Positions | Defense

Name: Victor Duran González
Age: 40s
First Played: Age 9
Years Playing: 40

“mi equipo favorito es Pumas de la Universidad de México. Desde entonces recuerdo que me gustaba ver como tocaban el balón, como hacían jugadas y desde entonces me hice fan de ellos y me gusta mucho su fútbol.”

“My favorite team is the Pumas, the team sponsored by the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico [UNAM]. I remember I liked the way they moved the ball, the way they set up plays, and I have been a fan of them ever since.”

Victor Duran González takes a philosophical approach to the game. He is interested in the ways soccer reveals the values people hold. His favorite team – the Pumas in Mexican first division – are known for developing players from within their system and then releasing them to the other teams, cultivating talent for the point of cultivating talent. Like a school or a university.

This approach carries through to the reason why he plays. The exercise might be necessary, but he appreciates the art of the game, of the collective, and the intellectual challenge each game poses. For him, it is the sense of conviviality alongside the movement and the time outside that make the time investment necessary and worthwhile.

Locations Played:

• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Celaya, Guanajuato
• Mexico City, Mexico
• UNAM Stadium, Mexico City, Mexico

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Victor Duran González, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Victor Duran González, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Kirsha Haverlah
Age:
First Played: Age 10
Years Playing: 25

“The camaraderie of the people that I've known for a long time, and then the new people you meet. People from all walks of life come together to paly this sport, and you know, you don't know them outside of the game, but it's nice to see them again. You might have a shake with them, the people just out of college, or people in graduate school, or people getting their doctorate, or whatever.”

Kirsha Haverlah started playing soccer in Austin close to when soccer started in the schools across Austin. This has given her a ground-zero understanding of the changes in Austin and of soccer in Austin. She comments on the way soccer maintains a level of continuity for people in Austin and provides an avenue for others to enter a community as well. Her experience with soccer overlaps with the creation of soccer-specific spaces in Travis County, allowing for fewer injuries and more players.

Locations Played:

• Bartholomew Middle School | Austin, Texas
• Travis High School | Austin, Texas
• Mendez Middle School | Austin, Texas
• Zilker Park | Austin, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Soccer Zone | Austin, TX
• Austin Indoor Soccer | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Kirsha Haverlah, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Kirsha Haverlah, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Patricia Jistel
Age: 62
First Played: Age 7
Years Playing: 35

“I like the fun and the risk. And getting out and trying really hard. Learning how to be better. “

Patricia Jistel started playing out of curiosity. Like many others, her first games happened on the IBM fields in north Austin. She then branched out into league games. She already had experience with her kids and nieces and nephews playing with the Y, but this gave her a chance to prove herself, “try really hard” and contribute to a team, something she has done with the Rebels for the last 35 years.

Locations Played:

• Waco, Texas
• IBM Fields | Austin, Texas
• Mendez Middle School | Austin, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Patricia Jistel, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Patricia Jistel, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Michael Kahoe Marmolejo
Age: 49
First Played: Age 29
Years Playing: 20

“And my mom enrolled me in the...the Y, and I played soccer then. Um, but I didn't like it. It was in El Paso and I remember I didn't like it. I didn't enjoy it. Uh, I was kind of shy so um, I played for a few games and that was it.”

“Um, the team aspect. It was just really...it was fun. It was enjoyable. It was fun, uh, with the community, the friends, the friendships that were created.”

Michael Kahoe’s experience with soccer challenges set ideas about border life and Mexican Americans. He grew up in El Paso, but soccer was something you played at the Y, a distance from home. It wasn’t until he had more experience with team sports, more experience with moving and settling into a new place, and with a different set of friends that he started playing a more committed game. Since his second start, he has coached various high school teams, managed two teams and become a key part of the victories on his league teams.

Locations Played:

• El Paso YMCA | El Paso, Texas
• New York City, New York
• Del Valle High | Del Valle, TX
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Northeast Municipal Park, Pflugerville, Texas
• Texas State University | San Marcos, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Michael Kahoe Marmolejo, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Michael Kahoe Marmolejo, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Rebecca Klier
Age: 40s
First Played: Age 23
Years Playing: 20

“I don't like to run much, but I like to kick after a soccer ball.”

In 1994 the World Cup came to the United States. In 1995, Rebecca Klieer came to soccer, first through her brothers and then through her co-ed soccer team. She has been playing with this team since the mid 90s, because it is a “good team,” very friendly and fun.

