Thank you Hillbilly for THE history of football/soccer in the DR.
I was briefly on the squad at UCMM in the early 1980's while in medical school there. Nice memories. We were coached by Belman (your Bietman?). We played against teams from other universities. UCE had good African and South Americans. Most of our players @UCMM were indeed still a mix of kids trained by the Spanish clergy in Moca, Jarabacoa and some from La Vega.
Other players were foreign born (Arabs, South Americans, Mexicans) and a couple more were from the ranks of the upple-middle class in Santiago; Hippo's son, Ramón, was one of our teammates. The economist Padre Alemán would attend even some of our practices and the games were usually well attended. My only goal ever in that league made it to the sports page of La Información. My biggest moment of glory. Unfortunately soccer has never had mass appeal in the country and continues to lag well behind other sports. FIFA is still trying to help. My 2 cents.
-Tordok