Notes
Kevin M.: Mixing it up with the Fitness Community is a podcast created by Fit Mix that introduces you to local health and fitness individuals along with their stories.
Kevin M.: Episode eight. Andres Trujillo with the New Mexico Runners. On this episode, Andres talks about arena soccer and how it differs from outdoor soccer. He also talks about the first couple of seasons along with their goals going forward.
Sara Y.: Hey, Andre. How are you doing today?
Andres T.: I'm doing fantastic. How you doing, Sara?
Sara Y.: Good. Thanks for asking. OK, so you are joining us because you are the president and CEO of the New Mexico Runners Professional Arena Soccer team. Some people may not know that New Mexico has a professional arena soccer team. Talk to us about how that even got started in the first place.
Andres T.: So, yeah. So one thing is, is Arena Soccer has been around for quite a while since the since the 70s. And though we play in the Major Arena Soccer League and we actually got founded in 2018. And so we've been around for a couple of years. And we just rounded out our second season back in March. And so, yeah. Arena Soccer. It's one of those things where it's exciting, fast paced, high scoring and for most people it's kind of hard to understand playing soccer indoors. And they kind of don't understand how the how the mechanics work. As I get questions of, oh, do you play on a full size soccer field inside? And and the answer is no. It's actually playing soccer on a hockey rink sized field. So in New Mexico, there's been teams that have been around semi-professional level back in the late 80s, early 90s. But unfortunately, it disappeared or just there wasn't, I guess, popularity with it. And so it kind of disappeared. And I know leagues dissolved back then. And then there's opportunity to bring a team to this market. I jumped on that in. Yeah. And we're we're get ready for season three, which is at the end of this year.
Sara Y.: That's awesome. How did the first two seasons go for the runners?
Andres T.: First season was great timing. Kicking things off is a is always a challenge kind of building things up and building up your business, building up the organization, build up the staff required to operate a sports organization. And so first year was great. We got through it successfully. And and of course, the successes obviously showcased in season two as we had a successful season two. And unfortunately, it was tough because we our season did get cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And we actually got cut short three games. We had two games left to play in Mexico and one more home game that got canceled. So a tough finish for us in our second season. But at the end of the day, it's great. We've had successful two seasons. We and and we're just really focused on building up for for our season three.
Sara Y.: Yeah. When does season three start?
Andres T.: December of this year.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Do you think it will go on without a hitch, despite everything going on right now?
Andres T.: I'm hoping. Where staffed and we're planning on it, we're planning on we're putting the pieces in place to ensure we have a third season. Our fingers are crossed. We're lighting those candles and praying and hoping that it does. This this whole thing settles out and we can kind of resume our normal lives. But again, the uncertainty we just with the uncertainty, we just don't know. For us, it's we're planning on kicking it off in December.
Sara Y.: And where do you get the players from? Are you recruiting locally or is this like a national kind of recruiting process?
Andres T.: So it's both. My focus and our head coach focuses on local players. I think there's a lot of local talent in soccer that goes unnoticed. And I mean, we do recruit outside as well outside the state. And this past season, about 90 percent of our players were local and about 10 percent were from out of state like California, Colorado and Las Vegas, Nevada. So we do focus on the local talent. As I mentioned before, sometimes players go off to college. And and one thing that that happens is that when these players go off to college, they do their thing. They play soccer, they're on their pathway to run up the hierarchy of of of soccer. Well, unfortunately, in New Mexico, it happens a lot in our communities, is that these athletes have to come home and help their families with work and bills and in the household. And and so they end up kind of losing track on their dreams, on their on their career pathways, and they end up coming home. And so my focus along with our head coaches, to pick these guys up and give them a platform to play. A lot of these players have roots already established here. They may have wives or kids and they kind of establish their roots, but they are still talented soccer athletes. And so we pick those guys up and these guys come fromt. And they graduate from Cleveland High School, Rio Rancho, Volcano Vista, Del Norte, Highland. Played at you and UNM when UNM had their men's soccer program. So but again, our our focus is the local scene. That's that's what we like to to promote because, you know, we are a locally owned and operated. Professional sports team.
Sara Y.: Had many these players also play at UNM or other local colleges?
