Tag Archives: Jogo

Family, North Texas SC

USL-1 Jogo debut…tough decision

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Español

It was a relaxing Saturday night and the Gómez family was resting in Frisco; Jogo had briefly stepped out of their place to go fetch dirty football gear from his locker room at Toyota Stadium in Frisco. The date was May 25th, 2019 when we unexpectedly received a text from the FC Dallas Academy Director…to be honest, the time and day of the week were a bit strange but not unique since club communication had always been unsolicited, unidirectional, and unorthodox in general. On this particular night, there was a team void to fill (an opportunity) and thus the urgency to reach out to us late in the evening.

The text was an inquiry about having Jogo play a couple of away games with the USL-1 North Texas SC team in Toronto (Wednesday, May 29th) and in Virginia (Saturday, June 1st) against the Richmond Kickers. It all sounded too good except Johan’s high school graduation (and party) fully overlapped with the second game. His high school graduation (and after party that we had been planning for months) was scheduled for Saturday, June 1st and we were expecting ALL the family from both sides to attend. Since the football invitation involved two away games, the team would not return back to Frisco in between games and thus the decision involved participation in both games or none. The irony of the situation was that the starting North Texas SC left back was graduating from high school along side Johan, creating this opportunity for Jogo. What was Jogo to do? A decision was needed in little time…

Johan and Joana at the Cowboys training facility, 06.01.19 (Frisco, Texas)

When he returned from the stadium, we broke the news to him. He was excited for a moment until he remembered his brother’s graduation. This was one of the toughest decisions Jogo has had to make. Not only did he have to miss what he thought was a decisive DA game (of three games) against a very competitive (and eventual DA national champion) Solar SC side but he most importantly, would miss all the family, friends, teammates being in town for Johan’s high school graduation. As a matter of fact, it was a decision for which he didn’t request our feedback and ultimately was solely his decision. It’s important for up and coming players to understand that these difficult decisions/”sacrifices” are common in the life of an athlete in order to fulfill their dreams. As a family, we supported his decision to play and proceeded to inform the academy director. A couple of days later, Jogo was on a plane traveling with the team to play in Canada the next day against Toronto FC II.

Toronto FC II vs North Texas SC lineup 05.29.19. Image by North Texas Soccer Club

The result was not the desired one (2-3 loss); it was the team’s first loss of the season. Despite the result, the team played well and as a family, we were grateful that Coach Eric trusted Jogo to play 90 minutes and his teammates supported him to have a solid debut. It was time to move on and shift focus to the Richmond game a few days later. The game against Richmond overlapped with Johan’s high school graduation so we couldn’t watch it live.

Richmond Kickers vs North Texas SC lineup 06.01.19. Image by North Texas Soccer Club

The final result was a 3-0 win and the team regained its confidence. Jogo had two solid games; however, after both games, we didn’t know if he would be asked to play again. It really didn’t matter; Jogo had fulfilled yet another goal in his short career and in the process helped the team out. One of Jogo’s fondest memories of that trip was his rookie initiation accompanied by “Old Town Road“. Thank you North Texas SC and FC Dallas for this opportunity.

Jogo after the Richmond Kickers game . 06.01.19 (Richmond, VA). Image courtesy of Chancy Green

Free merchandise

As a token of our appreciation for following and supporting the boys, we will be gifting T-shirts (see pictures below) to the first five folks who fill out the form below. Note: the email address will be used exclusively for communication purposes for the winners.

Rules:

  1. Winners will be determined by the earliest timestamp of the automatically generated email once the form below is filled out and submitted
  2. At the moment, we will only be shipping within the United States
  3. One winner per household
  4. Winners will be will notified via email

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Thank you for your response. ✨

T-shirt size(required)

Front of the T-shirt with the official “#theGomezway” logo
Back of the T-shirt with the official website

Family, Louisville City FC

Jogo returns to LouCity

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Words can’t suffice to describe the feeling of having hosted you along with your brother at home (your permanent home). It’s a family luxury we voluntarily gave up a few years ago. Silver lining from the pandemia. We are thankful to the Lord for keeping you healthy and safe and also to LouCity coaching staff for their understanding. They value family time as an important emotional pillar of an athlete’s mental well being and development. During your time home, we accomplished so many things. This is how it all went down:

The arrival:

Everything happened so quick. Just a few hours after we booked your trip late Saturday, you were departing from a very empty Muhammad Ali Louisville airport Sunday morning.

