vida in Costa Rica.  The youth also had the chance to eat at many “mom and pop” sodas (small open air eateries) that were off the beaten path and also had some of the most delicious food.

In short, the trip afforded six high school youth from disparate parts of the country a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work in the community of a small rural beach town in Costa Rica.  It also gave them a chance to grow emotionally, leaving the comforts of Western society, and experiencing another culture.  And, of course, it gave them the chance to enjoy the beaches and amazing food of this verdant country.