Last Friday, Sept. 20, at Roe Stamps Field, an airhorn blared over “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus to signal players that it was once again time to enter the field. Braving almost 90-degree weather, teams ran out to fight for glory in the 10th annual Mini World Cup.
The Mini World Cup, hosted by Intercultural Student Programs and the Georgia Tech Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), invited students to play for one of 12 Hispanic countries in a one-day soccer tournament. After five hours of intense gameplay, Costa Rica defeated Portugal for the 1st place title, and both teams were rewarded with a trophy and a set of medals to commemorate their achievement. Every year, the Mini World Cup is one of the first events hosted at Tech for Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and aims to bring people together to have fun and experience new cultures.
In order to participate in the Mini World Cup, students had to sign up and choose the top four countries that they would like to represent. While many of the players represented their home countries, it was not required that players choose to represent the country that they are from or even be Hispanic.
For example, on the Costa Rica team, about half of the players were from Costa Rica, and half were from Venezuela. Due to the fact that Venezuela was already taken, the team decided to choose Costa Rica instead.
“Most people [playing] are part of [SHPE], but we have people from everywhere,” said Emily Prieto, second-year CS and Marketing Chair of SHPE. “You don’t have to be Hispanic to join a team. We have people from Bulgaria. But mostly people are from Latin American countries, like Colombia, Puerto Rico.”
Although soccer is popular all around the world, the sport holds a special significance to Hispanic culture and encourages people to have fun. Natalia Weber, fourth-year CHBE and Secretary of SHPE, emphasized the importance of fun when organizing the event.
“It’s just a fun tournament for people to meet each other and interact with different cultures around campus,” Weber said. “I know that soccer isn’t necessarily for a specific country’s representation, but for the Hispanic culture, I think it’s a very important sport that everyone gets very excited about. So we just use it to have a fun game day.”
Weber has been volunteering for the event since her freshman year. She said that she enjoyed playing her sophomore year even though she does not actually know how to play soccer. She highlighted how many of the people she met at the tournament came from countries that she didn’t even know were represented at Tech.
After countries were assigned, the only thing left to do was play. Two soccer fields were outlined with cones, and the games started at 11:30 a.m. with teams representing Portugal, Peru, Spain, Argentina and Nicaragua. Soccer balls quickly found their way into the pop-up goals, which were often sent tumbling from the strength of the shots.
Throughout the day, spectators gathered at the edge of the field and cheered for their friends, old and new. When they weren’t in a game, players sat on the sidelines in loose circles and chatted in Spanish. While many conversations started out about soccer, it wasn’t long before they deviated into discussions about everything else.
By 4 p.m., the only players left on the field were Portugal in red and Costa Rica in navy blue. Every time a ball rolled out of bounds, a new one was thrown in just as quickly from volunteers and people on the sidelines. At 4:15 p.m., Costa Rica was crowned the new Mini World Cup champions and Portugal the first runner-up.
When asked what the best parts of the day were, Fernando Pinto, third-year BA and captain of the Costa Rica team, said, “All the goals we scored, the unity of the team, and just being able to do what we like.”
Prieto also agreed that the Mini World Cup brings people together, calling it a “unifying event” that is an important tradition to start off Hispanic Heritage Month at Tech. She also affirmed how important it was to get members of the Hispanic community together to celebrate their culture, especially since many students are far away from home.
“I mean, it is really important to have these kinds of events, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month, because you’re so far from home, and this is a little taste of your country, your family,” Prieto said. “It’s just really special — soccer is a very important part of Hispanic culture — and so it’s really nice that we get to have this event and people from everywhere come and participate.”
To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, Tech will also be hosting Direct to Discovery: Reading With a Researcher on Sept. 26, Trivia Night on Oct. 2 and the HHM Closing Banquet on Oct. 10.