An education in the sport of soccer

Two days ago, I had a long chat with Edgar Vazquez, a soccer guru and

local businessman, at a coffee shop. Since this sport has been in the

news lately in Costa Mesa, I thought I should retool my knowledge of

the game, including understanding the politics hidden behind it.

To begin with, I’ve always thought the few people who complained

about the game, and the city officials who generously acquiesced to

these individual’s unfounded complaints, have little, if any,

knowledge of this sport.

All they know are negative stereotypes, such as that adult soccer

groups are noisy and leave trash behind. Can anyone help me on this

one: Is there a sport that doesn’t create noise? Noise is an inherent

part of every major sport, unless you include chess or backgammon.

Regarding the trash issue, I think the complaints come from people

whose houses are too clean to be true. On this issue, I’m with people

from Missouri: I have to see it to believe it.

A few years ago, I did some work in Spanish outreach for the Boy

Scouts of America in Santa Ana. I helped coordinate a large soccer

league. We had more than 20 teams of children. After our Saturday and

Sunday games, we usually picked up our trash. We didn’t need a

special type of gene to do that. It made perfect sense to us that

trash was bad for the field and looked ugly, and we knew it would’ve

jeopardized our ability to get a permit extension from city officials

or local schools. Why risk it?

“Soccer is a beautiful game,” Vazquez says. I’m sure Mia Ham,

arguably the best female athlete ever to play this game, agrees with

him. I do, and most people in the world do as well.

Soccer has been a part of Vazquez’s life for a long time. As a kid

and teenager in Mexico City, he would mingle with friends in his

neighborhood and play the game in nearby parks. He liked playing

forward because he enjoyed scoring goals. That philosophy of moving

forward is an integral part of his personality, and it has become a

major asset in his quest for success in the United States.

One day, he had a dinner meeting with Guillermo “Memo” Huerta, a

former professional soccer player of Club America in Mexico City.

What Huerta said to him would resonate every minute of his life:

“There is a great potential of soccer in the United States. They need

a soccer academy in that country.”

After he graduated from high school, Vazquez earned a bachelor’s

degree at a university in Mexico City. Like his father and older

brothers and sisters, he wanted to be an elementary school teacher.

“I love kids,” Vasquez pointed out. Unfortunately, his search for a

traditional career didn’t pan out.

Instead, he moved to California to fulfill Huerta’s vision.

Since he arrived in California, he has lived in Costa Mesa, except

for two years in Huntington Beach. Like most recent immigrants, he

worked in many places, including a few years in the defunct retail

store Fedco.

In Santa Ana, he met Maria Pla, founder of the Golden Soccer

League and one of the most influential individuals in the soccer

community in Orange County, according to Vazquez. Huerta gave him a

dream to strive for, but it was Pla who became instrumental in

fulfilling that dream. “She showed me the ropes, the know-how in the

business,” he said.

Vazquez and a friend started Interamericana Soccer League in Santa

Ana. Although he found many obstacles along the way, his persistence

paid off at the end. His league is one of the most successful in the

area. Vazquez and his business partner also opened a store to supply

his players with soccer goods. Since his clients travel quite often

to Mexico and other Central American countries, he added a travel

agency, Sun Tours, to his business portfolio.

Finally, three years ago, he fulfilled his ultimate dream: He

started a soccer academy. Named after his favorite team, it is called

Club America Academy. It teaches about 120 players from ages of 5 to

17, and there is a long waiting list. A team of professional players,

coaches and other workers make the academy possible.

Vazquez has set high standards in his academy. He feels that

education must go hand-in-hand with sports. Doing well at school is a

major requirement for a kid to be accepted in his organization.

He welcomes an opportunity to expand his academy to Costa Mesa.

However, his experience with the City Council and other individuals

in the government has been discouraging. He told me that he and 100

coaches went to an official meeting at the City Hall in Costa Mesa to

ask city officials for access to soccer fields. He has never gotten

positive news from them.

Knowing how the city is functioning right now, I’m afraid to say

that we would have to wait until the next election to change the

direction in the city.

* HUMBERTO CASPA is a Costa Mesa resident and bilingual writer. He

can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].