shoeless indian boys win tournament

Sorry Nike, Young Indian Basketball Team Sweeps Tournament without Shoes

A group of Trique Indian boys put a serious dent in the marketability of sports apparel this week after winning a series of basketball games sans any footwear. Popular culture and sports brands like Nike have always insisted that owning the best new equipment will give you a competitive edge however it seems that ability alone won over in this instance.

The group of young boys, who live in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, were participating in an international basketball tournament, which is an annual nationwide tradition, against a slew of very talented teams. The teams coach, Ernesto Merino, even stated that many of the teams looked down on the boys and had coined the teasing nickname “barefoot mice from Mexico. However, the boys seemed to embrace their underdog status and despite the bullying took the court with a fierce display of agility and pure sportsmanship.

Merino added that all players are furnished shoes upon joining a league sanctioned team but that many of the boys had grown up in extreme poverty and learned to play sports without all the equipment most would deem necessary. This upbringing in turn led many of the boys to feel more comfortable barefoot.

On The Web:

Shoeless Indian boys: No Nikes needed to win basketball tournament
http://www.examiner.com/article/shoeless-indian-boys-barefoot-trique-boys-score-big-basketball-tournament