The League

Earlier in the year I detailed how I was part of a weekly Thursday night pickup basketball thing. It is still going on and has been a fantastic way to me to get in better shape, network with people from around Quito, and have a good time.

Since then, we have also started an adult league that has been a blast. Playing basketball is one of my favorite things to do but I haven't been in an organized league since I played for my high school team. In this league, there are 6 teams. There are teams from other international schools, a team from the embassy, a team of guys who work at the airport, and the team from a local university.

It's a ton of fun and pretty official. There are refs and scorekeepers.Some teams hire coaches. Most teams get uniforms professionally made (but we don't). Many of the guys who play in our league (I believe 5-6) play on the Ecuadorian National Team and regularly compete in qualifiers for the Olympics so you could certainly say that while basketball isn't as big as soccer, we are playing against the best people in the entire country.

We play two games per week and the games last about an hour and a half or so.

It was told to me before but has become apparent since that the Ecuadorian referees love to express some of their personal preferences in games. Gringos get fouled a lot with no calls and if a gringo is near an opposing teammate they somehow foul them every time without touching them. I'm not one to complain about things that aren't under one's control in a game of basketball but it gets dangerous. The guy who organizes the league (a gringo from Kansas) had his shoulder separated last year and required surgery. Another teacher, has to get 15 stitches in his face last year. Both plays, no foul. I don't bring it up to complain, but rather to paint an accurate picture of the experience I'm having.

Terrible refs aside, it's been an amazing experience. I've met a lot of local guys, made some friends, and really enjoyed myself. So far we are 1-2. We got smoked by the airport guys. We lost in a close overtime game to the teachers from the local French school (defending champions) and beat another local American International school pretty badly. We're gearing up for another game tomorrow against the local university team.