Soccer
[Click] 1898 Soccer in Pittsburgh (before my time)
1959 - My First Soccer
I first played soccer in the fall of 1959. I had just joined Maryknoll seminary as a junior in college, studying to be a Catholic foreign missionary. I continued playing until I left the seminary in 1964 (I saw the light) and went back home to Pittsburgh where there was not much opportunity to play.
[Click] 1980 Romulans (1980-present)
I came to Austin in 1978 and started playing again in early 1980 when friends at Motorola told me about a team they were forming. It was mostly Motorola guys and went by different names over the years (Rams - Random Access Memories), (Mosquitoes - Metal Oxide Semiconductors) and today (Romulans - Read Only Memories). We started off in the open age league.
1980-1997 My Youth Coaching Career
I coached youth soccer in the Town and Country organization for 17 years. I began with my son's under 6 team and coached them up through high school. Then I took on another team, and coached them up to high school. Town and Country always had good talent so we won a lot, despite my average coaching ability.
[Click] 1993 Real Macondo (1993-1999)
At one point I left the Romulan team because we were playing opponents who were much younger than I was. I accepted an invitation to join Real Macondo - Phil Friday's team - they were over-30. That was 1993, the year I turned 50. While I was on the Real Macondo team we once won the league championship (my only time on a championship team).
[Click] 1994 World Cup 1994 Dallas
In 1994 my son and I drove up to Dallas six times to see World Cup games. We saw the Brazil Netherlands game from midfield seats 8 rows up from the field. That was likely the best game of the tournament.
[Click] 1995-present Legends of Soccer
As a result of being on the Real Macondo team, I got invited to the Austin "Legends of Soccer" (nominated by John Rousseau). The "Legends" is a group of people who have played in Austin for a long time. Every year in the Spring, we have a tournament. In the past there were three teams and each team played the other two. These days as less people are fit enough to play, we only have two teams on a smaller field with small goals. It's nice to go and reminisce.
1999 Return to Original Team
As it turned out I have always been an average player at best and I was getting less playing time with Real Macondo. After a time the old original (Romulans) team moved up to over 30 so I returned to the old team (around 1999). So I went from the first place team to the last place team, but got much more playing time.
[Click] 2003 Vietnamese team (2003-present)
In 2003, Van Le from our current Romulan team came to interview for a job at Sun Microsystems, and when I saw that he played soccer, I invited him to join the Romulans (a great addition to the team). (We did hire him at Sun). Soon after, Van invited me to join him and his friends to play soccer one night a week. I continue to play with them every Friday night. Although they are much younger guys (40s - 50s), I regularly get at least an hour playing time (they are kind enough to tolerate this old guy).
[Click] 2009 Ray playing in the Sun Microsystems World Cup of Soccer (Madrid, Spain)
I had another adventure in 2009 when I worked at Sun Microsystems and went to Spain to play in the "Sun Microsystems World Cup of Soccer". Teams of employees from all over the world gathered at the Real Madrid practice facility and played in a mini tournament. There were two brackets and we (USA team) advanced in our bracket, only to lose on a penalty shootout in the second round game. At 65, I was the oldest player in the tournament.
2014 My first and only tattoo
[Click] 2017 July Over 70 tournament, Murfreesboro, TN
In 2017, I went to Murfreesboro TN to play in an over 70 tournament with some local guys and some guys from Dallas. We played small field with small goals. We had a great time despite not doing so well.
Current Romulan Team
We (Romulans) are now in over-50-A. Two of us remain from the original 1980 team - Frank Miller and me. This season we are doing rather well, and recently beat Real Macondo 2-1 and the Thunder 3-0.
I don't get a lot of playing time, but enough to feel like I'm making a contribution. I turned 80 last October and I believe I am the oldest guy in the league - 2 months older than Phil Friday)
A week after turning 80 I had just got into the game when the other team committed a foul in the penalty box. I ask the captain to let me take the shot, which I made. I seldom score so that was a nice favor from the captain.
Soccer
