Book by melissa pinkner

Life After Professional Soccer

Melissa Pinkner

Thank you to Freestyle Academy for providing a program to make this book possible, as well as Ms. P for the many hours she stayed late for students to work at school.

Preface

The idea of following life after professional soccer came from my partner Nick, who plays soccer and has had both interviewees as coaches. At first, it seemed like it’d be an easy task, seeing as we had pretty consistent access to our subjects. However, it became clear that there were many aspects to both coaches lives, and that even though we were in close contact with them, it would take a lot of effort on our part to follow through with the story that deserved to be told. Life after having to give up your passion is extremely difficult, but if anything Rafa Soares and Terry Wilson’s stories have shown me that passions can be redefined. Throughout this project, I learned a lot about my horrible time management skills.

However, the triumph that comes from getting this project done has been great, and in working with interviewees I’ve realized it’s important to be flexible, but also available so as to maximize my exposure to the subject. After attending interviews, games, and practices, something from all these sources has materialized, and I couldn’t be happier.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Getting Started Chapter 2: A Fresh Start Chapter 3: New Comradery Chapter 4: Soccer in Life Chapter 5: After Fame

Photographs Melissa Pinkner, Nicholas Fletcher Illustrations Melissa Pinkner

Introduction

Rafa Soares and Terry Wilson are two soccer coaches that used to play professional soccer, one in Brazil and the other in the UK. Despite their seemingly different life experiences, it was amazing to find the commonalities in their styles of coaching, and how playing professionally has shaped how they see the sport and their players. The things they’ve learned throughout their lives are applicable on and off the field, and overall have helped kids develop as team members and as citizens.

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Getting Started E ver

with him knew him as a volleyball choose from, eventually settling on since they were young, player, so they were all confused when playing with the club Nottingham soccer had always been a part of Rafa he showed up.

“What are you doing Soares and Terry Wilson’s lives. Though Forest in 1985. In his time playing they had very different experiences in their here?” They asked. “I came to tryout.” friendlies and professional games professional lives, the passion the two feel The next day during tryouts, the coach of the pro team approached him. In the at the age of 16, Terry recalls the for the sport is unmistakable. “immense learning curve” he pro teams in Brazil, the goalie lineup Growing up in a fairly large experienced, playing with and town in Brazil, Soares played soccer and goes as follows: if the first goalie is hurt, then the second or third goalie plays, and against men much older. Because of volleyball throughout his youth years. after them the youth keeper or a keeper this maturation process and his skill, “My dad had a sunday league team, he his career was propelled forward, would bring me to the field with him, and from the U20 team. Because the club leading him to a lot of success at a had played a full game with only one I’ve been playing soccer since I was 2-3 young age. years old. Ever since I remember walking I keeper, Rafa was presented with a great opportunity to show his skill with the remember kicking a ball.” professional team. Terry had a different Though he made the state team and succeeded in volleyball, by the age of 14 he experience with soccer, growing up had decided soccer was his true passion. in a totally different part of the world; He originally started out as a forward, but Scotland. He had played soccer in the was always mistaken for a goalie because street and at the park with friends, but once he was 8 he joined the cub scouts of his height. Thus, Soares utilized the for their soccer team, marking his first hand eye coordination he developed as a volleyball player and tried his luck as a experience with official games. He excelled through the youth levels, and got goalie around the age of 14. selected to play for a club in Edinburgh, Soares had his first professional experience when he was 19, and went to where he stayed for the rest of his youth try out for his hometown club. The guys career until he finished school. Once he on the team that had went to high school finished, he had many opportunities to 10

“From then on, I was practicing with the pro team but playing [games] with the u20 team. They had a friendly game, my first pro game, which I think was 1994. I was 19-20 years old at that time.”

Terry Wilson

Photos from personal interview with Terry Wilson, 3/12/18, and Rafa Soares, 4/5/18

“Look, I don’t know you, I don’t know who you are, but the other goalie didn’t show up, and I’m not happy with that, so you will start practicing with us today.”

