Photo Gallery - Soccer Tournament

Here are some pictures from the opening day and match of the Lagdo soccer tournament, which this year celebrates Excellence. (Last year, it was Hope. Yes, we can!)

Everyone on the organizing commission gets a badge, le badge, in French (Cameroonian French only, perhaps?). Even though my “fonction” is treasurer, the way the badges were made makes it look like everyone is the president of the commission. This is the second copy of the badge; the actual one is in a lanyard… ladies.

The tribune, where the grands sit for various parades and events, like soccer games. The guy in the front row in the orange-brown boubou is the mayor, while the guy to the left in the white is my landlord, who does something with the irrigation canals on the other side of the dam. Whatever it is, it warrants him a seat next to the mayor.

A wider view of the previous picture. To get a sense of where this is, it’s between the post office, on the left, and the new mayor’s office, on the right.

Some of the teams starting to line up for…

… Handshakes from the sous-préfet, mayor, and all the big men who decided to bless us with their presence and infinite wisdom.

The sous-préfet kicking off ceremonially.

The actual kickoff. Only two hours late after all the pageantry. Not bad. And, as commissaire de match, I sit at a table where this picture was taken, so right on the sideline. That’s the sous-prefecture in the back there, so you can get more of an idea how things in this part of town are situated.

A fight broke out amongst the teams… Sigh. It’s a precursor of things to come. Sorry for the poor picture quality, but notice the bodies of players strewn about: the guy in the pink jersey, the goalie, then another guy in white shorts and red jersey by the right goal post. Both of these guys would be fine and on their feet once all the fuss was over. I hate soccer sometimes.


Since I’m the treasurer, I hang on to all the money. This is the special safe I keep it in. God bless Ziploc, and God bless America.