Where were you born?
My name is Ramiro Galvez, I'm from South America (Quito- Ecuador)
- my first toy was a soccer ball. I grew up in a soccer family - my dad was the
President of one of the leagues in the South Part of Quito (VillaFlora) and the
name of the team was Liverpool. This league
was Semi-professional Division C (Ligas Barriales) before it entered into the Professional
Soccer Division for Quito, Ecuador. This organization, managed
by my dad,
was sponsor by the
"Concentration Deportiva de Pichincha" government organization to
develop mind and spirit based on sports. I played for Liverpool
for three years as a Striker and scored several goals. From my grade school to
my high school and university I played soccer all my life. I played three times
a week and on Saturday we played up to four games.. What a energy..!!
I was never tired. We play for pride and
soda for the winner. Some of the players went on to play professionally - I was
asked several times but I decided to finish my education and just play the game
for fun. I played in the minor leagues for semi-professional team “Liga
Deportiva Universitaria”
I won several
medals in an International soccer tournament. So when I play soccer, I play
with passion and intensity, it's in my blood and in my heart and always will be.
Soccer brings me happiness and new friends in life - I play the game for fun ..
If you were not born in the Kansas
City area, when did you arrive and what circumstances
brought you to KC?
I came to the U.S. to
forward my education and to get my “Master in Urban Development “ since I
graduated with Architecture Degree in Ecuador. I was also newly married. First,
we landed in Michigan, my wife at the time was
from that area and her parents lived in Troy,
(Suburbs of Detroit). I played in a summer league and we had players from all
over the world except from Ecuador.
Since they knew that I was from South America,
the team Captain put me in right away. It was an important game to try advance to the
second round. Eventually, I scored the only goal that allowed us to advance to
the second round. To make the story short, we went to dispute the championship
league scoring two goals and winning the tournament 3-1 against a team of Saudi
players from Detroit.
Since the economy was not the greatest in Michigan
(plus was too cold) we decided to move to Kansas City,
Missouri where I landed a great job as an
Admission Counselor for Park University (at that time Park College).
I was recruiting students who did not have financial resources (disadvantaged
students) but they have the strive and passion to succeed in life. I helped
them get scholarships academically or in sports. Also, I helped recruit the
best players for the College with Ben Papoola one of the greatest Coaches that
I have ever met. Ben even asked me if I want to play for the school
since he saw my skills but instead I end up
helping new players develop their skills. I won two indoor tournaments at the
Blue Spring Soccer Complex and later I was banned from the complex for a fight
that I did not initiate. I guess I learned my lesson. My family and my work put
me away for awhile until I injured my knee. I was told that I needed to quit for
a while.
What team(s) do you support as a fan?
I really don’t have a team. I may say that I support the Kansas City Soccer
team. In Ecuador,
I’m a really fan of Liga Deportiva Universitaria, my University team.
What is your earliest soccer memory?
My earliest Youngs
Park soccer memory is the
one where I put the ball between Tom Reynolds’ legs to score the winning goal ..
I like to play against skillful players and challenge them. I like to dig
gently into their heads until they cannot do anything when I’m in front of them.
I have done that to Wasim and others several times by having them make mistakes
or digging into their heads or telling them “five bucks if you go through me”. I
learned by one soccer coach to apply psychology in their minds. I was taught by
a soccer coach about the game in this way: the soccer ball is like women - you
touch them gently and the ball always come back to you… something like that..
How did you find the Youngs
Park game?
I was invited by John Vasquez when I was under the weather (going though
divorce). Many thanks to John for being able to drag me to the field and kick
my butt to regain confidence and happiness and especially to find a bunch of
great friends.
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