By Maria Mercedes Tenti.Special for THE LIBERAL.The present work analyzes the origins of soccer in Santiago del Estero, in the first decades of the 20th century, a sport that, although it came from the English and the railway, was through intellectuals they reflected in its pages the matches and tournaments that grabbed the attention of the public.Catholic newspapers were also interested in the new sport that attracted young people and offered them a healthy recreation, away from drinking and gambling.The first clubs emerged, most of them run by intellectuals, immigrants and merchants, from middle sectors, who were interested in this new social-sports phenomenon that brought together fans and numerous spectators;there was also the condition of directors-partners-players.The passion for soccer began to spread in paddocks and improvised fields and championships were soon organized among the clubs in formation that had contributing members and, in some cases, their own field.There was no lack of conflicts between clubs, institutions and leaders and the bid between the fans every time a match or tournament was played.As the attending public increased and the clubs multiplied, the tournaments became more complex and the panorama expanded towards the different neighborhoods of the city.Soccer gradually became a passion for the masses in which they began to get involved, either as players of different ages - youth, adults and veterans -, as spectators-fans, journalists or as a member of the management committees, belongings that gave them visibility and a certain prestige in the neighbourhood.The football show was attracting the male audience and bringing together the most diverse social sectors to end up consolidating itself as the most convening mass show.Currently, soccer is one of the biggest issues of this time since it not only implies a sport and entertainment for the masses, but it is also a great economic factor that moves millions of dollars with tournaments, advertising and the sale of players.However, in the eyes of the fans it is a true crowd passion, as it is often called.The attraction to soccer was studied by sociologists and anthropologists such as Elias and Dunning (1988), Archetti (2002) from Santiago, who was a pioneer in sports studies in Argentina, and Alabarces (2004), among others.In the field of historiography, Frydenberg (2011) investigates the origins and professionalization of soccer in Buenos Aires.In reality, most of the studies in Argentina focused on Buenos Aires, except for the works by Roldán (2015) for Rosario, Reyna (2011) for Córdoba, Guzmán (2019), for the case of the Central Córdoba club in Santiago del Estero, Castillo (2018) and Tillán (nd) for Fernandez clubs, among others.For Rinke (2007), explanations about the origins of soccer culture are due to several factors: its simplicity, since it can be played anywhere;no expensive equipment needed;the rules of the game are simple;its emphasis on the body responds to ideals of masculinity;the enthusiasm that it provokes in the mass of the fans.Its character of ritual: through the weekly repetitions of matches and trips to the stadium, the annual rhythm of the tournaments, the songs and the standardized clothing of the fans, forms of collective behavior are exercised that have a great power of fascination (p. 85).The arrival of soccer in Santiago del Estero"Football has improved habits and customs: little by little the countryman is withdrawing from the tavern and surrounding the field, it is the mountain, as a piece of beneficial land", thus begins the page dedicated to sports in the supplement of the 25th anniversary of EL LIBERAL, from 1923, an epigraph that shows what was the vision that intellectuals, journalists and the ruling elites had about football and its installation in the province.Until the arrival of football in schools, the participation of schoolchildren in parades and official acts, at the initiative of director Pizzurno (Bertoni: 2001, 89) in Buenos Aires, was soon replicated in Santiago del Estero.They were organized in the so-called children's battalions and marched rhythmically to the enthusiasm of the people.The objective was to promote the feeling of nationality among the population.Imbued by the positivist ideas in vogue and with latent conflicts against Chile -between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th- they encouraged the militarization of young people, for this reason, in the curriculum of the National College and the attached Graduate School the gymnastics subject was replaced by gymnastic and military exercises to which shooting was added (Gargaro and Bruchmann: 1944).Already in the 20th century, the practice of soccer began to be encouraged as an element of distraction and to keep men away from 'inappropriate behavior'.Soccer, introduced in La Banda by English employees when the railway arrived, had already been adopted, previously, for school practices.Around 1899, Dr. José Santillán, director of the School for Boys, asked normal teachers in Buenos