Obligatory picture commemorating the Kentucky Derby at the Muhammad Ali airport

As usual, the flight was a short one but to be honest, we barely made it on time to pick you up from the DFW airport. There was little time for pictures but we managed to snap this one.

Maintaining social distancing during your arrival at DFW airport 04.19.20

Just like Johan’s case, the change of clothes was mandatory and immediate after meeting you. We are pros at this now. On this particular day, we were in a rush since we didn’t want your siblings to wake up and find out we were gone to the airport to pick you up.

As soon as we arrived home, it was very tactful of you to go wake them up and greet them. Your siblings were pleasantly surprised and on we went to devour delicious traditional Mexican tostadas that you had been craving. We followed that up with Sunday service. At last, we were complete once again.

Traditional Mexican Sunday brunch like we haven’t had in a while

Child at heart

Off the pitch, most folks foreign to your lifestyle treat you like the young adult you have become. On the pitch, fans treat you like a grown football player sometimes forgetting you are only 16 years old. To be honest, your own family sometimes overlooks that you are still a kid at heart. During your time with us, we were blessed to witness the kid within you again; it filled our hearts with joy. BTW, thanks for allowing me to be a silly kid along with you. We manufactured some great memories albeit brief. Most importantly, we are grateful because we celebrated “El día del niño” (child’s day) yet another year together as a family.

The infamous BMX green devil that accompanied you to Hunt Middle School

We even got to make this fun video. You will enjoy watching it:

A football family at heart

Fortnite and FIFA:

The evenings were full of video games. I tried to learn to play Fortnite to no avail; I promise to do justice to #theGomezway when I pair up with your brother in pursuit of e-cred in your absence.

Somebody schooled us all in Fortnite

The daily trainings:

Not everything was video gaming. Both of you trained every day. You have always been very diligent, punctual and disciplined about training and school; it’s infectious. However, having your brother around served you well to take training to another level. As your parents, we are really proud to see how you continue to grow grit autonomously but most importantly the healthy ways your siblings pushed each other forming fond memories in the process. My favorite family memory was the picnics at the fields after hard weekend training sessions: priceless.

Saturday picnics at the fields were the best with the best company

Chuy: the new member of the family

Thanks for helping us choose a new family member. It was great having everyone around to make this important family decision. You were great with Chuy, he is going to miss the football fetching sessions with you but we’ll make it a point to bring him to you.

A brand new American Pitbull Terrier: “Chuy”

Frisco:

In addition to family, friends are an important pillar of a person’s psychological development. We are glad you took the time to safely visit acquaintances, friends, et al in Frisco. It was evident those interactions “complete” you emotionally.

Mother’s day:

The best part of it all is that you accompanied us to the best Mother’s day celebration yet. Why? Well, because in México, Mother’s day is celebrated on May 10th and this year’s that day was the 2nd Sunday in May (American Mother’s day celebration). We celebrated mom double.

Mother’s day 2020

The departure:

It was a great three weeks but the time came for you to go back. You are so excited to get the season going but some logistics must be worked out first. Be patient. You have been training adequately, doing some Cooper runs (thanks Coach Hack) and will be ready when the time comes. You almost missed your flight because you wanted to get one last additional training session with your ex-teammates.

Excellence. leadership and dedication all around

We are sad you are gone but happy you are now back with your extended family. They will continue to take great care of you but also work you hard. The real grind starts now. Never forget where you come from or where you are going. Know that you are loved.

