Taking Root | 1980-1990

Name: Tom Athey
Age: 62
First Played: Age 28
Years Playing: 35

“I had been here for 6 years, and I was, I played a lot of hacky sack, and I got recruited by some guys cause I had foot skills but I knew nothing about the game.”

Tom Athey has been playing with the same team since he first started playing soccer. The Shiners, after the beer, recruited him in Zilker and introduced him to the game and the league. The River City Rangers / the Shiners were in the first iteration of the Austin Municipal Soccer Association, and even though they lost their sponsorship, the team has spawned numerous other teams in different divisions.

Soccer has provided a community for the River City rangers, as they have been having father-child teams every summer for the last twenty years. The team dimension adds to the flair and joy Tom Athey took from his original sport – hacky sack.

Locations Played:

• St. Louis, Missouri
• Phoenix, Arizona
• St. Louis King of France Catholic School Gym | Austin, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Zilker Park | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Tom Athey, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Tom Athey, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Victor Duran González
Age: 40s
First Played: Age 9
Years Playing: 40

“mi equipo favorito es Pumas de la Universidad de México. Desde entonces recuerdo que me gustaba ver como tocaban el balón, como hacían jugadas y desde entonces me hice fan de ellos y me gusta mucho su fútbol.”

“My favorite team is the Pumas, the team sponsored by the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico [UNAM]. I remember I liked the way they moved the ball, the way they set up plays, and I have been a fan of them ever since.”

Victor Duran González takes a philosophical approach to the game. He is interested in the ways soccer reveals the values people hold. His favorite team – the Pumas in Mexican first division – are known for developing players from within their system and then releasing them to the other teams, cultivating talent for the point of cultivating talent. Like a school or a university.

This approach carries through to the reason why he plays. The exercise might be necessary, but he appreciates the art of the game, of the collective, and the intellectual challenge each game poses. For him, it is the sense of conviviality alongside the movement and the time outside that make the time investment necessary and worthwhile.

Locations Played:

• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Celaya, Guanajuato
• Mexico City, Mexico
• UNAM Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Victor Duran González, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Victor Duran González, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Diana Harrell
Age: 58
First Played: Age 24
Years Playing: 34

Diana Harrell stumbled upon soccer through a youth league. After her son’s coach quit, Diana volunteered to replace her as coach, and as a player in the Austin Womens Coed Soccer league. Within a few years, Diana was involved as a player in the Womens League and as an administrator for the youth soccer association.

“I LOVE the competition – winning the ball, making a great play, sending a perfect ball, seeing the opening, rippling the back of the net, and celebrating a goal”

Locations Played:

• Town Lake YMCA | Austin, Texas
• South West YMCA | Austin, Texas
• Oak Hill Middle School| Austin, Texas
• Zilker Park| Austin, Texas
• Mendez Middle School | Austin, Texas
• East Metro Park| Austin, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• North East Metro Park, Pflugerville

Additional Information

• John Lilly, Interview with Diana Harrell, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)

Name: Terry Harrell
Age: 68
First Played: Age 28
Years Playing: 40

“Camaraderie. Been on the same team now for 16 years. And that means a lot, and I think being here, the social network you create, the people you meet you'll probably know forever, simply because you're doing something you have a lot of investment in.”

Harrell built a life here in Austin. A life that had soccer close to the center. He and his partner Diana Harrell have been playing soccer together ever since their child started playing ball in elementary school. However, his first encounter with soccer came in the 70s while in Dallas, where he saw Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff and Pele play in the NASL. He started soccer with an idea of what could be done; he has played every position, including goalie, since he started.

Locations Played:

• Dallas, TX
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Terry Harrell, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Terry Harrell, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Kirsha Haverlah
Age:
First Played: Age 10
Years Playing: 25

“The camaraderie of the people that I've known for a long time, and then the new people you meet. People from all walks of life come together to paly this sport, and you know, you don't know them outside of the game, but it's nice to see them again. You might have a shake with them, the people just out of college, or people in graduate school, or people getting their doctorate, or whatever.”

Kirsha Haverlah started playing soccer in Austin close to when soccer started in the schools across Austin. This has given her a ground-zero understanding of the changes in Austin and of soccer in Austin. She comments on the way soccer maintains a level of continuity for people in Austin and provides an avenue for others to enter a community as well. Her experience with soccer overlaps with the creation of soccer-specific spaces in Travis County, allowing for fewer injuries and more players.

