Definition of Spanish command creates controversy

Different words have different connotations in any language.

When dealing with a language barrier, those connotations make all the difference.

Late in Yuma High's 3-2 win over Kofa on Friday at Doan Field, Kofa defender Alex Hazen was hurt on a play when he and a Yuma defender collided.

Up 2-0 before the incident, Kofa gave up two goals after it and lost on penalty kicks.

Kofa coach Jamie Nicewander said that Yuma High coach Jaime Ibarra was yelling "chocale" or "chocalo," on the sidelines, and Ibarra doesn't deny it.

The meaning of the phrase, however, is disputed by the two coaches.

Nicewander said the phrase means "break them," "smash them," and other harsh terms.

"You're going to have that when a coach is on the sideline yelling 'chocale, chocale, chocale,' which is Spanish for 'hit him, hit him, hit him,'" Nicewander said. "We don't want to play that style; we don't ever want to play that style."

Ibarra said the phrase means "bump him," and is merely calling for his team to be more aggressive on the field. He said he calls the command out frequently and did so throughout Friday's game.

"In Spanish, I say 'chocalo,' which means 'bump him,'" Ibarra said, adding he felt it was a non-issue. "And it wasn't necessarily on that particular play; I say it everywhere. What I mean is 'make contact.'"

According to the translation site spanishdict.com, the word has four translations - to crash or collide; to clash; to surprise or puzzle; and to annoy or bug. The final translation is specifically marked as Mexican Spanish.

"There was a player ejected for saying the same thing last week," Nicewander said. "The referee that heard him ejected him automatically. This case here, coach is yelling out to his players, players are hearing it left and right, nothing is done about it because it's in Spanish. That's a huge issue and an issue I want to speak up about."

Nicewander said the injury was the turning point in the game. It happened at the 6:23 mark with his team up 2-0. Exactly two minutes later, Yuma High had its first goal, and with 1:46 left the Criminals tied the game.

"When you have a coach on the sidelines yelling 'break them,' 'chocalo,' smash into them, then you see a player go down an get carted off in an ambulance, it's natural for a player to say 'Wow, I'm not being protected, so if I come in on this guy, and he throws an elbow at me and I get hurt, what's going to come out of it?'" Nicewander said. "They're still kids. We have to remember that. We're not going to stoop to that level. I told the guys when you play a team like that that is overly physical and you have coaches yelling those kinds of things at you, you don't answer back.

"When a player gets hurt, especially when an injury is serious, the other players see him get carried off in an ambulance, it has a psychological affect on you," he said. "We were dominating them up to that point. We were out shooting them, we were moving the ball around real well."

Nicewander said that changes the whole style of the game as well.

"When you have that type of thing being said, it encourages players to play a physical game instead of a more mental game or more soccer-oriented game," Nicewander said. "It's no longer about the ball anymore, it's about smashing into people. And you're going to get injuries that way. You're going to get injuries any time you have a coach saying 'Smash into them.'"

Nicewander said he hoped his team learned from the loss.

"I'm disappointed we lost a game, but I'm proud my guys didn't resort to that kind of tactic to win a game," Nicewander said. "I'd rather have my guys learn a lesson out of this, that they need to play smarter and move the ball effectively across the field for a game of soccer more than anything else."

"If you see that nothing happens to a kid and you see one of your players carted off in an ambulance with the coach yelling 'chocalo, chocalo,' the natural instinct of a kid is to say 'We're not getting protected out here," Nicewander said. "We were getting outfouled four, five to one. But that's going to happen with teams that can't stop your passing. They're going to foul to try and stop you. And we expect that to happen."