Category Archives: Haiti

Nicaraguan Soccer

When I tell people I am from Latin America I usually get the follow-up question of how good is your team in soccer(especially during the World Cup). As a Nicaraguan that conversation usually leads to an uncomfortable conversation. Unlike our rivals to the south, Costa Rica who have qualified for the World Cup four times,… Read More »

Quel avenir pour le football féminin?

En mars, un jour avant la journée internationale de la femme, la FIFA va se réunir pour leur deuxième conférence sur le football féminin. Les invités, y compris des joueuses professionnelles comme Abby Wambach et des professeurs de sociologie, vont discuter de « la promotion de l’égalité des sexes » dans le monde du football.… Read More »

Viktwa!

An interesting story is shaping up in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying games with two consecutive victories by Haiti. They’ve now followed up a 6-0 trouncing of the Virgin Islands with a 2-0 defeat of Curacao, and are at the top of their qualifying group. Haitian football has, of course, been through a lot during… Read More »

Haitian Football Association Report on Incident in Jamaica

The recent expulsion of the U-17 Haitian football team from Jamaica has generated controversy and protest in Haiti. The Haitian Football Federation has released an official report about the incident. You can read the original French report here. Myrtha Désulmé has produced an Engish translation of the report, and kindly allowed me to post it… Read More »

Valentina’s victory – Haitian women’s soccer

While unjust events dominate recent Haitian soccer news on an international scale, there are happier local stories too. Yesterday evening at Stade Sylvio Cator, I watched the final championship game of the two top women’s soccer teams, Valentina and the Tigresses. My friend Hayana Jean-Francois, formerly the captain of the national U17 team that traveled… Read More »

Football and Accusation

Last Tuesday Haiti’s Under-17 National Football team was sent home from Jamaica after two players and a coach were diagnosed with malaria. The decision was presented as a public health measure — the Jamaican public health ministry described the sickness as “imported” — and resulted in an effective forfeit for the team from the CONCACAF… Read More »

Gaetjens Family Roots for Altidore

Just saw this interesting article about the Gaetjens family’s wishes for today’s U.S.-England game. Lots of us on the same page! In an interview yesterday Altidore talked about the same thing. You can see earlier posts on this here and here.

“Haiti in the World Cup” @ Pilgrimages

My first piece is up at Chimurenga’s Pilgrimages Blog: “In Port-au-Prince there stands – or at least there stood, before the January 12th earthquake devastated much of the city – a mural depicting four great nationalist heroes of the Caribbean: Toussaint L’ouverture, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Emmanuel Sannon. If you don’t recognize the last… Read More »

The Next Haitian Hero of U.S. Soccer?

I just published this op-ed piece about Joe Gaetjens, Jozy Altidore, and my hopes for this Saturday’s U.S.-England game in the Pittsburgh Courrier. The piece is also appearing in several other papers, including the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Seattle Times. A French version of the piece is up at the World… Read More »