Speaker 1: Okay, ten o'clock and this is a cool discussion that
Speaker 1: we're going to have here. It is time to find
Speaker 1: out about what's going on with the Genuine Cup. And
Speaker 1: for those that don't know about it, this is where
Speaker 1: the education comes in and we get to catch up
Speaker 1: with anataurus, we find out what is going on about it. Anna,
Speaker 1: thanks for dropping by the morning show.
Speaker 2: Hi, how are you doing all right?
Speaker 1: Uh? What I wanted to do was give the full
Speaker 1: education about Genuine Cup because when word came out that
Speaker 1: a team in our footprint, specifically United, was going to
Speaker 1: be a part of this, we were like, oh, let's
Speaker 1: find out about what's going on with Genuine Cups. So, yes,
Speaker 1: for those that don't know, what is the Genuine Cup,
Speaker 1: and we did mention that it's going to be at
Speaker 1: the end of this month. We can officially say that
Speaker 1: it's the end of this month. I know, so we
Speaker 1: can get into that too. But for those that don't know,
Speaker 1: break down the Genuine Cup and what it is and
Speaker 1: what it means to the soccer playing community.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the Genuine Cup is, you know, a soccer
Speaker 2: tournament that we have in Houston for athletes with intellectual
Speaker 2: and developmental disabilities, so more popularly popularly known as or
Speaker 2: Most of the people that we see have autism or
Speaker 2: down syndrome and many more. But it'll be hosted in
Speaker 2: Houston for the second time. So last year we had
Speaker 2: twelve teams and then this year we have forty teams
Speaker 2: and we're using this platform, you know, as sports is
Speaker 2: the universal language soccer obviously, our football is a huge,
Speaker 2: huge sport, and you know, with the World Cup coming
Speaker 2: to the US, we really thought this was a really
Speaker 2: good platform and especially time to host this event. And yeah,
Speaker 2: last year was our first year, was very successful. This
Speaker 2: year we're having forty teams from twenty three countries, so
Speaker 2: it's a huge huge jump, Atlanta United being one of them,
Speaker 2: and I see some of the comments. It'll be at
Speaker 2: Rice University. All of the games will be hosted there.
Speaker 2: They are completely free to join and to come. Also
Speaker 2: there's volunteer opportunities. But we're really just using this platform
Speaker 2: to really you know, shine a light on these people
Speaker 2: and make sure that people see that you know, they
Speaker 2: are very talented and especially with playing soccer. That's something
Speaker 2: we saw last year. They're better than I am, that's
Speaker 2: for sure.
Speaker 1: So when did the idea come up in the first place.
Speaker 1: What was the genesis of this idea and how did
Speaker 1: it come to pass?
Speaker 2: Yes, so my family in Houston has an ice cream
Speaker 2: shop that we employed people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Speaker 2: It's an uptown park. It's called Rocumbalesque. And with this
Speaker 2: just being super involved within the community. My parents are
Speaker 2: from Barcelona, from Mexico, so huge soccer fans and just
Speaker 2: you know, it's in our blood and just with the
Speaker 2: genuine I mean sorry, with the World Cup coming, you know,
Speaker 2: it was kind of an idea of like how can
Speaker 2: we really you know, use sports as a universal language.
Speaker 2: So last year the idea started in like April, like
Speaker 2: we started having the conversation about it. So we planned
Speaker 2: the you know, the tournament for twelve teams in three
Speaker 2: months and it was it was a learning but it
Speaker 2: was very fun. So that's kind of how the conversation started.
Speaker 2: We had met some people all of the La Liga,
Speaker 2: you know, the Spanish league, all forty seven teams have
Speaker 2: what we call a genuine team, and so we through
Speaker 2: like conversations and meeting people over there. They helped us,
Speaker 2: you know, with coming up with something for Houston and
Speaker 2: helped us, you know, kind of execute the actual tournament
Speaker 2: and learning from them and their rules of the game
Speaker 2: and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I was going to ask about all of the infrastructure
Speaker 1: learning and everything like that, because you're going from twelve
Speaker 1: teams to more than triple that. Yes, logistically, how many
Speaker 1: how many jobs do you have currently in trying to
Speaker 1: make sure that forty teams make their way to Houston.