Rafa Soares 11

“...Basically 90 percent of boys, 95 percent of boys back in the U.K, that’s their dream.”

TerryWilson

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For Rafa, his retirement was somewhat expected, though he still had no idea when it would be. He knew that at a certain point he’d have to find a career after his soccer years, as many team members had to do at some point as well. However, he soon found himself questioning what he would do, considering going back to school to pursue his goal of becoming a P.E coach. In the back of his mind, when faced with other soccer opportunities to play in places like Chile, he knew learning English would be a big help.

But like his last game, it wasn’t planned. He had a sister living in Santa Clara, California, and decided to try his luck learning English in America.

Little did he know, this would mark the start of the biggest career change he would make.

Photo on pgs 12-13 Player for Terry Wilson ties up shoes.

“My last season game, I remember, we lost 2-1...

...But it wasn’t something I planned.”

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“The season ended in May, and I had a lot of stuff going through my mind, like I’m old I’m old I’m old.”

Photo of Rafa Soares, top left, and his team in Brazil.

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If Rafa was uncertain about when he would stop playing soccer, Terry was completely blindsided. I say this because his final game, though he would never forget it, was meant to be a typical match for him--that is, until he blew his knee out in a career ending injury. At the point in his career when the injury occured, Terry, as many players do, had been suffering from various other injuries throughout his career, most signficant up until the final injury being damage done to his achilles tendons. Still in partial recovery, his team was suffering from having one of their players, Neal Webb, being suspended. His coach asked Terry if he would be alright to play, and longing for the game after being out up until earlier that week, Terry said of course, desperate to play. About 12 minutes into the game, going up for a volley, a player ran into Terry, snapping his knee back. At the moment, he realized damage had been done, but after playing just 6 games in the past 18 months, he wasn’t going to give up his comeback that easily. As he was hobbling around on the field, a ball got sent back to him to make a pass, requiring him to plant his left foot, the one that had been hit.

But once he planted the leg it gave way, and he almost ended up lying on top of it, surely doing more damage than had been done initially.

“...that’s my whole memory of that game.

12 minutes. And it’ll live with me forever.

January 12, 1993.”

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Photo of Terry Wilson coaching from One Soccer School.

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A Fresh Start S o a r e s’

big career move to becoming a coach came about because of his journey to learn english. He applied for a student visa, got settled with his family, and came over to the U.S. At this point, as Rafa said, his “English was no english.” He “..knew the words but didn’t know anything about grammar.” That was certainly a struggle, but he knew that it was important to him to learn the language, and thus enrolled at Foothill College.

While learning his second language, he met Vava Marquez, the current soccer coach at the local high school in Los Altos, and Rodrigo, the current coach of Palo Alto’s club team. Rafa Soares tried out for the team, but not as a keeper as the spot was already filled. Subsequently, he played as a defender for two seasons at Foothill.

He admits it was certainly a struggle feeling confident all the time in his decision to leave, as he would see friends of his in Brazil still doing well for themselves playing.

It was a constant question in his mind, but felt that it was partly a good type of nostalgia for playing professionally again.

Back when he lived in Brazil, Rafa did get a taste for coaching with the youth level, around 6-7 year olds. But once he came to the U.S, he really had no intention of pursuing that career. The plan was to finish his education and go back to Brazil with the ideology of whatever happens happens.

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“I had no inte staying over a I never put a on it, just kin to come over arrived here A 2002 to learn here I am. Ne

ention of a year, but time frame nd of going and stay, I August 14th english, and ever left.”

Unexpectedly, while kicking the ball at the park, a guy approached him and asked if he played soccer. “Yeah, I play soccer…” was his response, to which the man asked if he could coach. Not totally convincing himself, he said “Yeah...I can coach.” And just like that, Rafa was offered a job coaching young kids at Kidz Love Soccer, one of the biggest kids soccer program in the Bay Area. Still learning english, Rafa was at first only able to use soccer terminology. Just as Terry’s soccer playing career had been fast tracked, Rafa proceeded to rise to greater levels, coaching more and more advanced teams. He started with an offer from the same guy that had given him his first coaching job, to coach for Sunnyvale Alliance, a local soccer club. Next he moved to MVLA, another local club, coaching his first top level team in 2009.