You’ll be missed…
Departure…
Chumchat, Learning

Understanding GRIT in an athlete’s life

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I was recently invited to take part in one of our youth national team coaches’ new projects. As I was exploring their material, I stumbled upon this post. The blog publication attempts to explain grit/mental toughness and how to develop it. In essence, if you want to increase your chances of success in life -including sports- one has to develop a growth mindset. The earlier one adopts that type of mentality (ex. mamba), the less reliance is placed on factors that are outside of one’s control (ex. innate talent).

Wikipedia defines grit as “a positive, non-cognitive trait based on an individual’s perseverance of effort combined with the passion for a particular long-term goal or end state (a powerful motivation to achieve an objective)“. Please spend a few minutes listening to psychologist Angela Duckworth define grit in the Ted talk below. Then, try to relate it to your own situation (or your young player’s)

Grit: The power of passion and perseverance

If you don’t have an additional ten minutes to read the blog above, here is a quick summary:

Define what grit/mental toughness means to you

We all have different goals and objectives in life. Make sure yours are SMART. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound. First, capture your SMART goals by writing them down. Next, start working on them; sometimes sharing them with others will elevate your own accountability level and will help you measure progress. It’s normal for young athletes to require assistance articulating their own goals. Once they reach certain age (or maturity) complete autonomy is expected.

As an example, during these times of no team practices. Our children have found creative ways to train most days. In addition to their physical training, one of the boys supplements his training by running about 5 kilometers/day at least 5 days per week. Each run should be done in the same course as the previous run as the completion time must be better than all the previous occurrences. This is part of a bigger goal he has.

Build grit in discrete portions

Grit does not have to be necessarily developed against extreme adversity. In fact, it’s best if it isn’t. Start by growing grit in your terms. Aim small miss small. In your daily lives, push yourself out of your comfort zone doing something simple or small that directly impacts your SMART goals/objectives. Faster growth occurs when we are outside of our comfort zones.

Develop a growth mindset by getting used to challenging yourself. Something as easy as going to sleep 15 minutes earlier because your goal is to sleep 42 hours/week. Understand that grit and mental toughness are traits that need to be carefully nourished. In the end, it’s all about developing and then maintaining the habits. The habit of continuous improvement equates to a growth mindset.

On a personal note, 7 years ago, when the idea about this family website was presented to us by my younger sister, I found many reasons to postpone its inception (mostly lack of time or so I thought). She insisted that we had so much to share with others and that it’s the least that we could do. Long story short, she’s no longer with us but we ended up following her advice. Thankfully, last year, we finally decided to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones and started this site in a non-native language. Now, we can’t stop writing and helping others. It’s become a self-rewarding family project that has impacted other families. We are constantly inundated with communication (texts, emails, and calls) from parents asking us for footballing advice. Also, we now see other families starting similar online (Twitter, YouTube) family projects as a result of our initiative: #theGomezway. The seed has been planted, now, it’s time to “pay it forward”.

Build strong habits and don’t depend on motivation

Grit and mental toughness are more about cultivating the needed habits to reach your goals. Developing consistency eliminates the need for sporadic motivation or courage (ex. going to the gym). If you create the correct habits to go to the gym, you will never need additional motivation (ex. a partner to work out with). Strong habits (especially an open growth mindset) are the basis for future success especially in athletes.

During these down times, the boys have been working everyday on some of their improvement areas. They work out and push each other hard, but fortunately, they do not depend on each other’s company for continuous improvement. They know they will be together for a short period of time and after they return to their respective new homes, their objectives will remain the same.

Recently, one of Johan’s Chumchat’s guests Will Swinney (Dabo Swinney’s son) summarized it best when he said:

Your thoughts become your words; your words become your actions; your actions become your habits; your habits become your character and your character becomes your destiny

Will Swinney

In closing, learn how to have a growth mindset. This is ONE way to develop grit or mental toughness. It all starts with the way we perceive the world. Have you ever wonder how listening to a single song has the power to change our mood? Our minds are very powerful. Make “continuous change” the norm in your daily lives and take control (or at least influence) of your success now.