Andres T.: Yes. We've had i wwould say out 50 percent of our guys have played soccer for UNM. They went, they did those rounds, they played at UNM. Then they went to another level playing in USL or playing in a developmental academy or league or what not. And so but again, they end up coming back home and they're here and they're you know, they still have it in them. They still have gas in the tank and they want to play. And so we're able to utilize their talents on our squad.
Sara Y.: Yeah. And like you said, I think it's totally different from outdoor soccer. Which is probably refreshing to them if they've obviously played outdoor soccer their entire lives, whether it be like middle school or high school or college. And then they come into the arena style soccer, where it's much more fast paced, everything is much more exciting. So it's probably refreshing and fun for them as well.
Andres T.: Absolutely. And like you said, it said the different style of pace is very, very attractive to a lot of these guys. And when you look at at a soccer athlete, the one thing that's really interesting about indoor guys is everybody that plays indoor soccer or arena soccer can play outdoor, but not everybody that plays outdoor soccer can play indoor soccer, due to the proximity, the amount of, the frequency you touch the ball, on the frequency of of passing. When you are in the indoor game, you're passing and your touches are less than a second. And you're never on the ball more than two seconds because of the fact that that your it is so tight of an environment and just so everybody knows indoor soccer is Six V six so five field players per team and a goalkeeper. And so these guys run a lot more than they do outdoor. And I have a our coach will attest to that and tell you the our guys run a lot more than if you were to to play an outdoor game.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. And it's a lot of just sprinting, you know, back and forth. It's like one minute the ball is on the other end and in like a second later, it can be down at the other end. So you're constantly sprinting back on point. It's really tiring from experience.
Andres T.: Sometimes you get tired watching it I know.
Sara Y.: Yeah. Like outdoor soccer I was a goalie. But like, I refused to be a goalie in indoor soccer because, like, it's just scary. They can shoot the ball from half field, you know, and it would still be like a really powerful kick in your like. You have to be on your toes and like, ready at all times when your goalie indoor, whereas like outdoor, you're a little bit like kind of just chill back there sometimes if any.
Andres T.: Yes. So outdoor the goal is, is much wider. With indoor the goal is only eight foot eight foot tall by 14 foot wide. So the target is actually smaller. And like you said, when someone's coming up to take a shot a your you're literally maybe ten, I mean, ten, fifteen feet away from the goal. And they are lazering that thing in a in a smaller target. So you've got to be crazy to be a goalkeeper.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. But indoor, I played I play rec every now and then at the facility off of Paseo. Holy moly. That's a different level of soreness. Your hip flexors need to be prepared for that next day. It's crazy, just like the amount of running back and forth if you're not used to it.
Andres T.: Yes. And a lot of times yeah. When people asked, OK, well, when you see and experience indoor soccer, what's it like? And a lot of it I like to say, hey, it's like hockey and soccer put together because your free substitutions. Folks are going one hundred and ten percent, hundred and ten miles an hour, for, at least two minutes. And then they and then they do a quick shift switch in in the lineup and then another ship comes in and then another two minutes goes by and then it's another ship that comes in real quick. So, so that fast pace. I mean, the energy and the stamina required for for the game is is amazing. In watching our guys play, it blows my mind of how fit they are and how much they need in order to stay on top of their game, to be able to compete because it's not an easy game. Most people think, OK, well, out or soccer. We kind of you know, you kick the ball, the field is super, super wide and long. So so we could just kick the ball way over there and done that with the intent, with the indoor game. You can't do that.
Sara Y.: Absolutely. Yeah. Putting it that way, like a hybrid of hockey and soccer is definitely, I think, cool when people realize the speed of the sport a lot more that way. Think of the experience. Talk about like how this is kind of a great atmosphere for kids and families. I bet a lot of younger soccer teams enjoy coming to the games.