Locations Played:

• Bartholomew Middle School | Austin, Texas
• Travis High School | Austin, Texas
• Mendez Middle School | Austin, Texas
• Zilker Park | Austin, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Soccer Zone | Austin, TX
• Austin Indoor Soccer | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Kirsha Haverlah, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Kirsha Haverlah, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Rudy Herrera
Age:
First Played: Age 30s
Years Playing: 32

“Soccer. Running with a purpose.”

Rudy Herrera grew up in the Oak Hill area here in Southwest Austin. As a youth, he focused on track becoming a mile specialist in high school. He joined the Marines and saw the world. Soccer did not become part of his life until he came back to Austin and started driving his children to games.

Rudy Herrera applied what he learned in sports and work to his new team. He ascended into captaining, organizing and martialing the teams he had to play. As the strategist in an over 40 team, he has learned to balance everyone’s desire to play with the broader shared satisfaction of winning games. As an over 40 player, he has also become more aware of the risks of long-term injury, weighing the costs of a game with potentially disabling injuries.

Locations Played:

• Oak Hill Middle School | Austin, Texas
• Heidelberg Army Base | Germany
• Zilker Park | Austin, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• North East Metro | Pflugerville, Texas
• East Metro Park | Manor, Texas

Additional Information

• Tucker Thompson, “To be a Player Coach: Interview with Rudy Herrera, 11/2017,” Center for the Study of the Southwest, Texas State University (pdf file)

Name: Patricia Jistel
Age: 62
First Played: Age 7
Years Playing: 35

“I like the fun and the risk. And getting out and trying really hard. Learning how to be better. “

Patricia Jistel started playing out of curiosity. Like many others, her first games happened on the IBM fields in north Austin. She then branched out into league games. She already had experience with her kids and nieces and nephews playing with the Y, but this gave her a chance to prove herself, “try really hard” and contribute to a team, something she has done with the Rebels for the last 35 years.

Locations Played:

• Waco, Texas
• IBM Fields | Austin, Texas
• Mendez Middle School | Austin, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Patricia Jistel, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Patricia Jistel, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Michael Kahoe Marmolejo
Age: 49
First Played: Age 29
Years Playing: 20

“And my mom enrolled me in the...the Y, and I played soccer then. Um, but I didn't like it. It was in El Paso and I remember I didn't like it. I didn't enjoy it. Uh, I was kind of shy so um, I played for a few games and that was it.”

“Um, the team aspect. It was just really...it was fun. It was enjoyable. It was fun, uh, with the community, the friends, the friendships that were created.”

Michael Kahoe’s experience with soccer challenges set ideas about border life and Mexican Americans. He grew up in El Paso, but soccer was something you played at the Y, a distance from home. It wasn’t until he had more experience with team sports, more experience with moving and settling into a new place, and with a different set of friends that he started playing a more committed game. Since his second start, he has coached various high school teams, managed two teams and become a key part of the victories on his league teams.

Locations Played:

• El Paso YMCA | El Paso, Texas
• New York City, New York
• Del Valle High | Del Valle, TX
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Northeast Municipal Park, Pflugerville, Texas
• Texas State University | San Marcos, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Michael Kahoe Marmolejo, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Michael Kahoe Marmolejo, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Cesar Limon
Age: 49
First Played: Age 4
Years Playing: 45

“I would play in the streets with people from my neighborhood, I could not even count how many people, like 30-40 people”

Cesar Limon started playing soccer on the streets of Monterrey, Mexico at the age of 4. Cesar played professional Soccer in Mexico, and semi-pro in the U.S. before pursuing an education in graphic design. Today he works as a Senior Graphic Designer at Texas State University and plays in Austin’s recreational league.

Locations Played:

• Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
• Monterrey FC Stadium | Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
• Toyota Field | San Antonio, Texas
• Houston, Texas
• Dallas, Texas
• Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
• Nuevo Laredo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
• South East Metro Park | Del Valle, Texas
• North East Metro Park | Pflugerville, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex, Austin, Texas
• Rio Vista Park | San Marcos, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Caesar Limon, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)

Name: Flyree McGee
Age: 48
First Played: Age 8
Years Playing: 40

“The teamwork that you develop with the people that you play with is just amazing, and then, you just become really good friends with them as well, and that’s what keeps me coming back, is meeting the people”

Originally from Eggenstein Germany, Flyree McGhee started playing soccer when her family moved to the United States. She has played for womens soccer teams in Manchester, Connecticut, Corpus Christi and Austin, Texas.