BTW, this week’s chumchat video didn’t have any guests but the boys had a good time “reviewing” previous guests Instagrams accounts. It’s a funny episode. Give it a listen.

Chumchat: Season 1 Episode 16. Roasting Instagram accounts

Español, Family, FC Porto, U16-BNT, U18-MNT, U20-MNT

#theGomezway

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English

Nos da un gran gusto ver a los miembros de la familia pamboleando con sus respectivos equipos. Mientras Jogo anotaba otro gol (se lo anularon debido a un fuera de lugar) contra el equipo nacional sub-17 de Estados Unidos en Florida (tercer juego consecutivo anotando), Johan tuvo una asistencia en el amistoso (debido al paro por la fecha FIFA) del FC Porto. Para culminar bien el día, el tercer Jogo se despachó con la cuchara grande y anotó un “hat trick”. Los goles y las asistencias siempre serán el resultado del juego de conjunto y a veces hasta circunstanciales pero nunca se darán en exceso; hay que celebrarlos mientras se pueda. A final de cuentas, nos fascina que estén disfrutando el “deporte de las masas” tal y como debe de jugarse con alegría y disciplina. Y por cierto, ya falta un día menos para reunir a la familia.

Gol anulado de Jogo Selección de USA sub-16 vs Selección de USA sub-17
Español, North Texas SC

Campeonato de USL-1

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¡Buena chavos! Jogo, tu participación en la obtención del campeonato resultó fundamental; la asistencia (a la asistencia) resultó en el gol ganador y que decir de la salvada en la segunda mitad que contó por lo menos por un gol y medio.

Sin embargo, el momento de más orgullo en la familia durante esta temporada llegó el día en que ambos Jogos compartieron el campo en Toronto. El tiempo fue efimero pero muy especial.

La familia Gómez siempre le estará eternamente agradecida a la organización del FC Dallas por estas oportunidades brindadas a los chicos. ¡Felicitaciones a los dos por esta temporada tan exitosa! #TheGomezway.

Louisville City FC

LouCity

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Jogo’s new crest with two stars

The expectations

Football has allowed the Gómez’s to visit and experience some amazing places domestically and internationally; in the process, we have met some wonderful people. We are beyond grateful to football for those opportunities. In this particular occasion, we visited yet another historical place packed with pleasant folks. After the initial remote interactions with the Louisville City FC staff, we were confident that we would finally encounter hospitality, honesty, genuineness, openness, and the appropriate development setup for Jogo…and sure enough, Louisville did not disappoint.

The airport

My fathers’s favorite sport was not football; it was boxing. I became a boxing fan at an early age mostly because of him but also because my home country produces its share of good boxers. I remember watching boxing every Saturday night with my father; he’d ask me trivia questions about the sport so I became very knowledgeable at a young age. All that said, when the trip to Louisville materialized, the last thing that crossed my mind was Muhammad Ali’s hometown. However, as soon as we landed in the Louisville Muhammad Ali airport, I felt I had gone full circle in a small (but very intimate) part of my life. My dad would have been happy.

Jogo and mom at the Muhammad Ali airport 03.04.20

The folks

From the moment we received confirmation of the trip until the last handshake; we felt welcome; the hospitality was incredible. It’s not often parents get an opportunity to talk openly to the head coach (especially one whom we admire) and much less his staff (the assistant coach and the goalkeeper coach). They made us feel welcome…special. We were not just a number. Is this how it’s supposed to be? Thank you. In addition to the coaching staff (and in no chronological order), in our first trip, we met the vice president of operations, the club president, the academy director, the public relations team, the chaplain (and his wife), players (Sean, apologies since we were in a rush), etc. Everyone was so genuinely kind and welcoming. Words can’t suffice. They say Texans are famous for their southern hospitality…don’t know, what we experienced that weekend outdoes anything we have witnessed before. We know we landed at the right place.