Aires for a Manual of Athletic Games, which had the elementary rules of soccer for its application in teaching (EL LIBERAL: 1948, p. 367 ).Another professor, Ramón Carrillo, father of the first Minister of Health of the Nation, was concerned with learning the rules of the game from those crazy Englishmen, as the press referred to them, and became the first soccer referee from Santiago.Something similar happened in religious institutions;At first, impregnated with nationalism, they invited children and young people to join the angelic militias, but later they saw soccer as an interesting sport to attract children and adolescents to recreational and religious practices.The associations of Santo Domingo, in particular, the Apostleship of Prayer, promoted the creation of a football center for children, as announced by Buena Noticia, a Dominican newspaper that was distributed in Tucumán and Santiago del Estero, recommending that parents and mothers to send their children to the center…with the aim of instilling in them healthy morals (…) It is a completely plausible idea given the environment in which we live, which is becoming more corrosive every day, especially for youth.It is necessary to divert children from evil, in every way, and attract them to good in order to form healthy generations and balanced consciences… (BN 06/15/08) he affirmed inviting the inauguration in Tucumán.Although it is not known with certainty if something similar took place in Santiago, it is possible that it was so because both convents worked together.Football, brought from England, was initially activated by intellectuals and members of the provincial elite who looked with expectation at the attention it aroused among young people and the possibility of keeping them away, through this sport, from 'vagrancy' and bad habits that they acquired, especially, by wandering the streets, playing balero, balls, spinning top or pilladita.The first fields were demarcated with two parallel lines, approximately a hundred meters apart, true paddocks, with arches marked by bricks or two sticks, without fans, without uniforms: eleven players from one side against eleven rivals.The roles of each player were not even defined, they all kicked and advanced and, sometimes, also the goalkeeper.According to EL LIBERAL of the fiftieth anniversary, the rivalry between two teachers, Carmen Guzmán and José Garramuño led them to organize matches between students, competitions that generated more and more players and fans, as was seen in the matches between Atlético Santiagueño and the students of the Application School, the first with a field in the Newbery school gym, in Aguirre Park, and the second in La Banda.This is how the first match was organized, on September 3, 1905, according to the newspaper, due to the challenge of the students of the National College, belonging to the Santiagueño Athletic Club, to those of the Application School.The game was held in the exercise square, already with regulation wooden goals, and the prize was an artistic inkwell donated by the technical director of the school team, Dr. Felipe Giménez.After two games tied, the match ended with the championship of the bandeño team, by one to zero.“We applaud the initiative.The exercises and distractions of this nature are highly beneficial for the development, hygiene and physical strength of young people…”, sanctioned EL LIBERAL (1948, p.368).Sport and hygienism coincided in the deeply rooted conception of the influence of sport to improve the mind, physical health and customs, ratifying the Latin phrase, mens sana in corpore sana.Immediately the bandeños began to be required in other places and so they went to play in Ceres, in the province of Santa Fe, incorporating players from the College as reinforcement.Since at that time there were no specialized journalists, it was generally the intellectuals-organizers who acted ascommenters.The director of EL LIBERAL, Juan Figueroa, wrote an editorial about the match with the Ceresinos, which ended with the victory of the locals.Only in 1907 was the first football tournament organized by the mayor of Santiago, Genaro Martínez Pita, in which the already named Atlético Santiago and the Gobernador Santillán, Cabral, La Banda, Luchador and General Paz clubs participated, governed by the municipal regulations made to effect.Atlético Santiago became champion and the honor party and delivery of the municipal cup took place in the Cervantes theater where the mayor presented the trophy after a "speech of Roman and Greek ancestry", according to the chronicler (EL, 1948, p.370).The municipal cup continued to be played until 1915, when the Santiagueña Foot-Ball Association, directed by Dr. Marcos Figueroa, took the initiative to organize annual championships.Associationism in Santiago soccerThe soccer clubs in Santiago del Estero, as in Argentina, were born under an associationist vocation.The associationist tradition was an ancient common practice, which materialized in Argentina especially towards the end of the 19th