Locations Played:

• University of Texas at Austin IM Fields | Austin, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Zilker Park | Austin, Texas
• Northeast Metro Park | Pflugerville, Texas
• Southeats Metro Park | Del Valle, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Rebecca Kleer, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Rebecca Kleer, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Martin Meraz
Age: 50s
First Played: Age 4
Years Playing: 54

“Los obstáculos los que tú te pongan, no hay más, ¿si me entiendes?, si tú te pones obstáculos no lo juegas.”

“Obstacles? The only obstacles to play are those you build for yourself. There are no more. If you put up obstacles, you will never play the way you want.”

Martin Meraz began playing soccer in Celaya and excelled. He played on the best clubs in the city. When he moved to Texas, he first played on a team in San Marcos, but when he found out about the city league in Austin, he started driving 45 minutes to two hours north to play organized soccer.

For him, Futbol is another beautiful thing, an activity that is consistently rewarding.

Locations Played:

• Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico
• San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato Mexico
• San Marcos, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Northeast Metro Park | Pflugerville, Texas
• East Metro Park | Manor, Texas

Additional Information

• Brandon Delgado, Interview with Martin Meraz, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• Brandon Delgado, Interview with Martin Meraz, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Futball (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Felipe Posada
Age: 63
First Played: Age 3
Years Playing: 60

“Jugábamos, en esa época, en ese entonces, jugábamos con un balón de costal, de medias, en la calle.”

When we played, in that time, back then we played with balls wrapped in burlap sacks stuffed with old socks, out there in the streets and alleys.

“Mis hijas jugaban, pero ya ahora se casaron, y ya no jugaron. Ellas sí jugaban.”

My daughters played. But they got married. And they are not playing anymore. But they did play.

Felipe Posada has always played in leagues, as long as he can remember leagues being available. A jack of all trades, he has played every position on the soccer field, and will play them all again, except for goalie. Soccer gives him a regular joy and connects him to a community. Clearly a path-breaker, he misses playing with his daughters, who have also gone on to bring up their children in soccer.

Locations Played:

• San Diego de la Unión, Guanajuato, Mexico
• Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico
• San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, Mexico
• San Luis Potosi, San Luis Potosi, Mexico
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Northeast Municipal Park | Pflugerville, Texas
• Southeast Metro Park | Del Valle, Texas
• Zilker Park | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Transcript from interview with Felipe Posada, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Felipe Posada, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (transcript audio, mp4 file)

Name: Mike Slenczka
Age: 48
First Played: Age
Years Playing: 44

“Soccer showed me the world.”

“I will say that I expected when I came down here, um, a much faster, uh, technically skilled game.”

The scene in Chicago shaped Mike Slencska’s experience of soccer. In high school, his team travelled across the United States repeatedly and had a couple of tours playing youth teams in Western Europe. As an adult, he played in the local leagues, one of them being a Mexican-majority league, probably befitting ‘the City of Neighborhoods.’ As he recalls, “soccer showed me the world.”

For Mike, soccer means thinking about the best way he can contribute to a team and the ways he can build a role for himself on the teams. The move to a year-round season shifted expectations and rhythms for him.

Locations Played:

• Chicago
• West Chicago
• Germany
• England
• Norway
• Finland
• Dallas, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Mike Slenczka, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Mike Slenczka, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)

Name: Karen Urquiza
Current Age: 20
First Played: Age 9
Years Playing: 11

“She's been playing since when she was 15, no 18 actually because she started when got here. After that she kept on playing, she scored a lot, she always had the luck shot. She fell in love with the sport so everyday she would be playing. There would be people inviting her, called all the time but she couldn't go over, she couldn't play.”

Karen Urquiza rejected soccer. Her mother loved the sport. She took Karen to games, hoping she would start enjoying the game as much as she did. For her mother, Austin became the place she learned to love and play soccer, and other players loved playing with her mother. This was not Karen Urquiza’s early experience with the game.

Locations Played:

• Mexico
• Millenium Kids | Austin, Texas
• Soccer Zone | Austin, Texas
• Mendez Middle School | Austin, Texas
• Del Valle High School | Del Valle, Texas
• Onion Creek Soccer Complex | Austin, Texas
• Zilker Park | Austin, Texas

Additional Information

• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Karen Urquiza, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (pdf file)
• John Mckiernan-González, Interview with Karen Urquiza, At Play: Futbol in the Land of Football (interview audio, mp4 file)