The stadium

Are you kidding me? A 65 million dollar facility with a capacity of up to 14k fans. It’s not every day that a USL team has its own brand new football dedicated stadium. Being part of the inception of a project magnifies the satisfaction and was a factor in our decision. The attention to detail is incredible; from the shape of the stadium to the locker room soccer tennis area. It’s well thought-out. It’s also not surprising that the folks who made us feel welcome are the same folks behind this magnificent design. The two main supporter groups will be ecstatic. The tifos and smoke bombs setup; everything is built with a purpose. The Lynn Family stadium will be inaugurated by Louisville City FC on April 11th. We are looking forward to an environment packed with supporting fans on our third visit; we have never experienced an environment like that in North Texas.

The Gomez’s at Lynn Family Stadium 03.05.20

Pre-season

Having the flexibility to accompany the team to pre-season was the cherry on the cake. Jogo not only had a chance to interact, train and play with the team in Louisville but also traveled with them to Florida to further validate any potential on-the-field development uncertainties. While there, he played a scrimmage against a very talented DC United side and defended some very good players. Get well soon Paul. We need you back on the USMNT.

Jogo defending Paul Arriola in pre-season 02.06.20

The city

In two quick pragmatic trips with packed agendas, we achieved everything we wanted except perhaps more sight-seeing. We’ll be back, there’s no doubt about that. We did manage to use at least one of the famous beautiful bridges that go across the Ohio River (to cross to Indiana to go to Target).

The weather

Is this how cold it’s supposed to get? Texas winter wind surpasses this any day. We experienced beautiful days for football with (guess what?) no wind and we loved it. Incidentally, the colder weather and the quicker speed of play of the team helped Jogo with what he embarked on right after Louisville City FC pre-season.

The farewell

In an already gloomy afternoon (Kobe’s news), the time came to say goodbye. It had to be quick because Jogo needed to return to “his business” and the quick adieu helped. Mom was sad (extremely sad). Everything we have seen far exceeds our expectations; we know deep in our hearts this is where he belongs. Yet as we head back to the airport, a natural sudden nostalgic feeling rushes in. The sadness is exponentially exacerbated by the gloomy cold Sunday night. Feelings are strange and we can’t explain them sometimes; for now, we must manage them. There is no doubt this is the next logical progression in his career. We know Jogo will embrace it with open arms because he is surrounded by an excellent team. Seize the day son. It is time to continue shining.

Jogo with teary-eyed mom
Family, FC Porto, International Competition, U18-MNT

Jogo comes home and news

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Jogo comes home for a short period of time after being away for “a few weeks”. The experience has been extremely positive but boy we missed you a ton. Happy half-birthday. We hear you met some interesting individuals while over there….happy half-birthday!!!

Jogo with Josh Sargent

In other news, Johan returned to action and the good news continued flowing his way. The family can’t wait to see what happens next with him. Speaking of family, the surprise visit didn’t hurt either huh? It’s always good to work on your emotional and spiritual well-being just as it is to work on your physical one. BTW, keep chumchatting son, YOLO. Great idea on the FC Dallas HG signing podcast (and great debut by Tanner). Can’t wait on the next guest with the brand new “equipment” :-).

Chumchat episode 7

Finally, thanks for Joana’s shout-out on IG. You are right; she doesn’t get enough credit sometimes so we’ll start incorporating news about her sporadically. She continued footballing and scoring and she also ran a sub 6-minute mile too earlier this week. #theGomezWay

Joana Gomez: Odyssey 3 vs East Texas (1) 02.23.20
Joana Gomez: ACES invitational 02.27.20
Family, FC Dallas

Done at last…in other news

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It is never easy to say good-bye (Instagram icon above) to longtime friends and teammates under any circumstances, but in the end, one must move on to pursue different opportunities when the current setup is no longer a viable option. We are not aspiring to be pioneers, insurgents, or anything of that sort but we know many families are currently on the same boat. For those of you right in the middle of it, know that there are options, but the risk/reward ratio is high. Odds are meant to be beaten; we are ALL in now. Also, know that we are in it together…and in the end, no matter what happens, the friendships will endure all adversities.

