Yoshua Munoz discusses his journey of finding fulfillment through soccer. Initially feeling unproductive at home, he discovered that being outside opened new opportunities. Yoshua joined a pickup soccer app, which led to regular games and a sense of community. This participation then led to volunteering for a soccer tournament and connecting with the app’s co-owner. Additionally, He joined Deji’s team, which competes in a new third division of the U.S. men’s football association. Yoshua’s dedication and proactive approach have resulted in significant personal growth and integration into the soccer community.
(Summary generated by Otter.AI)
TRANSCRIPT:
Allyson Abadiano: How come you’re never home?
Yoshua Munoz: I feel like I just always had to be doing something. I can’t help but feel like when I’m home, I’m not getting anything done, even if I’m like, trying to do something productive under this roof. I feel like I’m not living to the fullest unless I’m outside. But I won’t lie, sometimes when I’m outside, I feel like I’m wasting my time and I should be home. But recently, being outside has really opened a lot of opportunities, and it really made me realize that sometimes you just gotta show up to things for things to happen.
AA: What do you mean? What kind of opportunities?
YM: Well, even when I was young, I realized that sometimes all you really need is a conversation with the right person. And I mean, as a kid, there’s only so much we can get done. And the older I got, I try to keep that in mind. And whenever I felt like there was somebody interesting in the room, I will do my best to talk to them.
And all it really takes is for you to be in the same place for that happen, and a little bit of courage, you know, you got to go up to the person and ask them how they’re doing and how’s the day. And, you know, try to kind of ease yourself into actually having the conversation the type of conversation you want with this person. But now, there’s, there’s countless scenarios where I can make an example out of what I mean, but as of recent, I’ve kind of shifted my attention. to different things, nothing too out of the ordinary, but I’m a person that can’t just decide on being one thing for the rest of their lives and I also came to realize that I can do everything at once.
So I decided to kind of do things in sequential order. And the only way I thought about, the only, the only way it made sense to like line up these things is like, what am I capable of doing right now? And I can’t leave till later. And for me, that’s football. Um, I’ve loved this since I was a kid. Unfortunately, when it comes to soccer in the U.S., a lot of these things are pay-to-play. And I mean, as a kid, that kind of makes it a lot difficult when you’re not the one making money in the household. Of course, you’re not like, I’m down here. But do you have all the youth and the energy to do those things? Now? I feel like I’m in my prime, but I guess it is towards the end of my adulthood, but I still feel capable. So I decided the first thing I’m going to give my all to is soccer.
Um, now there’s been a couple things I’ve decided to do that aren’t that major that kind of led me to where I’m at right now. So, um, this journey probably starts maybe three weeks ago.
Um, first I started, uh, realizing that, like, I really want to play football and I’m not going to be young forever. So without, you know, stressing myself out too much and thinking about it, I decided to go to the park and kick the ball around. Usually there’s other kids there, and we’ll play like a pickup game. But I should look to the field, and saw that not only was it locked, but there was not a single person in the whole field, and that kind of bummed me out, and I kicked the ball around a little bit, but it wasn’t fulfilling. It wasn’t what I wanted to feel like, Oh yeah, I’m playing soccer right now.
So I remember that a while back I saw an app, an ad for an app on Instagram. For pickup soccer games that are all over the city, and you just gotta pay a small fee, maybe like $10 bucks, and you get a whole hour of a dedicated field and a bunch of other dedicated people, so you guys could all play a game together. And I thought, screw it, I’m gonna give it a shot.
And I did that, and I showed up, and it was great experience. Instead of just sitting in a park alone, kicking the ball, I had a full-fledged soccer match with a bunch of other soccer players. I love soccer, and since that day, I’ve been going almost every day now, with a short notice. The app actually announces a soccer tournament partnered up with the Spanish Soccer League.
And I thought, wow, this is a chance to really show what I got. Now, when I saw for the when I saw the ad for the tournament, I saw that the deadline for the players was already passed. So I felt like, Damn, I missed my opportunity to play, but they were asking for volunteers for that. And I thought, hey, if I’m going, I might as well be worth it. So I signed up.
I kept playing on the app, still playing soccer every day in one of those pickup games, I met. His name’s Deji, but I met a dude, and he was telling me how he plays for this club out in Huntington Beach. And I followed him. I followed the club, and in that time, the next day, I get a call from the app saying that they’re interested in me volunteering and that there’s also still some available spots to play in. And I was excited after two weeks of deciding that I’m gonna play soccer and actually giving my all, I get an opportunity to play in the tournament and an opportunity to help organize the tournament, which I love football, to the point where not only do I love the game, but I love the community it creates how People all over the world are able to connect through soccer, and even if I’m not able to be a professional soccer player, to be a part of any part of that is more than enough for me. So super excited about this tournament. Tournament day comes, tournament goes great.
I don’t win the tournament. Bummer. I did score a goal. I did make it to semifinals. I did not win the tournament. But even better, I had a conversation with the co owner of the app, discuss some of my ideas with him, and was actually super interested and asked for my number. Now, from three weeks ago, sitting alone in a park, just think about how, how am I going to make soccer my life now I’m participating in events and having connections with people that are actually making an impact and space that I want to make the impact of now that’s already great. I’m already super excited. I’m happy about it. Couple days later, I see that the team of my friend Deji that I just met playing pickup soccer is having tryouts, and that’s where I was at yesterday. Now it’s all the way to Huntington beach that’s Orange County, and it was prime traffic guy. It was a two hour drive. I said, “Screw it.” I drove all over there. I got there, gave my best and I made the team. Now it’s not just any team. It’s a team that participates in the newly added third division of the U.S. men’s football associated type of thing. Don’t quote me on that. It’s, you know, it’s probably called something else. The point is, it’s they participate in the third division, which is a new division, and it’s a lot more serious. It kind of gives opportunity for amateur players to MAKE IT pro, and none of this was going to happen if I wasn’t outside.
(Transcript by Otter.AI)