On the other hand, Terry had slightly more intention in going into coaching, or something of the like. After having to quit playing, he made the conscious decision to go back to school, studying sports science and exercise physiology. He did not think it would lead to coaching though, planning to go into something more in the science side of sports. However, studying back in Scotland, his father encouraged Terry to come help him coach at a Scottish premier club that he had been coaching. It didn’t take long for Terry to recognize that he missed the game, perhaps seeing a young version of himself in the enthusiastic young kids quickly picking up skills. He started seeing the coaching and sports science knowledge as connected subjects, marrying the two together as he started coaching while still pursuing an education. His positions were part time, but he was still coaching about four days a week. The programs he was working for sent him to New York and New Jersey, which

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led to him living in the U.S for a couple years.

He went back to the UK to finish school and work with Sunderland, an English premier league, and their youth academy program.

He felt the importance of that position, as the U16’s he was coaching were at the point of evaluation, when they are assessed if they will be taken on full time. Again, to have gone through the same things as these kids did, Terry felt the weight and importance of coaching them, as it would influence their career paths.

On a return trip to America working for a UK based summer camp, Terry was offered an opportunity to coach at the Santa Barbara City College, and as his experience on the west coast had only been coaching at a camp in Lake Tahoe, he decided to try a new place. Standing at the soccer field he was to coach at, 100 yards from the ocean, he thought “I mean it’s sunny, it’s warm, it’s nice, or I could go back to the cold Northeast of England…”

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New Comradery Almost emulating being on a team again, I think both Terry and Rafa can agree that coaching and being involved with a team in any respect brings about a certain kind of comradery.

Many of Rafa’s favorite memories from coaching took place with his 2000-2001 MVLA team, the Vipers. Because he had them, since they were 8 or 9 years old up until they were 15, he really enjoyed seeing them grow not only as players, but off the field as well. This long term connection instilled a great amount of trust among the team, making it possible for them to travel to much more exotic locations than your local soccer tournament, like Sweden and Brazil. In recounting the last 2 years of having that team, Rafa describes it as an indescribable connection, where if they messed up on a play in a game, just by eye contact he could communicate with the team, not even having to say 22 a word. The players knew what was

expected from them, and what Rafa knew they were capable of. That bond is what Rafa misses the most, because the team, the families, and the managers were all great. The accomplishments with the team were extremely rewarding for Rafa, and for the players as well. One player who played for both Rafa’s team and Terry’s, Vinay Patel, says that Rafa was the main reason he continued to play soccer as a kid. Having both coaches at some point in his life, Vinay feels the two really helped shape him, on and off the field, into the person he is today.

Photo on previous page shot at one of Terry Wilson’s teams’ games.

Photo from interview with Vinay Patel.

Photo from one of players of when his team travelled to Sweden.

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Soccer In Life

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M a n y of Rafa’s philosophies are applicable to soccer and to life in general. Some things he’s noticed about coaching the current generation is that parents--many to the extent of helicopter parentsand technology are constants in kids’ lives today, meaning they’re overprotected as well as isolated from real connections due to phone obsession.

Brazil is often thought to have the highest murder rate in the world, and whether that can be proven or not, it is still commonly considered the murder capital of the world. Growing up and practicing soccer in such seemingly dangerous circumstances, Rafa was extremely independent as a kid. He never thought of himself as poor, more so middle class, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have to make tough decisions, such as whether he would use the money he had for the day to buy lunch or pay for the bus ride home. It wasn’t necessarily that his parents forced him to make this decision by refusing to drive him, but rather it was a responibility he took on himself. As early as the age of 10, Rafa would cross two major thoroughfares to get to soccer practice each day. Things like this, that teach independence and responsibility, are almost unheard of today, particularly in the Silicon Valley.