Andres T.: Absolutely. One thing we focus on our organization is families, I think. I mean, I'm born and raised here, so I'll graduated from Valley, went to UNM. I just feel like families are the focus in order to create balance with within our communities. And so, you know, we are one hundred percent family owned and operated. We're more 100 percent locally owned and operated. Born and raised. You know, we're New Mexico's born and raised only one half percent locally on professional sports team. And, you know, when I when I say this, it's it's in our organization. My wife does our game operations. My mom is our head of our ticketing. You know, my uncle helps with the sales and sponsorships. My sister helps with VIPs and partnerships and whatnot. So we are actually 100 percent local. We're all about that family unit and we want that message to be translated in what we do at our games. And so bringing families to our games, the engagement, it's what it's all about, bringing out these the local sports teams, youth sports teams, a soccer team, a four age club, the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, you name it. We bring we bring our folks to come out to the game to experience fun, exciting, fast paced and just all our entertaining atmosphere. As you know, we engaged with the fans. And so we bring fans onto the field during time outs and in quarter breaks at halftime to participate and do fun activities. And so being able to do that is a unique experience because you don't get to do that in most professional sports settings where you can bring people onto the field to participate in these kind of things. And so it just gives fans and families another way to to enjoy something together. And I mean, I know last year we had you out there and we had you competing a little bit and you were kicking the soccer ball all around from you. You tell me what your experience was with that. Let your listeners know.
Sara Y.: It definitely took me back to my days when I was like 10 years old and I grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We had the Harrisburg Heat. That was our indoor soccer team. That was those were the days, honestly, like we would go there with, like, ah, you know, U10, U11 team and we would be the ball girls that day. So honestly it took me back to that. It was like, yeah, life was so fun and simple back then. Where we looked forward to being the ball girls. And we thought it was like the coolest thing, you know, to do. I totally think that Having this indoor soccer team here is amazing for our youth to see. You know, if they want to pursue soccer, they have an avenue. Aside from just, you know, playing in high school and college, like playing for the Runners.
Andres T.: Yes.
Sara Y.: Getting them involved in the games and everything gives them even more hope and gets them more involved and excited about the process and being a part of it.
Andres T.: I think that's cool. I didn't. That's one thing I didn't know about you that you did go to Heat games. That is pretty cool.
Sara Y.: Yes. Purple and orange. Those were the colors. I think I still have Pompoms around somewhere. And a soccer ball signed by the players back them.
Andres T.: You know, I got to tell you, I, like, kind of come back to what you're saying about how it kind of brings you back and what not. One thing that's really cool about our organization and our players and our head coach and is that a lot of our players, their parents, their dads used to play together back when they were younger. And and so what it does is actually creates what we're doing when our organization is it creates a legacy with these athletes because now they say, wow, our dads played together, our dads played with our head, you know, with our head coach. And so it creates a legacy and it creates a sense of pride and passion and positivity in the community where we get where we're all doing this together. We all have a common goal to to provide this this community lift up. And and that's really, really one thing that's really unique about what we do with our organization and I and my experiences with the with indoor soccer's than any other sport that we have locally that I've been involved with is that it is brought everyone together on our staff level, on our athlete level. I mean, talking about our about our staff. The funny thing is, is that our P.A. announcer went to to high school with it with one of our game directors up in Los Alamos. But they didn't even know they were they were to basically reunite until, you know, they started working for the Runners last year and then and then cool thing is, this year is our P.A. announcer, his two boys, they play for us. And so it's the connections are so unique with our organization. It is very, very amazing. And this makes you feel really good because it really is. Bring everyone together.
Sara Y.: That's awesome. Looking forward to season three when will your schedule will be released. Or do you already know?
Andres T.: So we're looking to try and get our schedule out by September. Of course, with with all this going on right now, we don't know what's going to happen regarding scheduling. Unfortunately, because the MASL, the Major Arena Soccer League, had has definitely stopped operations for everybody. And I mean, we're still we're still out there doing our thing and preparing. But but the league itself. Yeah. And they canceled this last season. And so everything's on standby right now. And so, I mean, there's been there's been say there's talk of teams in California saying they may not even start until twenty twenty one, which obviously could affect us. Say California decides, okay, we're all going to just push all sports teams until 2021, then it will assume that the rest of the country will follow. But as of right now, we're expecting our scheduled to be released by by September. Hopefully that's that's the target date for the league wants to get our schedule out. Fingers crossed. We're just. We're, you know, we're just crossing our fingers or we're hoping everybody stays safe with everything. And that's our that's our first priority. And first concern is our community being safe. And of course, we want to make sure that everyone's safe before anything happens within our operations. But again, we're hopeful.
