About Me OR "Where Have You Played?"
I am a 43 year old cis man who was born in Argentina, lived in Spain for four years of my childhood, and moved to Southern California at age 10. I have been living in Oregon for the last 15. An extremely generous and loved teammate of mine (who had played pro women's soccer in Sweden for several years) during a game once asked me, "Where have you played?" The question was suggesting a level of perceived pedegre that I cannot agree with, but I will take the compliment. The truth to that question is: with tennis balls in the concrete schoolyard in the small school in Argentina during recess and on weekends, in any backyard we could find; then, after moving to the US on several AYSO recreational teams (never club); and in high school I played a few years and likely never made the varsity team because all the club kids were better (and I didn't like jock attitudes and skateboarding was more my thing).
After high school soccer, I didn't play for many years other than random, sparse pick up games, until one day, in my early to mid 20s, a close friend from high school called me up to join his indoor soccer team. I joined, and that is when it all really began to grab hold. After moving up to Oregon, I got a job coaching the JV boys team at a high school. I had no idea what I was doing, but in time, I worked with friends coaching at the high school and youth levels for many years. We would read, play, study, watch, learn together.
If you have read (or heard of) the concept popularized by the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell about 10,000 hours of quality practice to become exceptional at a discipline, then you are rad. I have not had anywhere close to that many hours in any of this, but I could be close (mostly cause I'm getting old). And the training hasn't been quality, it's been more DIY and tons of trial and error, coaching and playing. The only quality in the entire process has been reading and learning from quality minds on the subject, and watching and analyzing quality teams.
Since moving up to Oregon, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time playing on recreational indoor and outdoor leagues as an adult. I can remember entire Saturdays and Sundays at the indoor, often playing six games in a row for any team that would pick me up as a player. I moved into some futsal in the recent years as well. To me, all of it is soccer (futbol).
The older I got, the more hurt my body became and the more selective I had to be with my playing. I currently play on three paying teams, one of them I have played on for close to 12 years with a rotating core of friends and people we have somewhat built a family with. It is a coed indoor team called Salvazo, and playing with them is one of the best things I have experienced in my life. I hope that doesn't sound too pathetic.
After high school soccer, I didn't play for many years other than random, sparse pick up games, until one day, in my early to mid 20s, a close friend from high school called me up to join his indoor soccer team. I joined, and that is when it all really began to grab hold. After moving up to Oregon, I got a job coaching the JV boys team at a high school. I had no idea what I was doing, but in time, I worked with friends coaching at the high school and youth levels for many years. We would read, play, study, watch, learn together.
If you have read (or heard of) the concept popularized by the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell about 10,000 hours of quality practice to become exceptional at a discipline, then you are rad. I have not had anywhere close to that many hours in any of this, but I could be close (mostly cause I'm getting old). And the training hasn't been quality, it's been more DIY and tons of trial and error, coaching and playing. The only quality in the entire process has been reading and learning from quality minds on the subject, and watching and analyzing quality teams.
Since moving up to Oregon, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time playing on recreational indoor and outdoor leagues as an adult. I can remember entire Saturdays and Sundays at the indoor, often playing six games in a row for any team that would pick me up as a player. I moved into some futsal in the recent years as well. To me, all of it is soccer (futbol).
The older I got, the more hurt my body became and the more selective I had to be with my playing. I currently play on three paying teams, one of them I have played on for close to 12 years with a rotating core of friends and people we have somewhat built a family with. It is a coed indoor team called Salvazo, and playing with them is one of the best things I have experienced in my life. I hope that doesn't sound too pathetic.
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