See the kid up above in the pink, taking a goal kick? Yeah, you guessed it, that was me! For as long as I can remember, I have loved playing sports (particularly soccer) and have been fortunate to be athletic enough to participate in several organized sports through the years. I think a lot of this yearning for sports was spurred on by older brothers who also loved sports, and as I covered a few blog posts back, I really wanted to be one of the guys. Outside of organized sports, I have spent countless hours practicing all kinds of sport from tennis to soccer to golf (I have a good story about golf that I will share some other time). All of the time spent playing with my brothers or by myself paid off, as I have been able to have a diverse, exciting career in organized sports.
The Mississippi Years: "One Sport Only!"
Living in Mississippi definitely gets a lot of the credit for my later prowess on the soccer field. In the town we lived in, we received a lot of quality training from semi-pro players, and were exposed to a basically never ending soccer season. The weather in Mississippi, as anyone who has visited it can tell you, is very hot all year long! This heat allowed us to play year-round athletics, whereas New England has very clear obstacles that one must get around in order to play an outdoor sport all year.
Due to the nature of a year-round season, it made sense that my parents implemented a one sport only rule during our time in Mississippi. Athletics were expensive and they just didn't have the time to tote four kids to different sports all around Mississippi. At the time, I was too young to play travel soccer, so I did rec, where we had a couple of games and practices per week (those specifics I don't really remember). For one season, however, I was able to play baseball, and that is where I will begin.
The Yellow Team (Baseball):
I can honestly say that I do not remember much from my very short-lived baseball career. I do know that I was on the yellow team and that there is photo evidence that I played baseball. I also remember that the specific league that I was in was a coach pitch league. I vaguely remember running the bases as well as making some plays in the field, so I was at least able to hold my own (I think). I also know for a fact that I was not a fun person to be around if we ever lost (and that went with every sport). My most vivid memory of my one season of baseball, however, came not on the field, but at the year-end team party. At the party (a pool party, in a gated community, if my memory serves me correctly) each player received a participation trophy for a job well-done in our games. I got my trophy, looked down at the name, and read Noah Spoffaro. I guess that they thought I was Italian. My family all got a kick out of the misspelling (coincidentally not the only time my last name has been misspelled).
The Yellow Team (Soccer):
The first soccer team that I played on was "the yellow team." I have very little recollection of playing on this team, but I do know that for some reason, I ended up playing on a lot of yellow teams throughout my soccer career. I also remember that I wore white cleats (what a boss).
Blimpie (The Pink Team):
As I aged up in Mississippi, I entered a league in which each team was sponsored by a local business. The first team sponsor that I played for was Blimpie. I don't think I have ever eaten at a Blimpie, but I do know that it is quite similar to Subway or Amato's. It was in the league that I really started to stand out for my play. Prior to and while playing in this league, I spent a lot of time practicing my own skills on the sidelines of my older brothers games. I spent hours juggling, and was rarely spotted without a soccer ball. I was also fortunate enough to be able to play with my older brothers in the yard, which helped me stay fearless against kids who were the same size as I was. One valuable skill that I learned when I was playing on Blimpie was the slide tackle (taught to me by Joe). In the specific league that I was playing in, goalies were not yet allowed to use their hands, so therefore had to make saves with their feet. The new found slide tackling skill became priceless. In the game I played directly after I learned this new skill, I immediately put it into practice. The coach put me in at goalie (see me above taking a goal kick) and I was a brick wall. Anytime any the other team came close with the ball, I ran out of the net and slide tackled the ball away (A pretty impressive skill set for a first grader). I was also one of the few kids at that age that had a brief idea of positions and didn't spend the entire game swarming around the ball like a pack of bees. If I was outside the pack and the ball got to me, I would be all by myself with the goalie!
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| Check out those cars in the background! |
Baptist Hospital (The Red Team):
This team was cool for a couple of reasons: 1. My Mom and another family friend were the coach and 2. my Dad worked at Baptist Hospital, so I was pretty proud of our sponsor. I don't really remember what it was like having my mother as a coach, but I'm sure I didn't mind it. She wasn't really the type to be an overbearing coach, more like the kill them with kindness type. While I was playing on Baptist, I also learned a new move from my older brothers that would stay in my arsenal for the rest of my life: the pass to myself around the defender move. For a second grader to be pulling out those kind of moves, was advanced to say the least. Since I was one of the older kids in my grade, I was placed in the league that consisted mostly of kids from the grade above mine. Since I grew up playing with my older brothers and their friends, this was a welcome challenge. Even as a second grader, when I stepped onto the field, I had the confidence that I could compete with any of my opponents, older or younger. The only game that I have ever been filmed by my family occurred while I was playing on Baptist. My aunt and uncle (who had a video camera) came down to Mississippi to visit us and video taped it. Watching it back, it was clear that I was one of the better players and that I loved the pass the ball to myself move. It was definitely my signature move for a while. It was great that they filmed the game, but they arrived to the game a little bit late, and missed my game winning goal.