Sara Y.: Yeah. Im crossing my fingers and my toes for you guys. Do you guys host tryouts before every season.
Andres T.: Yes, we do. Yeah. We hosted tryouts every August and September. So every year we host in August, September, and we open it up to anybody and everybody that wants to come and try and see it, try and see if they can play play with the big boys, as they say. Last year we want to say we've had a couple of guys come out, try out and make the squad, just guys that play recreationally and they're like, hey, you know what? I'm just gonna try this out. And they come out and they they actually made the squad. So. So, yeah, every year we do host trials. So that's open and open to the public.
Sara Y.: And how do you like post about that? So if someone hears this and are interested in trying out how should they learn about that?
We put everything on our social media. We're where we we push most of our information, our social media, our Web site, you know, of course, our social media as Mexico Runners, @NMRunners. Our Website, NewMexicoRunners.com. But that's where we put our put our information so and we always announce our tryouts and whatnot. And interestingly enough, we do get a lot of folks who come out from out of state to come down and try it out. So it's it's really cool to see these guys come down and they want to they wanted to see if they can they can handle it and play at a higher level.
Sara Y.: Awesome. Well, yeah. So if anyone out there is letting us pay attention to their social media, if you're looking to try out or if you want to go to a game, keep your fingers and toes crossed, right?
Andres T.: Absolutely. And one things I wanted to mention is as a fan, coming to these games and supporting our local athletes. It means a lot. Supporting our local coaching staff. It means a lot because these athletes are our guys that have had dreams to play in the MLS, play in the Premier League or play around the world and whatnot. And so these guys are your local superstars. These guys are the ones that are that are out there. They get in the community. They they they're there for fans. I mean, I'll give an example. Our goalkeeper, Casey Gasson, he went to La Cueva and El Dorado. He's one of those guys that's all about the community and he's there for the game and loves what he does. You know, our head coach is a pro soccer Hall of Famer. Our head coach, Steve Famiglietta. He graduated from Cibola High School and he's in the Cibola Athletic Hall of Fame. He's in the pro soccer Hall of Fame. So when you talk about talent, I mean, our head coach, Famiglietta, he's the top of the line in indoor soccer that we believe. And he's and we're blessed because we have this individual here in our own community. And so, I mean, when you when you got guys like that, our coaching staff, and our athletic squads like who we have here, it's it's really important to get out and support these guys and their goal to to bring you lift you up as a community and bring you sports entertainment.
Sara Y.: That's awesome. All right. Anything else you want to add before we wrap up this episode?
Andres T.: Absolutely. We just want our New Mexico to get behind what we got going on here, going on our third season. We've proven to be successful as we've gone through successfully two seasons and we're gearing up for season three. And we want to get behind this. This is New Mexico's team. We appreciate our fans and thank our season ticket holders and and I mean, we have fans coming in from Los Alamos. Every year, I think this season we have a family come in from Los Alamos four our of six games we played. Fans are there. We have fans in New Mexico and want you guys to get behind what we have going on here. We're locally owned and operated and supporting this helps build our community and build a common denominator. I know we live in a divisive world. And it's unfortunate. But at the same time, you know, this is a common denominator we can all get behind. And the New Mexico Runners are that. We're a platform to bring everyone together and just support us, you know, get information out to NewMexicoRunners.com. We do have our season three ticket season tickets on sale now. So and they start as low as seventy three dollars for seven home games. So you get a big bang for your buck. It's the best and most exciting form of entertainment you can spend your dollar on here locally. And yeah, just go Runners!
Sara Y.: Very cool. Yes. Go Runners. All right. Thank you, Andres, for joining us today. I appreciate it.
Andres T.: I appreciate it, Sara. And we got to get you out again to to one of our games for season three.
Sara Y.: Yea. Definitely!
Andres T.: All right. Thank you so much.
Kevin M.: Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the Mixing It Up With The Fit Mix Community podcast, we'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.
Kevin M.: Next week, Sara talks with one of the owners of Big Ben CrossFit, Jonathan Smith. He talks about the impact the Coronavirus has had on Big Barn. What differentiates them from other CrossFit Boxes, and more.