Members of the Caballeros football team from Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, gather before practice Friday at South Junior High school. The youth will play two teams of the Lawrence Gorillas Sunday at noon and 2 p.m. at YSI Fields as part of an International Youth Football Exchange.

Axel Perez, 11, left, puts on his Caballeros football shoulder pads over a Jayhawks t-shirt next to his teammate Diego Castro, 12, right.

Dressed in bright red T-shirts, football cleats and shoulder pads, the 31 boys warming up on the South Junior High football field look just like any Lawrence youth football team having Friday afternoon practice.

But these player are Caballeros, not Cowboys, and hail from Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The team was in town as part of an International Youth Football Exchange. The exchange gives the Caballeros and the Lawrence Gorillas an opportunity to meet and build friendships as well as compete against one another.

The teams will play two football games Sunday at YSI Sports Complex, 4911 W. 27th St. Ages 9-12 will play at noon, and the game for the 12- to 14-year-olds will be at 2 p.m. The Gorillas travel to Mexico next year.

Caballeros team member Jose Maria Torquemada is ready for Sunday. “I’m happy because we have the chance to play in another country with other people,” he said.

Quinn Miller, head coach of the fourth-grade Gorillas, traveled to Playa del Carmen this year during spring break. While he was there, he met the Caballeros manager Lourdes Rodriguez, who told him about the exchange one of the Caballeros teams had done earlier that year with Windsor, Colo. Miller liked the idea, and soon the Gorilla coaches were setting up an exchange in Lawrence.

“It became much bigger than I thought, but it’s also been very rewarding at the same time,” Miller said.

Playing football isn’t all the Caballeros plan to do in Lawrence. Before their Friday practice, the team went shopping downtown and ate lunch at South Park.

They also went to the Lawrence High School football game Friday night and today will attend the Kansas University football game against Duke, where they will be recognized on the scoreboard.

The Caballeros stay with host families while they are in Lawrence. “We will have a very nice opportunity to meet a lot of people, be able to learn from the games, and be able to also realize that there are no borders anymore,” Rodriguez said.

Miller agreed. “What I’ve noticed is, the kids are all the same. It doesn’t matter where they come from,” Miller said. “They’re very excited, there’s some times they listen, there’s some times they don’t. They’re all kids.”