Speaker 2: And so I am personally the like team person, so
Speaker 2: every I'm the point of contact for most of the
Speaker 2: teams I've had. I have people under me that also
Speaker 2: help me out with this that I could not do
Speaker 2: this alone. That'd be a lot of work. And we
Speaker 2: work with like a travel agency that so this tournament
Speaker 2: is completely free for all of the people that are
Speaker 2: coming through sponsors and donations. So we pay for all
Speaker 2: of the flights, We pay for all of the activities,
Speaker 2: but we work with a travel agency that books all
Speaker 2: of these flights and then with the actual tournament itself,
Speaker 2: with the actual soccer of everything, we have an agency
Speaker 2: that does it for us. They are called AGF and
Speaker 2: they are the ones that run the La Ligas like
Speaker 2: tournaments for the genuine teams. They just know the rules,
Speaker 2: and they they you know, they do tournaments for forty
Speaker 2: seven teams, so they understand how to do forty teams,
Speaker 2: so they help us out with actual you know, tournament.
Speaker 2: But we we get referees from Houston that volunteer with
Speaker 2: their time, so we have them come, but they that
Speaker 2: I'm not going to take the credit. The Spain team
Speaker 2: does that. The Spanish Spanish agency does the actual logistics
Speaker 2: of the tournament.
Speaker 1: What was the biggest lesson that you and everybody there
Speaker 1: a genuine cuple learned last year to prepare you for
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 2: For me personally, not every like I'm noticing every little
Speaker 2: mistake that happens, not everyone else notices it. One big
Speaker 2: learning also was maybe it sounds cheesy, is you are
Speaker 2: making a very big impact even with the stress, Like
Speaker 2: it is like it feels really good to know that
Speaker 2: this is something that is actually making a change. And
Speaker 2: seeing the sportsmanship that these players have is incredible, like
Speaker 2: actual like MLS and MLB and every other sports should
Speaker 2: learn from their sportsmanship. Because a team was losing five zero,
Speaker 2: they scored one goal and it was like they just
Speaker 2: won the World Cup and they just got so the
Speaker 2: energy was great. So one of the biggest learnings was
Speaker 2: that and that there are there to have fun and
Speaker 2: to enjoy themselves and to not put so much shress
Speaker 2: on myself. But they are truly there to learn. They
Speaker 2: loved we took them to NASA last year. We're else
Speaker 2: seeing them to NASA this year. They loved NASA so
Speaker 2: much and so we're repeating that. But the learning was
Speaker 2: just kind of for me to like, relax. They are
Speaker 2: there to have fun and that's just the lay of
Speaker 2: the land. So yeah, and to work as a team.
Speaker 1: Anatoria's Genuine Cup twenty twenty five coming at the end
Speaker 1: of the month in Houston, Texas at University. You go
Speaker 1: from twelve to forty. I mean that that's a big
Speaker 1: jump where people banging on your door sitting are going, hey,
Speaker 1: we want to be a part of this. What about
Speaker 1: the field expansion here? How did it come to that
Speaker 1: big est number?
