The Ball is Round II
The following entry was started in late November but was never fully published. I can't for the life of me remember why I stopped writing but I'm sure it had to do something with Thanksgiving break at home, graduate school finals, Christmas break at home, and finally New Years here in the city. At any rate, I hope you enjoy it.
It was about six weeks ago, on a Friday night, that a fellow graduate classmate spoke to me about a club soccer team at The New School. The next day I got up and made my way from Bushwick to the practice site (pier40). It was the first time, since my brief stint living in Buenos Aires, that I took the subway(soccer ball in hand) with the destination of playing soccer. Upon arriving at Pier 40, I was really pleased to see that there was, in fact, a New School club soccer team in the works. There were about twenty players, both male and female, working on ball control drills. They were led by an undergraduate student who I now know to be Ashim Joshi or as his peers call him - "Ash". As I understand it, Ash and some fellow teammates came up with the idea of creating a club soccer team at The New School last spring. They wanted to tap into the unrefined and under-appreciated athletic talent pool that The New School has at its disposal but very rarely let shine. This is almost all due to the fact that The New School is not an NCAA affiliated institution and that no student enrolls in The New School with dreams of becoming a professional athlete. Although, in some sense last spring Ash and his friends were dreaming. The New School had never had a club soccer team but that didn't mean that it wasn't full of soccer players.
* * * * *
It was about six weeks ago, on a Friday night, that a fellow graduate classmate spoke to me about a club soccer team at The New School. The next day I got up and made my way from Bushwick to the practice site (pier40). It was the first time, since my brief stint living in Buenos Aires, that I took the subway(soccer ball in hand) with the destination of playing soccer. Upon arriving at Pier 40, I was really pleased to see that there was, in fact, a New School club soccer team in the works. There were about twenty players, both male and female, working on ball control drills. They were led by an undergraduate student who I now know to be Ashim Joshi or as his peers call him - "Ash". As I understand it, Ash and some fellow teammates came up with the idea of creating a club soccer team at The New School last spring. They wanted to tap into the unrefined and under-appreciated athletic talent pool that The New School has at its disposal but very rarely let shine. This is almost all due to the fact that The New School is not an NCAA affiliated institution and that no student enrolls in The New School with dreams of becoming a professional athlete. Although, in some sense last spring Ash and his friends were dreaming. The New School had never had a club soccer team but that didn't mean that it wasn't full of soccer players.
After about five minutes of participating in the drills, Ash and I met and he asked if I was the guy who wanted to help out as a coach. I said that I was in fact that guy and this response seemed to please him as he said, "Great! I'd love to just focus on playing". The rest of the practice seems like a blur now but my hopes of helping out on the technical and tactical side of the team was in motion.
I'm going to now fast forward to this past Saturday, the 23rd of November. In between that first practice and this past weekend, I met with the team about four times. During these practices, we worked on everything from set-pieces, to possession drills, to improving our first touch , to even talking about our defensive shape, etc. I could talk for much longer about each individual practice and what I wanted the team to gain from each session but even I find this soccer babble to be boring. So, I'll save you the boring stuff and let's fast forward to this past Saturday. A day that will undoubtedly always be remembered in the minds of those who played and those who came to watch.
The New School's inaugural club soccer game started around 2:00 PM on this past Saturday, the 23rd of November. Before I get into the game itself, I'd like to talk about the unique dynamic of the team as a whole. Soccer or football(not the Tom Brady type) has and always will be the world's sport, so it's no surprise that the team would be made up of mostly international students. Out of the seventeen players, there are more than 11 countries represented and about 13 different languages spoken. There are undergraduate and graduate students. There are sixteen males and one female. There are two goal keepers and 15 field players.