century, as an initiative of various social sectors.The immigrants, shortly after arriving in the country, organized mutual aid societies;the guilds united in defense of the rights of the workers;religious associations, concerned with different issues of interference by the Church (worship, charity, brotherhoods, etc.), generally brought together men and women separately;popular libraries, to promote reading, etc.They were later joined by social and sports clubs, interested in practicing sports, recreation and free time.These clubs were formed in the province at the initiative of different groups: first intellectuals and middle sectors -particularly high school students and teachers- and then popular urban sectors.He agrees with Frydenberg that it was more about clubs-teams, made up of players-management partners.In general, the club was formed from the existence of a team (2011, p. 45-49), to later open up to the community, especially due to the possibility of having a certain number of members.In 1915 the Liga Santiagueña de Fútbol was organized, under the presidency of Dr. Marcos Figueroa, with the purpose of uniting the clubs of Santiago and La Banda to organize tournaments between them.Two years later, the League joined the Argentine Football Association and changed its name to Liga Santiagueña, with the purpose of acquiring a national dimension;in 1921 the Association of Referees was created.Both creations show an early vocation for organizing this sport that expanded to all social sectors and attracted the attention of locals and strangers, in particular men who identified with the club in their neighborhood that allowed them to enjoy leisure and sociability that the parties created, in addition to generating identities and belongings.The creation of numerous clubs in the first decades of the 20th century in the province shows the spread of sport and the diversification of its institutions, linked to educational establishments and British railways, at first, and to popular neighborhoods as they multiplied. .A dispute over the result of the match between Estudiantes and Santiago, in September 1918, produced a division between the clubs associated with the Liga Santiagueña de Futbol and led to the creation of the Liga Cultural, under the presidency of Ing. Hugo Palmeyro, with the adhesion of the Mitre, Estudiantes, Alumni and Principiantes Unidos clubs (EL: 1948, p. 371).The bid between the two institutions was a constant and, according to EL LIBERAL, it acted as a catalyst for the rise of Santiago soccer, since new clubs began to be created that adhered to one or another league.Both disputed the supremacy organizing tournaments with teams from other cities such as Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Tucumán and Salta.For the first time, the big Buenos Aires clubs arrived in the province, attracting the local public who wanted to see the established players up close: the first to arrive was Racing, brought by the Cultural League, and then Independiente, River Plate, Boca Juniors, San Lorenzo, Platense and Chacarita.In 1927 the merger of the two institutions, the Santiagueña League and the Cultural League, took place, a union that gave great impetus to local football.There were other clubs that do not appear in these tables -it is unknown if they were associated with either of the two institutions- but that are among the first Santiago soccer clubs, such as Club Sportivo Fernández (1917) and Atlético Independiente (2019) de Fernández, Club Atlético Talleres (1919) de Frías and Club Atlético Icaño (1905), all with their own field.In Añatuya, before the 1930s, it had four clubs: Talleres Central Norte (1918), Jorge Newbery, Club Unión, Club Añatuya, plus the Añatuya Sunday School (of the Clergy).According to this survey, 27 organized clubs could be identified in the province in 1923, almost all of them with their own field, two with stands and with an interesting number of associates who participated in the assemblies, paid dues and attended the matches, without counting the rest. of the spectators.The oldest entity that survives in the city of Santiago del Estero is Club Atlético Mitre, which was formed without ties to the railway stations.The club was founded on April 2, 1907 by Francisco Igounet.The origins for its creation arose from a friendly match between the teams called Mendoza and Miter streets.The first led by Dr. José Castiglione and the second by Dr. Humberto Palumbo.The latter won and in homage to General Miter (since they met in a house on that street) it was given the name of Club Atlético Miter.Club Atlético Santiago disappeared due to the merger with the Unión club, Miter became the oldest entity.The colors chosen were yellow and black, with vertical stripes, in homage to Peñarol de Montevideo.The players, as in all teams, were amateurs.Soon they began to gather the entire neighborhood.Consecration of the people of Santiago or the 'first santiagueñazo'On October 12, 1928, while Hipólito Yrigoyen assumed his second presidency, the 'hard