Monday, 4/14/97
Students should appreciate, play sport of soccer
Internationally loved activity deserves more attention in United
States
By Kathy Adibi
I can’t tell you how happy I was to find an article on the
wonderful sport of soccer in the Daily Bruin Sports section today
(April 3). Since the UCLA soccer season ended months ago, I have
been suffering from a certain form of soccer withdrawal due to a
lack of soccer-related articles to read in The Bruin and the
absence of Bruin soccer games to watch. But much to my delight, the
sophomore season of Major League Soccer (MLS) has begun, and I am
in soccer heaven!
Not only do I have the opportunity to see our hometown team, the
Los Angeles Galaxy, play numerous matches at the Rose Bowl, I also
look forward to more soccer articles in The Bruin. The
newly-renovated UCLA Store is finally, possibly in response to my
complaints, selling "UCLA Soccer" merchandise instead of just
football and basketball merchandise! What more can a devoted soccer
fan ask for? Well, come to think of it, I do have a few small
requests …
My first set of comments is directly for Vytas Mazeika, the
author of the aforementioned MLS article … Although I lack your
enthusiasm for the MLS shootout rule, I wanted to thank you for
writing the article in the first place. For the most part, your
article was well-written and accurate. I definitely share your
desire for MLS to grow and prosper in the United States. In fact, I
was enjoying your article thoroughly until I came across a horrible
error. When writing about the godly John Harkes, please spell his
name correctly! It’s Harkes, not Starkes! He is my absolute
favorite player in MLS, so I do not tolerate any disrespect towards
him. Although I hate to criticize any soccer-related articles for
fear of discouraging future articles, I could not ignore your
error, especially since John Harkes is one of the most important
players in MLS.
Secondly, to all my fellow Bruins: Please support your Bruin
soccer teams! The men and women on the UCLA soccer teams are
wonderful athletes who deserve recognition. Interestingly enough,
while I was talking to a fellow Bruin at a barbecue over Spring
Break, I was shocked to find that he didn’t know UCLA had a soccer
team. He even thought my "UCLA Soccer" sweatshirt was a joke.
Well, just as I informed him, I’d like to inform you that UCLA
soccer, to quote a "No Fear" shirt, is "Alive and Kicking!" I’d
even like to propose several ways that Bruins, or anybody else, can
support soccer, especially UCLA soccer:
1. Next season, go to some Bruin matches. Admission is free (for
UCLA students), and the action is intense!
2. Support MLS! Tickets to games are inexpensive and you can
even support teams that have hired Bruins. Recently, the Los
Angeles Galaxy hired Bruin goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, and the
Colorado Rapids acquired Bruin defender extraordinaire Tahj Jakins.
Come see both these teams play against each other at the Rose Bowl
on April 18!
3. Get involved with UCLA Recreation! This past Fall and Winter
Quarter, I had the pleasure of being involved with a beginning
soccer class, an advanced soccer class and a co-ed intramural
soccer team (Go LaBelles!). I’m graduating this spring, and I can
definitely say that I have never had so much fun in college as I
have had these past two quarters. I’m not sure if the soccer
recreation class will be offered again since the instructor and
former Bruin forward, the fabulous Robbie LaBelle, is pursuing his
professional soccer career now. I do know that intramural soccer is
offered every Winter Quarter. If you join a team and just make an
effort to play, I guarantee you’ll have fun.
Finally, I’d just like to say that I can probably talk about
soccer forever and my friends and phone bill can vouch for this.
But all I wanted to really get across in this article, besides
paying tribute to John Harkes, is that the fun and possibilities
are endless when it comes to soccer. I know this, most of the world
knows this, and I just wanted to share my joy with the rest of the
population!Kathy Adibi is a fourth year women’s studies student,
with an American Indian Studies minor.