On Friday, January 8, 2015, Jesuit High School paid tribute to what they called “the Founding Fathers” of Jesuit Soccer, honoring the inaugural squad from 1974-75, a “mere” 40 years ago. Well, count Warren as being one of those Founders. At halftime during the Jesuit-TC soccer game, we were recognized on the field. The announcer went so far as to call us “legends” of Jesuit soccer. Now, that was being kind and was a bit of a stretch, but it was nice for us pioneers to get a little shout-out.
After all, back in our day, soccer in Tampa was essentially brand new, and we weren’t even technically a team, only a club. As such, we had no budget, and it showed! We played on a field where a good percentage of the “turf” masqueraded as dirt. If we got a lot of rain, you could count on standing water in front of the goals. Our goal itself had a curiously sagging cross bar, and if the ball got kicked out of play down the street, we knew we had to go running after it, since it was probably our only ball.
For all my four years, we toiled in virtual anonymity as a club. Then just a few years later, Jesuit soccer quickly became one of the premier programs in the entire state and has now amassed six state titles in all, the most of any sport at Jesuit. Imagine the surprise and pride we felt over the years as the program blossomed. And while we would have loved to have shared in the greater heights that the program attained, no one would have traded the experiences and fun we had, scrimmaging in the heat as Shirts v. Skins under the watchful eye of our beloved coach, Mr. Rodeiro, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Good times.
What a wonderful night this was, reuniting with teammates we hadn’t seen in 40 years and enjoying a tip of the hat from our old school!
And back in ’78, with yours truly in the back row, fourth from the right: