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Copa De La Amistad 2025: Tournament Recap

copacubatournamentrecap
Photo coming soon

Cruz Mejía and I returned from Havana, Cuba safely and successfully. We would like to send our thanks to everyone who donated equipment and money to the Copa de La Amistad.

The tournament took place on Saturday, June 14th and 41 boys from various different neighborhoods in the city were able to eat breakfast, lunch, compete, and earn a medal, donated soccer equipment, and candy in one of Cuba’s most important futsal arenas.

We were also able to donate equipment to the Women’s University Futsal and 11v11 soccer teams, the Men’s University of Havana Filosofía, Historia, y Sociología team, and four youth futsal teams in Havana.

Special Thanks

  • Lauren Marti for helping us collect donated goods from her Vienna community
  • Pupi Al Forno for providing the best pizza in Havana for those that participated
  • Mi equipo y amigas de Filosofía, Historia, y Sociología for providing good examples for these young kids and helping me organize things on the ground
  • The staff at the indoor courts of UH for letting us use the space
  • PJ’s Soccer for helping us purchase more than 30 new soccer balls
  • Carmen Paneque Contreras for hosting Cruz and I
  • Carolina Caballero for inspiring me to study abroad in Cuba in 2019
  • Micaela Pond for teaching me how to organize for good
  • The youth soccer coaches in Havana, Cuba who do their best to create safe spaces for kids to learn and play

My heart is full of love for my community for their support, and for the people in Cuba that helped put this together. Stay tuned for more to come as we tell our story and try to grow this tournament.