From what I can remember, it was cold. In an anxious dash out of my house, I forgot to grab a hat and was lucky enough that a New School friend, Vanessa Palacio, brought me one. Due to the rather limited space before the game, the team was unable to do a proper warm-up and considering the weather that day we were lucky that no one pulled muscles or sustained a long-term injury. The game, like any other soccer game before it, was 90 minutes. At half-time we found ourselves behind by two goals. While we had scored first, we had managed to give up three soft goals including an own goal. The feeling at half-time was indicative of the entire first half's run of play - that we, while behind, were in control of our own destiny. The players felt confident in a second half come-back but would that be enough to overturn a three goal deficit? Not only did we dominate possession and have the lion's share of opportunities on goal but we kept a clean sheet, which in my opinion, was the most impressive part of the second half. With about twenty minutes left on the clock, we scored our second goal of the half and third of the game. It was at this point where we abandoned the need to defend and adopted a more adventurous approach to the game along the lines of - "the best defense is a good offense". I don't actually remember in what minute the final goal was scored but it had to have been in the closing moments of the game. The eight to ten minutes following the scoring of the fourth and winning goal were some of the longest moments in my personal sporting career.
When the final whistle blew, all the fans that had gathered to watch, for many of them their first soccer game, charged the field. We had done it. We had won our first game. They say that you're only as good as your last game and when your entire season is only one game you have a unique opportunity to go big or go home. We were lucky enough to do both. We won and then we went home. I'd say bout 93% of the New School student body has absolutely no idea that the New School even has a Club Soccer team. The players from that day, all 17 of them, left the field that day like they had played in the final game in the movie Varsity Blues but returned to classes on Monday as if nothing had ever happened. The post game celebratory feeling will forever be ingrained in those who there on that windy November day. The Narwhals had done it(Yes, that's the New School's mascot). We had won our first game.
I'm currently working with the school's director of athletics to organize games for this spring. If you're in the New York City area this spring and want to see some good soccer, let me know! As soon as I have information on the spring schedule I'll be sure to put it up here. This link will take you take the New School's athletic website which has the official game write-up. Until next time, stay warm and play indoor soccer!
* * * * *
From what I can remember, it was cold. In an anxious dash out of my house, I forgot to grab a hat and was lucky enough that a New School friend, Vanessa Palacio, brought me one. Due to the rather limited space before the game, the team was unable to do a proper warm-up and considering the weather that day we were lucky that no one pulled muscles or sustained a long-term injury. The game, like any other soccer game before it, was 90 minutes. At half-time we found ourselves behind by two goals. While we had scored first, we had managed to give up three soft goals including an own goal. The feeling at half-time was indicative of the entire first half's run of play - that we, while behind, were in control of our own destiny. The players felt confident in a second half come-back but would that be enough to overturn a three goal deficit? Not only did we dominate possession and have the lion's share of opportunities on goal but we kept a clean sheet, which in my opinion, was the most impressive part of the second half. With about twenty minutes left on the clock, we scored our second goal of the half and third of the game. It was at this point where we abandoned the need to defend and adopted a more adventurous approach to the game along the lines of - "the best defense is a good offense". I don't actually remember in what minute the final goal was scored but it had to have been in the closing moments of the game. The eight to ten minutes following the scoring of the fourth and winning goal were some of the longest moments in my personal sporting career.
When the final whistle blew, all the fans that had gathered to watch, for many of them their first soccer game, charged the field. We had done it. We had won our first game. They say that you're only as good as your last game and when your entire season is only one game you have a unique opportunity to go big or go home. We were lucky enough to do both. We won and then we went home. I'd say bout 93% of the New School student body has absolutely no idea that the New School even has a Club Soccer team. The players from that day, all 17 of them, left the field that day like they had played in the final game in the movie Varsity Blues but returned to classes on Monday as if nothing had ever happened. The post game celebratory feeling will forever be ingrained in those who there on that windy November day. The Narwhals had done it(Yes, that's the New School's mascot). We had won our first game.
Warm-up Vista.
The team playing "possession" to warm-up.
Pre-Game team photo with the President(center) and Athletic Director(right).
Unfortunately, I was unable to take any photos during the game. The following photos are from the post-game celebration.
Gnarls - New School Mascot
Thanks Vanessa for the hat and the sign!
I'm currently working with the school's director of athletics to organize games for this spring. If you're in the New York City area this spring and want to see some good soccer, let me know! As soon as I have information on the spring schedule I'll be sure to put it up here. This link will take you take the New School's athletic website which has the official game write-up. Until next time, stay warm and play indoor soccer!
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