Pizza Hut (The Yellow Team)(THE RAGE):
When I entered third grade I was picked up by a team that was sponsored by Pizza Hut (which made for a really great end of the season party). We were called the rage. I'm not sure how that name originated, but we liked it! This team was by far the most skilled team I had played on to date. Most of the kids on the team were a year older and thus a year more developed. Playing on this team challenged me to step my game up, and that I did. Most of the clear memories I have of my early days of soccer came while I was playing on this team. I am going to digress for a moment to say that playing soccer in Mississippi was so special to me, because the league I was in and the teams I played on were so concerned with skill building. The adults in the system weren't obsessed with winning (I was) and allowed players to get playing time to help them grow in confidence on the field. The emphasis on fundamentals really helped as I got older. Anyways, back to THE RAGE. There was no trophy or reward for record in this league (just a trophy for participation), but I did not ever want to lose. I remember losing one game during my time on this team and boy was I upset. My parents had to console me while I bawled on the sidelines following the game. As I remember, we played that team again later in the season and beat them (just for good measure). At one point in that season, we won a 10-7 offensive battle: I scored 7 of our team's goals. It was during my time on this team that I made my first all-star game and got to participate in a competition against other town's best players. Down in Mississippi, this was a really cool process, as they had an opening ceremony the night before the tournament. Unfortunately our team did not have a great amount of success, but it was a really cool experience.
The move to Maine:
WYSA (A collective memory):
We moved to Maine when I was going into fourth grade. Needless to say, my love of soccer did not die with the move. In fact, soccer was the only non-school sport that I played in an organized fashion in Maine. My first exposure to soccer in Maine came not too long after our move, as my parents signed me up for an age group league. One benefit of living in Waterville was that unlike a lot of towns in Maine, there was actually a reasonably strong feeder program for soccer. My time playing in WYSA definitely helped me learn to become a much more gracious loser. Due to the nature of the league, there was a variety of skill levels on each time and a very equal amount of playing time. In my first game ever, we lost 6-4 (I scored three). The team we consisted had some really good players (Jochem, Juice, and Teddy) and it really forced me to step my game up. Following the game, a couple of the parents approached my parents and asked if I would be interested in playing on the local travel team, The Maine Novas. Obviously, I was thrilled and told my parents that of course I wanted to play! Luckily, my parents were supportive and I was able to get a spot on the team. The only catch was that they had already given out all their uniforms, so I had to come up with a yellow jersey. This wouldn't be a problem, since I got to keep my Pizza Hut jersey!
Maine Novas (Yes, another yellow team):
Playing on the Novas was such an important part of my life for the next eight or so years. I met most of my closest friends and generated bonds with longtime teammates by playing with this team. It definitely took me a little bit of time to get used to the styles of play of my teammates, but shortly after starting, I got the knack of things really quickly. We had a really good team and competed very closely with the best teams throughout the state of Maine. Our closest competition always came during the regional finals, when we would face Bangor or Ellsworth/Black Bear United (a collection of players from the Ellsworth/Belfast/Bar Harbor area). For whatever reason, we always seemed to get stuck and lose a painfully close one to Black Bear (I think most of our players were already thinking about hockey season). During my time playing with the Novas, we won one state championship, and boy was it a memorable one. We were playing Scarborough and were down 1-0 going into halftime. We had already played the semi-final earlier that day, so we were pretty exhausted, but we got our oranges and re-energized for the second half. The Scarborough team had a really big for his age sweeper that we were having trouble getting around. Finally with about 15 minutes left, Matt broke through and scored the goal that tied the game. We finally had life! With about 10 minutes left, I received a pass near the top of the eighteen yard box, beat one defender and shot the ball as hard as I could. I watched the ball, as it sailed towards the goal. It felt good off my foot, I just hoped it was on target. The ball struck the post (thankfully it was round), and deflected into the goal. The team went CRAZY! We were playing in Winslow, so many of the parents and siblings were able to come out to watch. The crowd cheered loudly and I celebrated so hard that I nearly had to be substituted out of the game. We survived the last 10 minutes to escape with a thrilling 2-1 victory! As seventh graders, we were elated. The team naturally changed throughout my time on it, but the core stayed the same. When we weren't playing, we spent a lot of time carpooling together and hanging out (especially when I moved to Mathews Ave). Unfortunately, the team was composed of players from several towns in the area, so as we went to Middle and High School, we were competing against many of our teammates. This made victories against them so much sweeter and defeat was bitter, but we remained friends and teammates in travel soccer. We played in a golden age of the Maine Novas and had a great amount of success for the program, including wins in the Coastal Challenge and the Falmouth Fall Classic. (If anyone reading this has a picture of any of the Novas teams, I would love to post it on this! Share it with me!)
Maine Terriers:
This was the last team that I played on that wasn't associated with school. As I got older, many of my friends were focusing on other sports (mostly hockey) and didn't have as much time to devote to playing travel soccer. I had played against many of my teammates, but there was definitely a longer adjustment period learning how to play with them. We were competitive in our games, but I never felt as cohesive with this group as I had playing with the Novas. Playing on the Terriers did present the opportunity to travel out of state to play in tournaments as well as competing in the state Snicker's Cup to have the opportunity to play in the Atlantic Regionals. Unfortunately, we never made it that far, because there was one team that pulled ODP players from all over the state and was regularly one of the strongest competitors at regionals. They often walked all over their Maine opponents (they beat us 6-0 on the dreariest of days).
Soon, I will talk about my jr. high and high school career, which was met with a lot of successes and growing experiences!
Until next time!
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