How to Get a Honduran to the World Cup
Futbol (as in soccer-not to be confused with sweaty, 350 plus pound player, American tackle handball), is one of the only sports that still holds world competitions (Canada playing in the World Series doesn’t count). We are talking about the World Cup of course. This year’s competition takes place between June 11th and July 11th in Cape Town, South Africa and is bound to be a spectacle for those lucky enough to attend. But what if you’re broke and your country is in civil unrest? Let’s talk about Honduras:
This year, for the first time in over 20 years, Honduras has qualified for the World Cup. Futbol fans in Honduras took it to the streets; partying, screaming and generally going apeshit to show their support. Unfortunately, right before the qualifying game, Honduras crumbled politically as their previously exiled (via military coup) president returned to reclaim his democratically elected office in the now military run dictatorship. Suffice it to say, even with the uplifting news of Honduras’ World Cup qualification, the country is generally in the shitter at the moment. People are poor, civil war may be on the horizon and going to see their team play in South Africa this year is not really an option. Or is it?
HOW YOU GET A HONDURAN TO THE WORLD CUP
Getting to and attending this event is very expensive. Airfare alone is about $4000 roundtrip from Honduras to Capetown. You add accommodations, food and the actual tickets for games and you’re looking at a total of anywhere from $8,000-$10,000 for the trip. Even richer Americans wouldn’t splurge that much on a soccer game.
Chipping Away at the Price
Get a volunteership in Cape Town around the time of the World Cup:
Living with Lions (starting at $1395 for 2 weeks)
Swallow your fears and prepare to encounter the rare white lion! This volunteership offers a chance to care for and help preserve the nearly extinct white lion. Your day involves preparing bottles and cutting up meat for feeding these amazing animals. Although this volunteership is not free, the fee covers food, on-premises accommodations (tents in the savannah), emergency evacuation insurance and training. Additionally, your fee is a donation to the project and helps maintain the program. The lion-handler badassness you will feel upon completion is free of charge.
Surfing Project: ($450 for 2 weeks)
Whatever dinky beach you’re surfing on this season can wait. The waves off the coast of South Africa will blow your mind. In this volunteership, you can essentially surf all day while at the same time giving local kids something to be excited about in their difficult lives. You don’t even need to know how to surf to participate. The fee for this volunteership covers surf lessons, orientation and housing for 2-4 weeks. Get your wetsuit and don’t look back.
The big event has a lot of little components. From grooming the field to getting the concessions ready, ticketing, medical aid support and spectator services, there is a lot to do before the opening ceremonies. Although this volunteership is unpaid, you receive free meals while on duty, an official Addidas uniform (score) and a travel allowance. It’s the perfect way to get yourself in the mix of it all and cut down on costs.
The Tickets:
The World Cup Federation splits the purchasing of tickets up in a complicated way. The gist: there are five buy phases. Each phase is open to certain groups defined by FIFA. The phases are divided by date and were created to fairly distribute tickets in anticipation of demand exceeding supply. Sales are currently in the third phase (December 5, 2009 through January 22, 2010). Apply for your tickets here and find out if your application is drawn and approved at the end of phase three. Depending on how much you can afford to spend, you can apply for a single match or the entire competition. Check out ticket rules and prices are here.
OTP’s Money Saving Tips:
o save money on accommodations, go out and meet South Africans (befriend some of these guys) and crash on their couch. Check out our Backpacking 101: Hostels and Couches for more info.
Use your volunteership to significantly reduce your airfare with flyforgood.com (an airline that offers discounted flights with proof of volunteership.)
In school: Do a study abroad program in Cape Town for the summer. Check with your school for availability. Then, get sneaky with it and use your study abroad program to book a cheaper flight through studentuniverse.com or statravel.com.
Get a group of Hondurans to go together (we know you guys can get 5 interested friends together no problem; we saw you screaming your lungs out after the qualifying game). Get group discounts for airfare and tickets to the games.
Follow these tactics and Bam! you got yourself a Honduran at the world cup. By the way, if we can figure out a way to get a Honduran to the World Cup, as an American, you have no excuse not to go.
Written By: Anna Starostinetskaya
Head Writer/Editor-in-Chief of Off Track Planet. Pescatarians are not just cheating vegetarians; we're our own breed and the extra protein makes us more feisty! Rawr
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