Pan Am soccer games are 90 minutes of cultural pride

When Colombia plays at the Pan Am soccer stadium in Hamilton, it's Colombians as far as the eye can see, all waving yellow, blue and red, and that makes Sebastian Palacios proud.

The 23-year-old from Burlington moved to Canada eight years ago. Colombian soccer teams have played four times at the CIBC Stadium, including the women's semi-final on Saturday. Like many Colombians he knows, he's been to all of them.

"For 90 minutes, I go back to Colombia," he said.

"It's something you can't explain. You're there with people from your country who speak the same language and cheer for the same team. For 90 minutes, I'm the happiest guy there."

You ask any kid in Colombia what they want to be and they'll say a soccer player.- Sebastian Palacios, who has been to all four Colombia soccer games

In addition to bringing people to Hamilton, the Pan Am Games have had another benefit. Canadian residents originally from other countries bask in their native cultures again through the unifying force of soccer.

The city tried to keep that momentum outside the stadium too. Organizers held various cultural events during the Pan Am Games, from food from the Pan Americas during It's Your Festival to a daily Pan Promenade at Gore Park.

But for Palacios and his group of about 10 other Colombian friends and family on Saturday, cultural pride this month is about soccer.

There are a growing number of Colombians living in Hamilton and Burlington, said Mateo Zapata, one of Palacios's friends. They all know each other, and they're all attending the games.

Zapata came to the stadium at 8 a.m. ET on Saturday to get a ticket for the women's semifinal at 6:35, when Colombia played Brazil. Box office staff told him the tickets wouldn't go on sale until 4 p.m., so his group sat down with lawn chairs and a case of bottled water and waited.

Zapata, 19, spent half his life in Colombia. When he moved here in 2005, he said, there weren't as many Colombians in the Hamilton area. But it's growing, and so is the sense of community.

"You just start meeting people," he said. "You go to No Frills or whatever and see different Spanish people. You meet one and you meet the rest of them."

Carlos Agudelo of Hamilton, who was also part of Zapata's group, said most of his family still lives in Colombia. But every Colombian he meets becomes family, and the Pan Am soccer games are a reunion of sorts. Like other Colombian-Canadians, he and his group brought noisemakers and drums to the games. Jubilation during soccer games is a staple of Colombian culture.

"It's something we're raised into," Palacios said of soccer.

For Colombian children, "that's their life. It's their dream. You ask any kid in Colombia what they want to be and they'll say a soccer player," he said.

The finalPan Am soccer game is the Uruguay versus Mexico men's final at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday.

The final city event is the Hamilton Waterfront Cultural Showcase. It runs all day and ends with fireworks at 9:45 p.m. on Hamilton Harbour.