Speaker 2: So we wanted we knew we wanted to raise the
Speaker 2: number from twelve to thirty two. That was our original
Speaker 2: goal for the start of the for like what we
Speaker 2: wanted for this year. And at first it was kind
Speaker 2: of hard actually to get teams to talk to us
Speaker 2: like yes and no, it's kind of depended just because
Speaker 2: you know, last year was twelve teams and they were
Speaker 2: little like this is your first year or this is
Speaker 2: your second year, like who are you? So that was
Speaker 2: kind of and you know, some teams sold us no,
Speaker 2: and that's just how it is. And then just because
Speaker 2: of you know, the they couldn't make it or they
Speaker 2: didn't have enough players or anything like that, not just
Speaker 2: saying no because they couldn't come, but you know, just
Speaker 2: how it was. And then we sadly, because of how
Speaker 2: many people came or coming to terminent, we had to
Speaker 2: tell other teams that we are packed and we can't
Speaker 2: accept any more teams, which is really sad. But our
Speaker 2: goal for next year is to have sixty teams. That's
Speaker 2: a goal. I don't know, you never know, but that's
Speaker 2: just a goal. And so, you know, we a lot
Speaker 2: of the teams that can't come this year, we've told
Speaker 2: them next year. Also, a lot of the teams that
Speaker 2: can't come this year are because of visa problems or
Speaker 2: just like not being able to get the visa, which
Speaker 2: is obviously a hassle, but just it takes like a
Speaker 2: year to get Sometimes a meeting with the consulate or
Speaker 2: with embassy. So that's just how it works. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean it's still really you know, that's it's it's crazy.
Speaker 2: But we moved the fields. Last year, we paid out
Speaker 2: like the Rice Holloway Field, which is like where the
Speaker 2: actual team soccer team plays. This year we're doing it
Speaker 2: at all the intermural fields, so we have like five
Speaker 2: fields going on at once, and then the final will
Speaker 2: be at the football Stadium. And so if you were
Speaker 2: trying to fill out fifty thousand seats up, so please come.
Speaker 2: It'll be at like five thirty pm on August first
Speaker 2: and so, and it's free. So no.
Speaker 1: So look at looking at this year's list, VARSA, PSG,
Speaker 1: Manchester United and Manchester City. Imagine you're putting them in
Speaker 1: the same group. Atlanta United obviously a part of it,
Speaker 1: Inner Miami Inter, Milan, Boca Junior's paying Ye Roll, Mexico
Speaker 1: National Team, Benfica, Corinthians, Rangers, Yokohama Marina Mariners, FC, Soul,
Speaker 1: Bangladesh national team. I mean, this is a real diaspora
Speaker 1: of everything when it comes to the intellectual and developmental
Speaker 1: disabilities teams. I mean, this seems like it's a serious undertaking.
Speaker 1: I hope that you and everybody there have like unlimited
Speaker 1: talking text or WhatsApp or free international minutes. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is this is a lot of handiwork.
Speaker 2: You got to have here. Yes, thankfully we were going
Speaker 2: to have like twenty five people on site, but it's
Speaker 2: going to be you know, and plus so we are
Speaker 2: having so many volunteers come so we will have hands
Speaker 2: on deck and we will have everyone you know, helping
Speaker 2: this out once we're actually starting the tournament. So I
Speaker 2: feel prepared, you know, I am weirdly don't feel stressed
Speaker 2: about it, at least not right now. So I'm going
Speaker 2: to take this calmness with where I am at, but
Speaker 2: with also I do want to make a comment maybe
Speaker 2: this is directed to a complete different thing. Is for example,
Speaker 2: there's we have the FC Soul team coming from South Korea,
Speaker 2: and that team was created very recently, and a lot
Speaker 2: of other teams were created to come and join the
Speaker 2: Genuine Cup, which is really exciting that we kind of
Speaker 2: started this, you know, not initiative, but this learning of like, wait,
Speaker 2: what do you mean I don't have a team. You
Speaker 2: should start a team? And then like some of the
Speaker 2: teams last year that we invited Originally we're like, we
Speaker 2: don't have a team, so we can't come, and then
Speaker 2: they started a team this whole year and then they're
Speaker 2: coming this, you know, in a month. So it's been
Speaker 2: a really cool initiative that even just that even if
Speaker 2: they weren't able to come, we kind of made a
Speaker 2: little impact in their little community.
