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It’s the third time Ramon Zugazaga, president of Elko Indar, will take his young players to the Basque Country, to participate in the prestigious Donosti Cup. This year, 42 youngsters, aged 11-18, will compete against other soccer clubs from all over the world, in three different levels. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to win but I’m pretty sure they will all do a good job,” Zugazaga told EuskalKultura.com. Elko is a city in Nevada with a long Basque tradition. Their Basque Festival, the biggest one in the state, will be next week, coinciding with the soccer team's visit to the Basque Country.

Elko, NV. Between July 1^st and 12^th, 42 kids from Elko will travel to the Basque Country to take part at the 24 Donosti Cup. All of them are players on the Elko Indar (Elko Strength, in Euskara), a women’s soccer club from Nevada whose president is Gernika-native Ramon Zugazaga, former owner of the Biltoki Restaurant. Some parents will join the crew to visit Euskadi for their first time. “Everybody’s very excited,” said Ramon Zugazaga. In fact, most of the participants started taking Euskara classes a couple of months ago, to be able to enjoy their trip better. All in all, 95 Elkoans will travel to the Basque Country.

The tournament will start on the 6^th and it will run through the 11^th. All the teams will play a minimum of three games and, after that, the qualifying round will begin−if you lose, you’re out. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to win but I’m pretty sure they will all do a good job, especially the 15-16 year old team. They’re very strong,” said Zugazaga. It is a proven fact that that team is in good shape−they’ve won tournaments all over the country: “Utah, Idaho, Oregon, California...,” he says.

The group will stay at the Olarain University Residence but is planning to enjoy Basque food in “as many restaurants as possible.” Also, in as many towns as possible. So far, the first planned trip will be to Gernika, on the 4^th. After the tournament, and after the rest of the crew goes back home, Ramon will stay in his hometown, with his family, for two more weeks.

Elko Cup

It is very early to talk about Elko Cup, a similar international soccer tournament in Elko, Nevada. But Zugazaga is mulling it over: “I’ve been thinking on organizing something similar in Elko for some years now, even though I know it’s very complicated.” Nevertheless, he has already talked to the Nevada Youth Soccer Association. “Now we’re just learning how these tournaments are organized. Nothing has been decided yet, but it would be something nice to do.”