Locations Played:

• Manchester, Connecticut
• Corpus Christi, Texas
• Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Flyree McGee, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with FlyreeMcGee, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview 1 audio, mp4 file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with FlyreeMcGee, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview 2 audio, mp4 file)

Name: Frank Miller
Age: 61
First Played: Age 30
Years Playing: 32

“We wanted a voice in how the league was run.”
“Seemed like a fun thing to do.”

Frank Miller took to soccer on his arrival at Motorola in 1980. The company started sponsoring teams and Frank Miller started playing – that team went on to become the Romulans, one of the longer running teams in the league. As an engineer, he was deeply involved in the decisions shaping the design and watering of the fields. When Austin Parks and Recreation started moving games around, players in the league decided to create an association and rent fields from te city to have a firmer control on the schedule and maintenance. The discussion interweaves water and parks and soccer.

Frank Miller is also one of the best goalies in his division. This might be a cross-over from playing fast-pitch softball in the Roy Guerrero Fields in East Austin since 1980.

Locations Played:

• Detroit, Michigan
• University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, Michigan
• IBM Fields | Austin, Texas
• Zilker park | Austin, Texas
• Northeast metro Fields | Pflugerville, Texas
• Southeast metro Fields | Del valle, Texas
• East Metro Fields | Manor, Texas
• Disch Field | Austin, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Frank Miller, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Frank Miller, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Anthony Ndike
Age: 45
First Played: Age 6
Years Playing: 38

”[Reffing] You get to see the game from right under the fringes, watch different aspects of the game, the defense, and the counterattacks, and all the way the ball flows, and you're in the mix of it.”

Anthony Ndike started playing at home, with his family. This expanded out into the streets and school. Later, much later, after college, he started taking his kids to soccer leagues and he realized he missed the game. He started playing again and becoming far more involved. Besides being a referee, he continues to play league games.

There is an intellectual side to his appreciation of the game, and reffing allows him to see far more facets of the game as it unfolds over 90 minutes.

Locations Played:

• Lagos, Nigeria
• Houston, Texas
• Georgetown, Texas
• North East Metro Park | Pflugerville, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Anthony Ndike, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Anthony Ndike, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Tracey Rodgers
Age: 58
First Played: Age 20s
Years Playing: 38

“I was wanting to do something outdoors, and I knew I could be much better at softball, so I checked into soccer leagues and there was a women's league.”

For Tracey, soccer provides an opportunity to be outside, but outside in a way that is more interactive and engaged than running, hiking, or softball. She started playing in Atlanta, searching out a league and teams that included women. The women’s league in Atlanta provided her a base. She has since branched out into over 30s women’s soccer and co-ed soccer.

Teams – and scheduling three games on weekends – did become difficult to juggle. She currently plays on two, where she can balance the physical burden with the opportunity to play and run with other like-minded teammates and league members.

Locations Played:

• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• University of Texas at Austin | Austin, Texas
• Atlanta, Georgia

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Tracey Rodgers, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Tracey Rodgers, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Jose Salgado
Age:
First Played: Age 10
Years Playing:

“It’s a beautiful sport, worldwide it is the best sport. I think it is the most famous sport in history”

“porque es un deporte bonito y es un deporte mundialmente major en el mundo. Yo creo que es el deporte mas famoso del mundo.”

Jose has played organized soccer since the age of eleven. Today he plays as the goal keeper for Grassy Stains at the Onion Creek Soccer Complex.

Locations Played:

• Estadio Miguel Aleman Valdes, Celaya Guanajuato
• Queretaro, Santiago de Queretaro
• Rio Vista Park | San Marcos, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• North East Metro Park | Pflugerville, Texas
• South East Metro Park | Del Valle, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Jose Salgado, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)

Name: Mike Slenczka
Age: 48
First Played: Age
Years Playing: 44

“Soccer showed me the world.”

“I will say that I expected when I came down here, um, a much faster, uh, technically skilled game.”

The scene in Chicago shaped Mike Slencska’s experience of soccer. In high school, his team travelled across the United States repeatedly and had a couple of tours playing youth teams in Western Europe. As an adult, he played in the local leagues, one of them being a Mexican-majority league, probably befitting ‘the City of Neighborhoods.’ As he recalls, “soccer showed me the world.”

For Mike, soccer means thinking about the best way he can contribute to a team and the ways he can build a role for himself on the teams. The move to a year-round season shifted expectations and rhythms for him.

Locations Played:

• Chicago
• West Chicago
• Germany
• England
• Norway
• Finland
• Dallas, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Mike Slenczka, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Mike Slenczka, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)