hair', as the Buenos Aires newspapers discriminately called the players from Santiago, won the President of the Nation trophy on the River Plate field.Oubiña (1948), cites parts of the book by Birba and Torrado, which refer to Santiago's participation in the championship: ... and it seemed that afternoon at the Stadium of the River Plate club, as if those clear-cut Argentines, coming from the tragic or heroic legends of the jungles of Santiago, legends that had their most authoritative singer in Ricardo Rojas, would have accomplished the magnificent feat that all the men of the nervous and vibrant city expected of them.And there were eleven strong boys, bronze or oak, inspired by the country itself, who in an extraordinary effort, had been awarded in a brave and chivalrous fight, the title of Argentine football champions... after defeating Paraná three to one , being the scorer Ramón (Nello) Luna , author of the three goals, and he continued: Artists of agility, dexterity and speed, wonderful players of quick passes and accurate heading action, they conquered for the first time in the history of the contest, the President of the Nation trophy, which cannot be found, by the way, in the possession of more intelligent and more Argentine athletes (p. 672).The chronicler describes the participation of the boys from Santiago almost like an epic, in which the legendary, the traditions and the country itself intersect.It was the president of the Santiago League, Dr. José FL Castiglione who managed the concentration of those selected in the 18th Infantry Regiment.Players used to training in their free time, since it was amateur football, for a week they concentrated as professionals.Starting at 7:30, training began with gymnastics and then just breakfast and a shower to go to work or home.They returned at noon, had lunch together and after the siesta from Santiago, more gymnastics and soccer practice.At nine o'clock at night they slept in the regiment.The team of 11 players was made up of: José Bautista “Bendo” Trejo (Unión);Teófilo Juárez (Córdoba Central), Ángel Medina (Miter);Raúl Alonso (Students), Dalmacio “Chile” Ruiz (Santiago), Cornelio Caro (Santiago);Nazareno “Nazha” Luna (Mitre), Luis “Pibe” Díaz (Unión), Ramón “Nello” Luna (Miter), José “Joshela” Díaz (Mitre) (Captain) and Segundo Nepomuceno “Ita” Luna (Mitre).Alberto Helman (Students) and Juan Luna (Miter) also played one game each.Of these, "Ita" Luna joined the Argentine soccer team at the Antwerp Olympic Games in 1930 (Gallego: 2016).For the city press, the elimination of Buenos Aires by the "hard-haired" northerners was an affront.Última Hora published: …For the first time the Argentine championship will end up in the hands of an interior league.And for the first time, this is an irony of fate.The football that is practiced in the clubs affiliated to the AAAF is clearly superior to that of the interior.In quantity, in technique, in mischief.The players here are far above those.Not even the people from Rosario, who were the most serious opponents of the people from Buenos Aires, would have a chance against a conscientiously constituted cadre.The football of the interior still has a lot to learn to be able to impose itself on a team from the Capital or Province.The leaders can be satisfied with their achievement.On Saturday they raised 17,000 pesos.They saved the expenses of the Argentine championship.And the prestige of local football?Bah! ... what is that for?With money, even if your conscience is dirty, you spend your life better.And to think that there are so many good people behind iron bars!The newspaper affirmed with a disqualifying criticism, but that it could not hide the truth of the superiority of the soccer players from Santiago.In any case, the prize money was an incentive for the amateur players and for the Liga Santiagueña that had supported the team in its representation of the province.There were also the Buenos Aires editors who greeted the provincial victory.Argentina published: …The triumph of chacarero football that was not taken into account in previous years, but has now been achieved through its magnificent qualities, imposing itself on the consideration of all our athletes.Bravísimo santiagueñitos from the mistol and carob bar!May the streak continue and hopefully the final victory will be yours...Despite the accolades, it made a difference.After the cup was in the hands of the people from Buenos Aires, the 'payucas', as the newspaper Última Hora contemptuously called the team from Santiago, treasured it in their possession.Provincial authorities, sports associations and the public went to wait for the champions at the railway station.They marched to the premises of the Cultural League, on Rivadavia street, and then to the Miter stadium, home of the Lunas.To end the celebrations, there was a theatrical performance and a popular festival.The latest in PoliticsThe latest in economics© EL LIBERAL SA (see mobile version) Editorial Director: Lic. Gustavo Eduardo Ick Santiago del Estero / Argentine Republic