There was of course, the championship trophy. But well beyond that, the level of play at the Farms of Norfolk Football Association tournament Sunday, August 14th in Simcoe, indicated the joy of victory, pride and bragging rights were also valuable commodities.
“I liked it all,” said Rene Lopez, defender with the Fox Hollow Farms squad, which on strength of goals from Manuel Rios and Joel Menaestrada, scored a hard-fought 2-1 come-from-behind victory over their Schuyler Farms Ltd. counterparts in a hotly contested final.
“Very happy and proud,” agreed Fox Hollow midfielder Mariano Mendoza, attributing the team’s success to ‘practicing and having a plan.’ “Everybody played very good.”
“Good communication,” agreed Eriberto Herrera-Bravo.
The final game was the team’s most difficult, Schuyler a worthy opponent, credited Manuel Meneses-Carmona.
But having finished third with a short-staffed squad in 2019, and the addition of a few recruits from other smaller farms, pushed the team to try its hardest, said Herrera-Bravo.
“They love it,” said Fox Hollow’s Paul Rapai, crediting contributions from all players, including three goals from striker Noe Martinez and solid defensive play from Timoteo Cruz. “They look forward to it every year.”
“A lot of pride,” Rapai continued, noting a cultural element in addition to natural Norfolk County farm-to-farm rivalries. “They are soccer obsessed, they love it.”
“The teams really get into it,” agreed Brett Schuyler of Schuyler Farms Ltd, whose squad settled for a solid second, and in the way of farmers, is looking toward next year. “There are some good games to watch.”
It’s a fun day overall Schuyler continued, citing ‘great soccer, bouncy castles and community members coming out to share in the excitement.
“It’s a great event, well run. Carrie (Sinkowski) is the key factor there, with a good crew of people. “They do things right.” Sinkowski’s title with the Community Legal Clinic - Brant, Haldimand, Norfolk is ‘Community Developer.’ “Nothing to do with law and everything to do with people coming together in the community,” she explained with a laugh.
The tournament’s 2018 inception combined the search for a migrant worker social opportunity and the fact soccer had come up as a possibility, dovetailing with the Sinkowski family’s passion, heightened around that year’s men’s world cup. Carrie took the concept to her boss, also a soccer fan, who was immediately on board.
While appreciating soccer, Sinkowski’s primary interest was fostering community engagement and connection. Farm workers work a lot of long hours she explained, many live away from towns and can become disconnected.
“A soccer tournament won’t solve all that, but it’s a day where people can come together as a community and say thank you to the people who work really hard to grow our food.”
Despite Sinkowski’s fears she had far more expertise organizing conferences than sporting events, the first year drew six teams, three made up of year-round residents, three with players from area farms. In 2019 the draw expanded to seven, five of those teams from farms. COVID and complications from the same cancelled planned 2020 and 2021 tournaments, leaving the fear momentum had been lost and it would be difficult to revive enthusiasm in 2022. Nine entries, eight from area farms, one team two-thirds from farms with the remaining one-third sourced from year-round residents, belied that concern.
“I think that speaks to the fact the community wants it,” Sinkowski said.
There has been ongoing evolution from her initial thoughts of a casual event featuring volunteer officials - the wisdom of a paid referee confirmed in the first half of the first game, due to player intensity - toward a referee and two linespersons for all games, rather than just the final. Upgrading the skills competition - and maybe even adding a championship grand prize which several people asked Sinkowski about - are also under consideration, to further formalize the effort.
And while it is unquestionably a day of sport and engagement for the migrant worker community, it has also drawn broader Norfolk support, welcomed by non-soccer atmospheric elevations including bouncy castles, face painting, food trucks and music. The latter is both centralized and originating from the teams’ themselves, following the Schuyler Farms’ 2019 squad’s example of bringing their own instruments and ‘band.’
Sinkowski estimated a transitionary crowd which built in numbers throughout the day as the competition advanced, to a cumulative total of 1,500.
The event takes ‘so many’ people to make it happen Sinkowski credited, beginning with a full committee and federally funded (via a grant) students Sara and Vickie who did a majority of the organizing, but also including unsolicited contributions from area sponsors. It celebrates the people whose hard work puts food on Canadian tables, along with Norfolk County’s farming heritage.
“It was a really great day, full of energy.”
And in conclusion, the trophy, victory, pride and bragging rights - ‘all of it’ in Lopez’s words - are certainly part of the experience, each of the Fox Hollow team members look forward to defending their FNFA title in 2023. But it featured much more said Herrera-Bravo, a ‘very different day’ for those more used to hours of farm labour than socializing.
“Playing against many other farms, many other workers from other farms and meeting many more people from all around Simcoe and Norfolk, that made it fun for the team.”