Mar 28, 2016 by Iain Colpitts Mississauga News
An international football series has been scheduled this year with home and away games between Mississauga’s MIFA Football Canada and Mexico’s LEXFA. – Supplied photo
An international exhibition series is planned this year between a group of football players from Mississauga and a group from Mexico.
MIFA Football Canada and Mexico’s LEXFA have set dates for a back and forth slate of games, with the first match scheduled for May 6 at Troyanos Cancun University, followed by a game in Mississauga on Labour Day weekend.
The Mexican club originally had a similar series scheduled against the United States, but when that fell through, MIFA program coordinator Liston Bates offered the Mississauga group as a substitute.
“I said to them ‘What if I can keep this game going and we’ll also do a tour where we play down there.’” Bates said.
“We talked about doing it next year, but I said there’s no time like the current.”
Most of the players representing MIFA also play semi-pro with the Oakville Longhorns of the Northern Football Conference.
One of the players heading to Mexico is MIFA ambassador Hector Santibanez, who has travelled back and forth between Canada and Mexico, playing football in both countries. He’s been instrumental in the planning of the series as well.
“He’s the guy in on every conference call because he speaks Spanish and we don’t,” Bates laughed. “I can’t communicate without him.”
Bates said LEXFA has done an excellent job promoting football in Mexico and it has gotten to the point where the country has started up a professional league, Liga Futbol Americano.
“It’s not just popular, it’s blowing the roof off,” Bates said. “They just started a pro league a few weeks ago and are recruiting for it, which is why this tour is ideal for any player coming.”
Organizers hope this year’s games are just the start of a long-lasting series. Bates hopes to eventually grow the series to a level where the junior varsity and youth teams from both MIFA and LEXFA face off as well.
To help offset the costs of the trip to Mexico (roughly $1,700 per individual), MIFA has held a few fundraising events already and has a few more scheduled, the next of which will be a gathering at Ten Restaurant and Wine Bar in Port Credit Friday night. For more information, visit mifafootball.com.