Sunday March 6, 2001

Season Opener!

Finally, after a brutally snowy winter, twelve members and two guests got the season started. The forecast is for torrential rains, so we had a provisional pre-season indoor match up on Saturday. The indoor games have been great for conditioning and working on small ball skills. Thanks again to Keith for organizing these sessions.

Sunday morning its warm but drizzling. 4 guys are there at 9, but then a few more started to show up, and when Jay arrived it's Game On! Jerry brought his son Alex, and we had another guest, Juan. We played on the red field with lacrosse goals. The drizzle turned into rain, and by 10:30 we were pretty exhausted and soaked, but its great to be back.

Player of the Week

C. C is a relatively new member of the group, but he's been with us for three seasons. His athleticism and cheerfulness make him a great team mate, and his signature jumping karate chop celebrations of the rare times he scores are a highlight of the game.

A few words from C:

My fondest memories of soccer was going to the national stadium with my father to watch the national team play against other countries during the African cup qualifiers. Yes, I said "African cup".

I was born in Ivory Coast, West Africa and immigrated to the US in 1995; I was 21 then. I completed my bachelor degree at Queens College, CUNY. A few years later I completed a master in information systems at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. Needless to say that I moved from Queens, NY where I lived in my early years to New Jersey. I currently live in Hackensack and work in Montvale, NJ.

Growing up in Cote d'Ivoire, everyone else was so much better than me at soccer that I gave up soccer for a while and played basketball instead. But I couldn't stay away from it too long . We used to play what we called "maracana". Maracana is a form of soccer you play with small goals on any empty space you could find whether there was grass or not. Back then most kids would even play bear feet, no fancy yellow or pink soccer boots. We would also play on the beach. Obviously, the name "maracana" was inspired by the famous Maracana stadium in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. I am glad I was able to visit during a recent trip to Rio and saw it being renovated for the 2014 World Cup.

I'm one of the new members of the Waldwick Senior Soccer Association. A few years ago I was restless. I was telling anybody who would listen that I was looking for a group of guys to play soccer for a fun. That's when a co-worker of mine, mentioned that her husband played soccer on Sundays with a group of guys. He was nice enough to invite me on a Sunday to play with them and the rest his history. So, Mike, thanks for inviting me! I'm grateful that the guys invited me to join the association. Since that day I've been looking forward to soccer on Sundays.