When they asked the German theologian Dorothee SölleHow would you explain to a child what happiness is? He responded that he would not explain it to them. “I would just throw him a ball to play.”
It is likely that the brothers Bernardo y Roberto Huerta Gil have not had contact with the German poet, but her reasons 62 years ago for founding the Salazar Tigers, the oldest amateur soccer club in Saltillo that is still active; They weren’t very different.
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Although llanero football flourished in Saltillo in the 1950s in different neighborhoods and educational institutions, it was the team of the streets. Columbus and Salazar the one who, without imagining it, was born to leave an indelible mark.
In August 1963, the Tigres de Salazar Soccer Club was founded, already as a sports institution with a board of directors and members.
In those years there were teams in the neighborhood of Shrine of Guadalupe, with its Santos and Botafogo, as well as the Necaxa, which represented the Light and Power Company; Besides Narro Vultures and the eleventh of Saltillo Technology; all with their peculiarities.
OF THE BENEVOLENT ORIGIN
Regarding the one that was formed by residents of the streets surrounding the Alameda de Saltillo, it is known that at the beginning it was called “Colón Salazar”, And to expand the squad, players arrived from different parts of Saltillo. This is what happened with Bernardo Huertaone of the club’s first players and its first captain and Juan Destefano.
Since they did not have a meeting place, they initially used the premises of a neighbor whose last name was known to be Villarreal. This character’s altruism was based on his interest in giving impulsive childhood a goal in which to channel her energy for good.
The club’s reason for existence was to see children happy and succeeding, in addition to school, in a sporting activity. They wanted to strengthen the ties of friendship and family unity.
STRATEGICALLY LOCATED
To a large extent, the birth and development of Salazar Tigers It was a natural effect of the fact that the now-disappeared one was a few blocks away. Saltillo Stadium, which in 1962 celebrated 25 years of hosting events and which had only five years left to live, as it became the primary school Annexed to the State Normal.
You only need one ball to be happy, and it is accompanied by using it with friends, what could be better.
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In that multi-purpose arena, professional baseball and amateur soccer were played as well as student American football, and its old lamps illuminated the night games of the Club 45 of the Central Baseball League and midweek games Saltillo Municipal Soccer League.
The seed of Salazar Tigers It was a team called alone Salazarwhich had such a strong rivalry with the Necaxa, which even degenerated into violence; this in mid-1961.
After a break of months, the team returned to activity at the end of 1962, with stronger spirits and with the name that everyone knows today: Tigres de Salazar Club, after a brief dispute since they tried to call him Colón Salazar, because he had players from both streets, but since they could not agree, the Huerta brothers settled the debate.
Under the presidency of Juan Destefano and led in the field by the brothers Bernardo y Roberto Huerta, the team was adding good years, with tough games and fights for the title against solid rivals. Memorable was the final of the 1964 Cup Tournament against the representative of Saltillo Industrial Groupwhich they lost on penalties.
HE IS ALWAYS A TIGER
From the 60s of the last century to date, several generations have passed through the club, one of the most deeply rooted in Saltillo and in “the one that everyone wants to play”, as he once said Bernardo Huerta, who died in Monterrey on January 27, 2020, at age 88.
Although today most of the players are from outside the central neighborhood, the love for colors is the same.
For the 50th anniversary, the group’s leaders organized a mass in the parish of San José, located on Obregón Street, a lightning tournament was held and a plaque was placed in the house located at 743 Salazar Street, and a A couple of years ago, in November 2022, with a hexagonal tournament, its six decades of history were celebrated.
At 743 Salazar Street there is a plaque commemorating the team.
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In a publication of Facebooknot as many as such a renowned team should have, Juan Antonio Macías Mendoza extended thanks for the publication of Pepe Lopez Aldapewho with the photo of a tiger remembered the Tigres Salazar, “one of the oldest amateur teams in Saltillo, if not the oldest.”
In the same grateful response, Juan Antonio Macias mention the She beeped as the team that could rival those of Salazar and affirms that both he and his mother Tere are part of that institution.
Franz Lopez is another proud member of the organization, which is currently still active and Jose Martinez He pointed out that when he lived his time as a player with the Salazar Tigers, They always won.
OF COURSE THEY LOST
Jose Gaona, In recognition of the quality of the team, he recalled how back in 1978, with his team, the Dragonsthey were able to defeat the Tigers in it La Penquita Field, and they took away their undefeated record.
The precision in the date and even in the uniforms they wore, Tigers with his “black and blue striped uniform” and the dragons “red with white stripes”was the express response to the question of Juan Antonio Macias, who celebrated the memory.
Jesus Eduardo Garcia Lucio He joined those who, taking the publication as a pretext, remembered his time as an amateur player and spoke of “his Falcons”with whom he played in the fields of “The Little Machine” and with which he always won.
OF A BITTER MEMORY
In September 2015, when a veterans’ match was being played between the Salazar Tigers y Sporty Purcell, José Luis Ponce Quiroz, who was known as Ponce, died on the soccer fields of the Los Angeles neighborhood.
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It was barely 10 minutes into the first half when Ponce left the field without telling the referee and went to his team’s bench. (Purcell Sports) because he couldn’t stand the strong pain in his chest and slowly fainted.
The streets where Tigres de Salazar was born in the sixties of the last century.
They were players of the Tigersseveral of them elements of the State Policewho tried to revive him and requested the presence of an ambulance, but they could do nothing for the 63-year-old player, who was accompanied by his daughter on the field.
THEY ARE OTHER TIMES
Los 110 thousand inhabitants of Saltillo when were these born Tigersand the fact that not all of Coahuila had the million inhabitants that the city has today, speak to us of a very different time.
However, from what the now veteran players say and what the new ones share, the basis of everything is the love for the game.
Whether on a dirt or grass field, with soccer shoes from recognized brands or not, leaving aside whether the uniform was shiny; What drove these players is what drives everyone, no matter if it was 100 years ago, 60, last year or next Sunday; It’s the joy of running for the ball.
Playing in rhyme, connecting between the lines, teaming up and smiling when looking for the ball, finding the joy that the German theologian says that being thrown a ball awakens in a child, recovering childhood among stones and dirt, that This is what makes jumping onto the field with a llanero team an unrepeatable experience.
2024-04-22 02:12:52