Speaker 1: No doubt. And one of the other aspects in all
Speaker 1: of this is alongside the tournament, you also have genuine
Speaker 1: connect that's going to be a part of it as well,
Speaker 1: where you have a lot of different advocacy voices, businesses
Speaker 1: that are attached, academia that's attached, so you have the
Speaker 1: off the field intellectual component in addition to the playing
Speaker 1: that's going on off there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's really important to us because we obviously
Speaker 2: love the idea that we're you know, making this one
Speaker 2: week of everyone's lives, you know, just so much fun
Speaker 2: and exciting and you know, traveling to a new place
Speaker 2: if they've never been to the US or never been
Speaker 2: to Houston or anything like that. And also a lot
Speaker 2: of people are coming without their families, have never even
Speaker 2: travel without their family, So for all the players, this
Speaker 2: is like an amazing opportunity but we want to make
Speaker 2: sure that the impact is not just during the week,
Speaker 2: but it's during the whole year and for the rest
Speaker 2: of their lives. So we really are trying to make
Speaker 2: an impact, like I said, just not on there, not
Speaker 2: just that one week, but every day, whether that be
Speaker 2: through like some law that has passed. And I know
Speaker 2: it's a little bit specific to the US versus you know,
Speaker 2: all the other nations and countries that are coming, but
Speaker 2: we are just really trying to make a voice for
Speaker 2: these people. And also one thing that we really want
Speaker 2: to focus on is employability. So for these players that
Speaker 2: are coming or for these for the people that have
Speaker 2: intellectual developmental disabilities, a lot of the people can't work
Speaker 2: or don't like really know the initiative and how to
Speaker 2: get a job. Where a lot of these companies aren't
Speaker 2: hiring people with intellectual disabilities because they don't see the
Speaker 2: benefit in it and unless you maybe even see like
Speaker 2: as a cost or as like more time to dedicate
Speaker 2: to these people. But some of these people are so smart,
Speaker 2: are so willing to work, you know, it's like another
Speaker 2: way for them to have purpose and everything. And so
Speaker 2: we are inviting companies that do hire people with intellectual disabilities,
Speaker 2: and also some companies that don't hire people with intellectual
Speaker 2: disabilities to teach them and show them the benefit and
Speaker 2: ways that they can work at the company, you know,
Speaker 2: whether that be as an engineer or at the front
Speaker 2: desk or anything in that aspect. It's they these people
Speaker 2: brighten every Wednesdays at least they brighten minds selfishly speaking.
Speaker 2: And they have such an awesome house like aspect on
Speaker 2: life and look on life that and they have such
Speaker 2: a drive and willing to work because they they want
Speaker 2: to do what other people do. And I mean this
Speaker 2: was me even growing up. I couldn't wait to work
Speaker 2: because I saw my parents do it and I saw
Speaker 2: my you know, my older siblings do it. So that's
Speaker 2: like just kind of how we want to just teach them,
Speaker 2: teach other companies and other people about, you know, the impact.
Speaker 2: And we're also having Danny Bowman come from Love on
Speaker 2: the Spectrum as a keynote speaker and so hopefully she
Speaker 2: brings some more people in. But you everyone is welcome.
Speaker 2: There's a sign up link, which you know, it's on
Speaker 2: the website, but so, yeah, we invite any people to
Speaker 2: come to join us.
Speaker 1: And yeah, genuine dot org is the website where folks
Speaker 1: more information. What was your and your family's first interactions
Speaker 1: with and this could this is probably off the field
Speaker 1: of off soccer. What was your family's first interaction with
Speaker 1: individuals that have intellectual and development disciplate developmental disability?
Speaker 2: So we I have a cousin and my dad's godson,
Speaker 2: and also one of my family friends has had a
Speaker 2: daughter who sadly passed away with Down syndrome, and so
Speaker 2: we kind of I grew up around it, and I,
Speaker 2: you know, have met many many people. And also I
Speaker 2: think maybe maybe not, but majority of people could say
Speaker 2: that they have met someone or know someone with an
Speaker 2: intellectual and developmental disabilities. And so that's kind of just
Speaker 2: how it all started. And my you know, my if
Speaker 2: if you ever meet my dad, which hopefully you do,
Speaker 2: but he is a very like hands on deck and
Speaker 2: wants to like just he loves to be very involved
Speaker 2: with absolutely everything, and so he was always very in
Speaker 2: his godson's life. And I'm so am I but like
Speaker 2: and stuff like this, and he just felt such a
Speaker 2: strong connection with helping them create a better future for
Speaker 2: them and obviously for everyone else, but create a better
Speaker 2: future for them. So the not the worry, but a
Speaker 2: worry for a lot of the parents is what's going
Speaker 2: to happen when I'm not here? And so this is
Speaker 2: like just with the ice cream shop, is just like
Speaker 2: one step in is like, how can we make sure
Speaker 2: that we are employing them and having you know, they
Speaker 2: have a job and can make some money on their
Speaker 2: side and not just fully not just depend on the parents,
Speaker 2: but you know, kind of something like that. And so
Speaker 2: that's kind of the way it started. It was just
Speaker 2: we k new family and friends, and that's like how
Speaker 2: that's how it all started. So personal connection.