Parents today are often very focused on getting results, and having their kid be the best.

However Rafa feels it is important to develop good players and good citizens, and that if soccer is a kids passion they will put in the work.

Rafa and Terry both have young kids, and actually share quite similar philosophies in letting their kids try new things and pursue their passions without

being over sheltered when doing so. Emulating how they coach their teams, they hope their children will find something they really enjoy, whether it’s soccer or not. One particular example of this is when Rafa’s daughter first started out trying soccer, at the age of 6.

I asked her how was it? She looked at me like 6 years old. ‘Daddy, you know what, it’s too much bumpy, too much running, I was too sweaty I don’t like it.’ Ok, you just gonna keep doing swimming. She does swim team today and she plays water polo. That’s enough for me, if shes happy, you know…”

The independence Rafa tries to instill in his kids is not to say that there aren’t rules for them though--in fact, quite the opposite. One issue Rafa has noticed is that parents today are often concerned with being their kids friend, something Rafa does not agree with. In his opinion, kids need guidelines, especially when it comes to the frequence of technology use. In one interview, Rafa briefly discussed how, as punishment, he will take his young daughter’s phone away; this is one way to curb the generation off of technology, as kids today are extremely reliant on it.

Another way I feel the two are helping instill good values into their players and getting them away from their phones is simply by getting them active, because when children are too enveloped in their phone to get outside and build basic social skills, as certain studies show the result is youth who feel isolated, anxious, and depressed.

Statistics from an article in The Atlantic.

Photo on previous page of player receiving a yellow card for a foul.

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After Fame

O n e major thing that Terry and Rafa both had to deal with after ending soccer professionally was going back to a regular life after their time in the limelight. Though it was to different extents, the two both received a certain kind of recognition that, after ending their professional soccer careers, was for the most part lost. While Terry experienced the kind of fame that comes with playing for a top team, Rafa was more recognized in his own town, although to a big degree; he was often featured in radio shows and recognized out in public. However, both coaches today have found a new kind of satisfaction and ggraticiation in coaching, as well as in raising their kids. As for the future, both of them hope to continue to focus on their careers, as well as make more time for family.

Top photo: Terry Wilson during a professional match.

Bottom photo: Rafa Soares with his team.

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“...The loss of people wanting to know you and talk to you all the time, signing autographs, you’re not quite that person, you know you’re not in their eyes as much.”

Terry Wilson

“But she doesn’t have an idea right [about Rafa’s experience playing pro], I think she got a little bit of hint when we went back to Brazil, we went back to my home town in 2012, then people stopping me in the streets talking to me, and she goes ‘Oh dad you know a lot of people,’ and I was like ‘Yeah I know.’”

Rafa Soares

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Conclusion

A lot lies ahead for Rafa and Terry, both wanting to continue their careers as coaches as well as focus more on fatherhood, seeing as they both have youmg kids. Upon speculation, Rafa came to realize he would rather not coach a higher level than he already does, as at a certain point the professional world becomes too political. Terry hopes to expand his career, however to spend less time coaching and taking on other jobs for his club so he has more time with his kids.

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Works Cited Twenge, Jean M. “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?� The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 19 Mar. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/hasthe-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/.

Wilson, Terry. Personal Interview 3/12/18, 4/26/18 Soares, Rafa. Personal interview 3/7/18, 4/5/18

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Biography

Melissa Pinkner is a film student at Freestyle Academy and a Junior at Mountain View High School. She enjoys being active which she maintains through her job at Gold Star Gymnastics, being a part of Mountain View High School’s gymnastics team, and spending a lot of time outdoors. She also has experience playing soccer for clubs when she was younger, and more recently in the recreational AYSO league. She loves to sing and has participated in choirs and solo performing.

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Life After Professional Soccer

Melissa Pinkner