Growth through football: FC Bajos de Mena debuts in a community tournament

The team made up of young people from one of the most vulnerable areas of Santiago de Chile continues to grow. After six months of preparation with three days of training each week, the U17 category of FC Bajos de Mena Athletic, Social and Cultural Club is preparing to make its debut in the 2023 Puente Alto Cup.

Eliseo Polanco is 17 years old and joined FC Bajos de Mena in mid-2021 thanks to a friend who encouraged him to join the team, telling him that that small club was growing little by little. The team brings together young people from the Bajo de Mena neighborhood of the Puente Alto district, one of the most vulnerable in Santiago de Chile. Today Eliseo is captain of the U17 category and sports the colors of FC Bajos de Mena as a central defender. He has not only gotten to see the club officially become the first football team of the low-income area of Bajos de Mena, but he has also traveled around Bolivia as just one example. Last season the team, supported by CMPC, participated in the International Patuju Cup there, taking second place at that tournament. 

But the achievements of FC Bajos de Mena don’t stop there. They are currently preparing to debut in the 2023 Puente Alto Cup that will kick off this weekend, bringing together eight teams from the district. They’ll face off on seven dates (TBD) using the points system to determine which four teams will move on to the Golden Cup where they’ll play to see who will be crowned as tournament champion.  

“Although we never imagined that we’d compete against teams from Puente Alto, we’ve always wanted to participate in championships. We’ve been preparing, working very hard, and staying focused while keeping a winning mindset ever since March. We know what we’re going for. We’re going to compete, and we’ve always wanted to win top championships everywhere and show what we’ve been training for every day in very cold and hot weather alike,” said Eliseo Polanco, who sports the number 3 jersey of FC Bajos de Mena.

Polanco praises both the club’s and players’ growth, expressing thanks for everyone who has believed in them. “We are fighters, the underdogs, and we’re a good team. We’re a tight-knit group and on the court we also take advantage of training time to have fun. That’s why we are eager to go and feel strong about who we are. We definitely want to bring the cup home,” he said in closing.

Eliseo’s sentiment is one that is shared by his teammate Giordano Medina, who at 16 years old represents FC Bajos de Mena as a right-back. “I have a lot of conflicting emotions. I’m nervous, but our team has been congealing nicely thanks to a lot of hard work, even training during bad weather. We’ve disciplined ourselves to get to the championship and perform well,” explained Medina.

For players like the one wearing the number 8 of the community team, tournaments like the Puente Alto Cup are opportunities for the FC Bajos de Mena players to show what they’re made of and hopefully make it to the first division teams. Medina stressed that both he and his teammates will make the most of the anxiety and excitement they feel, so that these translate into good results on the pitch throughout the tournament, which will help them get noticed by the first division team recruiters. 

CMPC Head of Corporate Affairs for the Metropolitan Region Pía Fernández is happy to see how the young people’s expectations have increased as the club has grown. “From the company, we’ve not only witnessed the positive development of FC Bajos de Mena, we’ve been a part of its entire process, which we’re quite proud of. We know that they have long hoped to play in the Puente Alto Cup, and they’ll give their best in this tournament, so we wish them the best of luck in this new athletic challenge.”

The young people’s vision also excites the FC Bajos de Mena Technical Director Luis Moris. He said that their Puente Alto tournament debut should be taken in stride, given that this is an opportunity they’ve been waiting for since the club’s formation. This is the same reason why he says they’ll show up well prepared and with high expectations of being crowned the champions.  

“We have high expectations to win due to the length of time we’ve been training as well as the frequency and manner in which we do it. The team and the guys are strong. They have a lot of desire and above all they are confident and trust each other.  So our hard work absolutely must be reflected in the matches and results, as we play from game to game. We don’t plan for just between now and the end of the year, but in getting to know the team we’ll be competing against. We think first about training and fine tuning our players under the same goal: the hunger to get good results,” said the coach.

The seven matches that FC Bajos de Mena has to play to win the Puente Alto Cup will begin with a match against the Real Caro team. The second match will be against the Amador Donoso club. The rival on the third date of the tournament will be Cerro Morado, followed by matches against Santa Elvira, Club Atlético Huracán, San Francisco and Laura Vicuña. 

The teams will play against each other to figure out which of the four top clubs will face each other during what is called the Gold Cup, while the bottom four teams will compete for the Silver Cup.