Speaker 1: Well, so what has it been like for you and
Speaker 1: your family to see the kind of impact that what
Speaker 1: you and your family are doing can have an impact
Speaker 1: on someone that is the intellectual or development developmentally disabled.
Speaker 1: What's it like for you to see that shine come
Speaker 1: through on someone like that when you get.
Speaker 2: I mean you get chills on your body, it's like,
Speaker 2: actually so selfishly, It's like, I don't know if this
Speaker 2: is selfishly, but I did not. It was a lot
Speaker 2: of work and it was a lot of stress, to
Speaker 2: be frank, when we were paying for it, even right now,
Speaker 2: but when we were paying for the first tournament, I
Speaker 2: was like very stressed. I'm like, you know, trying to
Speaker 2: figure out I've never run a tournament before, and like
Speaker 2: let alone, it's one of the size, so there's a
Speaker 2: lot of stress. But like I said previously, is like
Speaker 2: with the you can see the immediate impact with so
Speaker 2: many you know, everyone just happy, having fun, like having
Speaker 2: a great time, and specifically during the final, at the final,
Speaker 2: we give everyone medals because you know they had a
Speaker 2: great time participation. And there's this one player for the
Speaker 2: Mexico national team specifically that looked at his medal and
Speaker 2: started crying and he was like, I've never received a
Speaker 2: medal before. This is my first medal've ever received, and
Speaker 2: like I just got chills are all over my body.
Speaker 2: But just like even seeing that immediate impact, you're like,
Speaker 2: he's going to go home or maybe, but I assume
Speaker 2: he's going to go home and show his family and
Speaker 2: friends the medal that he got. And how you know
Speaker 2: that little thing that I ordered or I got made
Speaker 2: so quickly that I was just like, you know, it's
Speaker 2: a medal. I've I received medals when I was younger,
Speaker 2: and you know, I don't think twice about it, but
Speaker 2: there's such little things that these people have don't have
Speaker 2: never had the access to or never received that that
Speaker 2: you know, you just don't think about it and it's
Speaker 2: so small. So seeing that immediate impact was very beautiful
Speaker 2: and very It was crazy how impactful it is and
Speaker 2: how little it can see it could have seemed to
Speaker 2: me beforehand, and how huge it is for them then.
Speaker 2: So that was just like an example, it was chills
Speaker 2: a lot of your body. You're so happy and like
Speaker 2: seeing people seeing this one guy and other people like
Speaker 2: just cry because they received a medal. Was it was
Speaker 2: it was very beautiful.
Speaker 1: Well, and then what you're you're looking at is the
Speaker 1: idea that that moment rubs off on another individual, and
Speaker 1: you know that person that gets that first metal goes home,
Speaker 1: shows that metal off and it's like, hey, well all
Speaker 1: of all of the time that we've been spending with
Speaker 1: one another in a moment like this, and you hope
Speaker 1: that that rubs off on somebody else and they jump
Speaker 1: in and an idea that they have done something previously
Speaker 1: like that, So you're hoping that that one plus one
Speaker 1: adds up to two and four and eight and so
Speaker 1: on and so on going on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. And also this creates noise for the
Speaker 2: you know the term, and then they're like, where'd you go.
