Outerboro Soccer hosts ‘Play for a Cause’ in Astoria Park for Colombia earthquake relief – QNS
Outerboro Soccer hosted a special soccer scrimmage to raise funds supporting relief efforts in Colombia after the country was devastated by an earthquake in August.
Photo by Alice Moreno
Outerboro Soccer – a yearlong, co-ed soccer league based in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx – hosted “Play for a Cause,” where guests participated in a soccer scrimmage on Sunday, Aug. 30, at Astoria Park, with all proceeds supporting relief efforts in Colombia after the Aug. 10 earthquake that struck the Coffee Axis in Colombia.
The earthquake killed over 300 people, left over 200 missing and devastated parts of Colombia, including cities such as Cali, Pereira, Quibdó, Manizales, Armenia, Buenaventura and others.
“We wanted to get the fun and casual nature of a pickup [game], but for an actual good cause,” Outerboro Soccer Founder and Commissioner Alejandro Montoya said. “All of the proceeds are going to go to earthquake relief in Colombia, specifically in El Choco, which is a part of Colombia that got hit really hard during the earthquake and historically has been under-resourced and underfunded and not supported by a lot of politicians in the area. It’s mostly an indigenous and Afro-Latino community.”
From 4 to 6 p.m., over 70 players were divided into six teams – blue, green, yellow, orange, black and white – where the players played an 8 v 8 across three games. Each player paid $7 to play in the game, collecting nearly $800 in proceeds, which is all going directly to earthquake relief.
The earthquake hits home for Montoya, a Colombian whose family hails from Cartagena and Cali, one of the cities hit by the earthquake.
“The earthquake impacted a lot [of] our families,” Montoya said. “My dad’s side, in particular, they’re all fine, but [there has been] a lot of structural damage, a lot of interruption to their workplace.”
After the game, players, alongside Montoya and other coaches, got together at nearby Arcadia to celebrate a successful post-game while supporting a small business.
Outerboro Soccer often hosts events that help benefit the community and those impacted by hardships. In November, they will host a community tournament to support anyone impacted by ICE.
“[Play for a Cause] is really personal to me because I feel like a lot of the stuff that goes untalked about is often the racial politics in Colombia,” Montoya said. “And making sure that the Afro-Colombian community is recognized whenever possible.”
For more information on Outerboro Soccer, visit outerborosports.com.
