(Infocom) — Even though the Super Bowl will probably never be played here, the truth of the matter is that American football — perhaps the most practiced and loved of all sports in the United States — is gaining ground in Costa Rica, with the incorporation of the Costa Rican American Football Association (ACFA).

Benjamin Vega, an American football coach, said this association has been supporting the practice of this sport in Costa Rica with the future goal of creating a national federation. “I played in schools in the United States, and because I’m so interested in the sport, I have continued to practice it here in Costa Rica,” Vega said.

Several high schools have signed up to play a national championship, among them Country Day, Kamuk, Light House, San Paul and Saint Clare, which will begin competing next year in what would be the first official competition of its kind in the history of Costa Rica. The sport is played at the youth, high school, university and adult.

Are You Listo for Some Football?
Receiver Manrique Caravaca is playing the type of football where he can finally use his hands: American football.
Photo:  Nick Coté | Tico Times

Organizers hope that once the American football league is put together, 16 university teams will also compete using soccer fields, as they have similar dimensions as typical U.S. football pitches.

In order to promote the practice of American football here, ACFA will offer clinics with former players and coaches from the United States, who will help promote the sport in the youth leagues. Another possibility that is being explored is to bring National Football League (NFL) teams here for exhibition games.

“The idea is to promote the game as much as possible in the country. Right now we are only working with private schools because of the cost of uniforms and implements needed, but we can use soccer fields because that’s needed is to mark them accordingly,” Vega said. “This is the first time that American football is being promoted in this way, and so we will create a referee commission and a federation. There are people from all over the country interested in helping us.”

Meanwhile, Reyhan Fraile, president of ACFA, said that once the federation is established, the goal is to create an adult league depending on the number of teams expressing interest in participating.

“The tournament is scheduled for the second Saturday of January, with seven high schools confirmed,” Fraile said. “There is a process we have started with ICODER (the Costa Rican Sports Institute) to establish a federation. Right now there’s much expectation here, and within five years we’d like to have a national stadium.”

Regarding perceptions about this sport in Costa Rica, Fraile said that American football “is a very complete sport, because it is physical, mental and strategic because of everything that entails, like chess on turf.”

Click to watch Edwin Baptiste bend the laws of physics - this catch is certainly the best of 2008 so far, and probably has a spot in the top ten best football catches EVER.

In the meantime, professional American football is luckily broadcast here in Costa Rica - but sometimes the game I most desire seeing is broadcast only in Spanish.  Personally I can think of few greater motivators for becoming fluent in Spanish ... even for the most stubborn. 

"Honey I have to watch football games today, it's my Spanish lesson!" -Joe Stubborn ;o)

The football season is short so a viewing 'cheat-sheet' may come in handy for those of us a little behind the curve of Spanish terms.  The following football viewer's guide put together by author Christopher Howard as published in A.M. Costa Rica should come in handy for those like myself:

¡Pura Super Tazón para da Bears!