Speaker 2: We're like, oh, what's the genuine cup? And then they
Speaker 2: look it up and then more people are involved, which
Speaker 2: that's like our goal is we want to make noise
Speaker 2: and we want to make a lot of people have
Speaker 2: eyes on this. And also if it isn't with us,
Speaker 2: and we want the MLB or basketball or anything like
Speaker 2: that to also create lease Like this doesn't just have
Speaker 2: to be soccer specific. You know, like I said earlier,
Speaker 2: sports is a universal language and this is a great
Speaker 2: platform and the great initiative. We know that Special Olympics
Speaker 2: does a lot of stuff. A lot of the teams
Speaker 2: that are coming are from Special Olympics, Like all the
Speaker 2: MLS teams that are joining are technically Special Olympics teams,
Speaker 2: so they also do this. But maybe the NBA can
Speaker 2: actually create, you know, something like this, MLB can create
Speaker 2: the Astros, you know, the Braves, all that stuff can
Speaker 2: also do something along these lines. Is our goal is
Speaker 2: to spread this initiative throughout everything and everywhere all around
Speaker 2: the world. That was also why we wanted to invite
Speaker 2: so many places, so many countries, is to make noise,
Speaker 2: not just in the US, but all over Europe, in Asia,
Speaker 2: in South America, et cetera, in Australia.
Speaker 1: Even so, is there a is there a geography gap?
Speaker 1: Is there a place that you're really looking to knock
Speaker 1: a door down that hasn't responded yet or has it
Speaker 1: been fairly uniform? When everybody wants to come and be
Speaker 1: a part of genuine Cup.
Speaker 2: Africa, we like, couldn't we There may be teams, we
Speaker 2: just don't find anyone. We A lot of the ways
Speaker 2: that we found teams was like the one team like
Speaker 2: Manchesters or the Rangers gave us Manchester City contact, so
Speaker 2: kind of stuff like that. So Africa is one of them.
Speaker 2: In Asia, although we have some teams from Asia, there's
Speaker 2: also a huge gap and also culturally they're very different
Speaker 2: on the way that they or not, I don't want
Speaker 2: to speak generally, but they are tend to be more
Speaker 2: closed off to people's intellectual development of the disabilities and
Speaker 2: have a more I can't think of the word like
Speaker 2: older perspective on it versus like how we how I
Speaker 2: would say the US or Mexico like now views people
Speaker 2: with intellectual disability. So that's kind of a little bit
Speaker 2: of the gap. So those two countries I would say
Speaker 2: are Africa, though we don't have any teams from Africa.
Speaker 1: Okay, So once again for folks that want to find
Speaker 1: out everything about the tournament, about what you guys are doing,
Speaker 1: which is great stuff and we can't wait to find
Speaker 1: out more, especially as you get to take over Rice
Speaker 1: University at the end of the How can folks find
Speaker 1: out more?
Speaker 2: So, Yeah, if you go to the website Genuine Cup
Speaker 2: dot org and also on Instagram is Genuine Cup Houston
Speaker 2: LinkedIn Genuine cop Houston, TikTok Genuine Coup Houston. But on
Speaker 2: the website there's a get involved page, so if you
Speaker 2: are in Houston, you can go and click the volunteer
Speaker 2: link and sign up for volunteering and you know, come
Speaker 2: on sign and see it. And if you are not
Speaker 2: able to do that, you are able to just come
Speaker 2: and watch the games for an hour or two. And
Speaker 2: if you don't aren't able to do that, just follow
Speaker 2: us on all our social media pages. They're all over
Speaker 2: the website and you'll be able just to keep on
Speaker 2: following and seeing, you know, what we're doing everyday. Once
Speaker 2: the tournament starts.
Speaker 1: Very cool and I know that we're going to catch
Speaker 1: up with our friend Marty Jelemy who's the head coach
Speaker 1: of the Landau Landa United Unified as we get closer
Speaker 1: to the tournament and find out how things are going
Speaker 1: with them in season, and a great to catch up
Speaker 1: with you. Thank all of the intel and have a
Speaker 1: fantastic tournament. Don't be a stranger, we'll catch up soon.