Saturday, October 22, 2011

U.S.-Mexico Football Games Canceled

In the "Something I Didn't Know" category, but apparently there are football games between schools in Texas and Mexico but unfortunately, there have been many games canceled for various reasons.
From the El Paso Times: A short-lived international rivalry between the Tornillo High School and Academia Juárez football teams may have come to an end on Friday.
The teams did not play each other Friday night because crossing the border has become too difficult for the Mexican school.
Tornillo athletic director Cody Burris said the difficulty was related to paperwork and not to the ongoing violence in Juárez.
The kids, "were really disappointed because (Academia Juárez) brings a lot of people to the games and it's developed into a good rivalry," Burris said. "The kids kind of understood that, and they got in a good practice this week."
Academia Juárez, which is about 170 miles from Juárez in Casas Grandes, informed the Tornillo Independent School District that it would not be playing any American teams this year because of difficulty crossing the border, Burris said.
"They canceled some of their games because it was a hassle crossing over the border with all their fans and players," Burris said. "They said they were going to stay in and play Mexican teams this year."
Burris said he thought the difficulty in Academia Juárez crossing the board had to do with gathering passports and the appropriate paperwork. The danger from the ongoing violence in Juárez, which the team would have to pass through, was not a factor, he said....

Most recently, the Austin American-Statesman reported, the Austin Independent School District canceled the Oct. 22 game between Monterrey Tech and Austin-Travis High School.
Travis High School would have hosted the game, but Austin officials decided it was too dangerous after reading a front page story in the Statesman detailing how the La Familia drug cartel, based in the Mexican state of Michoacán, uses Austin as a base of operation to funnel drugs to areas of the United States, the Statesman reported.
Officials feared that violence would break out in Austin.
It wasn't the first time a Texas official feared Monterrey Tech coming to town. Earlier in the year, Gregory-Portland High School officials canceled its Sept. 23 home game with Monterrey Tech.
A Gregory-Portland official told the Statesman that he was worried about possible violence at the stadium after watching a TV news report about drug cartels.
Monterrey Tech had to cancel its Sept. 3 game against Mary Hardin-Baylor University and Sept. 8 game against Round Rock Stony Point High School. However, this time it was because of a threat on the Mexican side of the border.
The Statesman reported that Monterrey Tech had received a threat from an anonymous caller asking for $30,000 to allow the team to cross the boarder.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/juarez/ci_19112654
Sadly, the kids are the most effected by the actions of adults/thugs/bureaucrats.
And to be perfectly honest, I didn't know Mexico had football teams that were god enough to play Texas football teams.

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