Jogo alongside a natural leader on and off the field. Pure class (01.11.20)

As Jogo begins his transition from an important stage of his football career to a new chapter of his life, Johan sets foot again on a soccer field for a light jogging and passing session. Baby steps they say; it was an excellent day today indeed. We are grateful. God’s timing is always perfect.

Johan grinding at Olival 01.20.20

In other news, Johan and his ex-teammates started a new project (click on the YouTube icon below). If you find the content useful, funny, witty, or silly, give them a like or subscribe to the channel. It’s entertaining but what can I say? I am a bit biased.

In other news, the third Jogo scored this beauty of a goal in a tournament this past weekend. We keep working because it is the #theGomezway

Joana with the game winner, Mckinney, TX (02.01.20)
FC Dallas

MAST Super Group Champions

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The tournament did not start well for the team. However, anybody who knows a thing or two about out of town soccer tournaments knows that playing the host team for the first game is always challenging. You end up playing against their crowd, their fields, their weather, their rules, etc. You then factor in the long flight 24 hours earlier, returning from the holiday break, a fragile roster with depth issues and all bets are off. I must say, the scoreline (1-3) for the first game was deceiving. For those of us who watched the game, it had its moments of decent FCD soccer with SIMA gold elite (SIMA from here on) playing very direct and using their speed to create the more dangerous chances overall. It is important to note that going down 0-1 in the first five minutes of the match (on top of my pretexts given above) against a top quality opponent is like ice-skating uphill trying to come back. At the end of the match, the boys and the coaching staff quickly shifted their focus to the second game…

The quality of soccer improved in the second game against Valencia and the coaching staff finally learned their rules (ex. unlimited substitutions and reentries permitted). Furthermore, FCD did not fall victim of overconfidence and there were no early forced substitutions due to injuries (incredible player management by the club on the eve of a U20 MNT camp). Also, Valencia plays a different brand of soccer so it was easier to stick to a ball possession plan. Overall, Valencia was supposed to be the opponent to beat but my guess is that this was not their “A” team. I find it interesting that a Spanish team would fly 11 hours to come play a “meh” tournament in the middle of their season (according to their schedule, they are supposed to play a regular season game in a few hours). Anyway, the final score was a tie with us conceding a soft goal in the winding minutes of the match for the second consecutive game. We really could have used those two points to secure a smoother pathway to the championship game but hey, live and learn…

Given SIMA’s dominance in their first two matches, it was a “do or die” situation for FCD’s third game against Esporte Clube Jacuipense . On paper, the Brazilians appeared to be the least known and most flexible opposition and that was indeed the case. FCD had the majority of the opportunities with our GK and defense having very little to do throughout the game. FCD went up on the score in the first half with a PK and closed the deal in the second half off of another set piece. 2-0 was the final score and that in conjunction with the continued dominance of SIMA (undefeated in the first three matches) setup a must see rematch for the “championship” game between SIMA and FCD.

Keeping the score tied at zero in the first 20 minutes of the championship game was of utmost importance in order to start playing our game (possession and mental); however, that was almost achieved until a soft PK call was given to the host team around the 10th minute. After going down 0-1, our team realized that PK calls were going to be soft and we ended up benefiting from two in our favor; one of our players is a master of that art. The game quickly turned more intense and aggressive with players on each team earning a red card and some yellows earned in the process as well. This was a battle not just against SIMA, the crowd, the fields, but their long winning tradition. SIMA had never lost this tournament in the 9 years they had organized it. Good job players and staff for the collective and individual hardware…it was a “good ride”. Thank you.

FC Dallas

Timing is everything

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Misinformed decision by the club today; we don’t understand it but respect it regardless. We keep our heads down, working, and enjoying every minute we get to play and/or watch the beautiful game. We go to the Showcase and perform. No questions asked…for now. Time will tell…

Jogo playing against Universidad de Chile Sub15 Internacional courtesy of LigaBBVAMX (08.15.19)