Hey everyone! I was fortunate enough to be able to collaborate with Andrew Martin and be a guest writer on a his platform called The Union Report (link), which discusses all topics related to Monterey Bay FC. Today’s newsletter is the same words that I wrote on Andrew’s blog. Go ahead and check out all things Union Report via the link I shared whenever you have time!
Have any of you guys ever thought about what professional football would look like without fans? Sometimes it’s easy to take the people who support us for granted, but if we are able to recognize the crucial roles they play in our lives, we can prevent that from happening. In this post, I am going to talk about the impact of fans on my journey and how they make football what it is today.
Lets get moving!
Juggling the ball on Easter, April 2016
Towards the end of my sixth grade year, my father put on a Champions League (UCL) knockout match with Borussia Dortmund (BVB) and Juventus. The game was being played at the Signal Iduna Park in Germany in front of 80,000 fans! If you’re an avid fan of football, I am sure that you have heard of Dortmund’s famous Yellow Wall that has thousands of fans jumping up and down in unison for 90 minutes straight.
At that time, I was around 11 or 12 years old and was obsessed with soccer but I was afraid to admit that I wanted to be a professional footballer. That is a scary thing to tell yourself, you know? All you ever hear is that less than one percent of people get to be a pro. Growing up, my parents always told my brother and I that we could achieve anything that we put our minds to if we worked hard at it. They believed in me before anyone else did, and they still do. But I had to acknowledge and accept my dream myself before I could express it to anyone else.
So how did I come out of my shell and gain the courage to accept my dreams? It was the fans from that UCL game. Seriously. Seeing all of those supporters jumping, screaming, and being fully immersed while some of the best players in the world were playing made me feel seen. It made me feel understood. That was probably one of the first moments where I realized that my crazy passion for football was shared by so many other people. After that, all I could think about was trying to find a way to be able to play in an environment like that—in front of people who cared about the sport as much as I did. I could be sitting in class, taking a test in school and all I’d be thinking about was the next time I could touch the ball or some play that I had in a game from the prior weekend. I even started to get into listening to Ultras, another name for fans, from BVB, Barca, Real Madrid, Boca Jrs. and more teams on YouTube… repeatedly. There’s just something about the energy that I can't step away from.
Dortmund’s Yellow Wall during a UCL clash with PSG, February 2020
Being a player for Monterey Bay FC and having been a player for El Paso Locomotive, I have been fortunate enough to play in front of passionate fans and intense atmospheres across the country. Having a packed out stadium at night and under the lights is all you can ask for as a footballer. I mean where else would you rather be than performing in front of people who live and breathe the game? In Monterey, we have people like Rubén and the rest of the Hinchada Del Valle De Salinas, banging on the drums and singing their songs for 90 minutes every weekend to create an environment that gives us energy on the pitch.
I remember playing Monterey back in 2022, back when I was with El Paso. Our captain, Yuma, did something that rubbed the whole stadium the wrong way. I wish I could remember what it was, but it doesn’t surprise me that Yuma got under people’s skin. He is just one of those guys that you want on your team but that you hate to play against. After that, the whole stadium booed him every time he touched the ball for the rest of the game. And I mean the entire stadium! That even happened again this year when we played El Paso in June. The whole stadium got upset with Palermo Ortiz (their right center back) for flopping, and they booed him until he got subbed off due to injury. There is something about El Paso players that Monterey fans don’t seem to like… It was wild, but that is the kind of energy that makes professional football what it is.
Post game picture, February 2025
The people who bring their time, energy, and money to support their teams are a huge reason as to why athletes are able to achieve their dreams. Fans are what make the environment special. Passion, obsession, and drive has helped me through so many difficult times throughout my journey and they’ll continue to carry me forward in this sport, but all of those things were sparked by devoted fans and lovers of the beautiful game. Thank you all so much.
