It turned out that we were right- sort of. We came upon a small stadium complex with a concrete playing surface slightly bigger than a tennis court. On it were men playing a game similar to soccer that they call "Futbol de Salon" or "Futsal." The ball and goals were smaller than normal, each team fielded 6 players (including the goalie), and there was no offsides rule, but the principles were the same.
The footwear of choice appeared to be Converse High-Tops and the referee was handing out yellow cards fairly liberally to discourage rough play; a fall on concrete is no joke!
In addition to the Wednesday night league that we watched, the Club Deportivo Real Manga complex serves as a formative Futsal school for children, offering classes three times a week from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. We saw both boys and girls enjoying learning the game after school let out.
Colombia's national pastime is undeniably soccer (or Futbol as it is called here), but Futsal allows city dwellers like those in Cartagena to learn, watch, and play a slightly modified version of the beautiful game. iViva Futsal!
SOT