Genuine Cup brings soccer to neuro-diverse communities

HOUSTON – Fidel Mar Armenta was nervous this week while representing Mexico’s Special Olympics soccer team against Italy at Rice University, a short drive from where seven FIFA World Cup matches were held this summer. 

The 29-year-old goalkeeper from Tijuana, Mexico, had never stopped a penalty until he found himself between sticks earlier this week against Italy’s entry in the Genuine Cup. With players from other national teams looking on, Armenta guessed correctly to deny Italy a goal. 

“Porterazo!” teammates and strangers screamed, using the Spanish word that essentially means big time goalie. 

Teammates and fans celebrated with Armenta after the save, making him feel as though he were Mexican national team icon Guillermo Ochoa. 

“The people from the other countries were celebrating and telling me, ‘Porterazo!’” Armenta says. “But it surprised me that they admired the way I play.”

53 countries competing in Genuine Cup

Armenta is one of more than 1,000 players with intellectual disabilities or autism competing this week at Rice in the Genuine Cup, which has a field of 54 teams from 53 countries. The Genuine Cup is the brainchild of billionaire Ignacio “Nacho” Torras and Lorna Ortiz. Torras, a native of Spain, built Houston-based Tricon Energy. Ortiz founded GeoKiln Energy Innovation. 

Torras and his wife Isabel have two godsons on the Autism spectrum, and those godsons were major inspirations for the Genuine Cup.

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“It’s two purposes combined,” Nacho Torras says of the Genuine Cup. “The first one, the easy one, is we love soccer. We’ve always been passionate about it. We just won the World Cup. The second is, which is also a big, big passion for us, is to use the platform of soccer to elevate the visibility for the neuro-diverse community, the IDD community.”

Mexico’s 14-man roster at the Genuine Cup has a strong base from Baja California with eight members from Tijuana. Five players are from Monterrey, and one is from Mexico City.

‘A great opportunity’

“First of all, it’s a great opportunity for them,” Mexico coach Jesus Nazareth Diaz said. “They’re happy.  This is a way to show them they can be like every other person. The sport is very, very important to them and brings them joy.

“We are very grateful infinitely because to see the guys and see how happy they are participating, they don’t care if they win or lose. They’re here to have fun. Sure, they work hard, but they’re happy.”

The 54 teams traveled to Houston from all over the world. Their flights and housing are covered by the Genuine Cup with Nacho and Isabel Torras funding most of the tournament. Nacho Torras is quick to point out that many sponsors have helped.

The Torras Family Foundation, Grundfos Foundation, Texas Children’s, HEB and Rice University are title sponsors for the Cup. The Damb Foundation, Cru Logistics, Wells Fargo, Vinson & Elkins and Tricon are among the diamond sponsors. Dozens of major Houston and national companies are premium sponsors.

“If they hadn’t paid all the expenses, we couldn’t have come because most of the players are from lower-income families,” Costa Rica coach Jose Manuel said. “We’re grateful that the organization invited us and paid for our travel and housing.”

Costa Rica’s roster is composed of players with down syndrome. They are Costa Rica’s first national team of players with down syndrome. With rare exceptions, they’ve trained every Tuesday and Thursday for a year to prepare for the Genuine Cup.

Although Los Ticos have yet to win a game at the Genuine Cup, they’ve had a blast on and off the pitch this week.

‘A true joy’

“For them, this is the utmost experience,” Jose Manuel said. “It’s a true joy. We haven’t won a game. But yesterday we scored two goals, and it set off the biggest fiesta as though we had won the championship. Imagine what that meant to them.”

When the teams haven’t been playing, their schedules have been filled with special events during the day. On the eve of the finale, the Harlem Globetrotters will perform for the Genuine Cup participants Friday night at Tudor Fieldhouse. 

Torras would love to fill Rice Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the finals from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. 

“We need to make sure that we flood that stadium so that these players really feel honored by having a full stadium of people happy to … celebrate soccer but also inclusion,” Torras said. “Bring your family. Bring your friends.”