Cruz has life-changing experience in South Africa
Dynamo rookie gains new understanding, appreciation for sport of soccer
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The trip, organized by adidas and Major League Soccer, brought 24 players to Cape Town and Johannesburg in December for 10 days of sightseeing and events surrounding the 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw. They experienced an authentic African safari, visited Nelson Mandela's house and watched the World Cup draw on the waterfront in Cape Town.
One day in between training, the group traveled outside the walls of Cape Town to Wilford, where the team was volunteering their time to conduct a soccer clinic for some local children. Upon arriving, Cruz and his teammates quickly learned that Wilford wasn't like Cape Town or Johannesburg. Many of the homes were constructed of random scrap metal and housed as many as six people in a structure no bigger than a car. The abject living conditions that they were accustomed to gave Cruz a new understanding and appreciation for the sport of soccer, his career and his comfortable life in the United States.
"I am someone who just appreciates everything that I have and appreciates the people who have helped to get me to where I am," said the Houston Dynamo midfielder. "I went through a lot financially with my family, trying to help support them when I was growing up. For me to be able to see kids that are struggling the way that I felt like I was, and to still see the power of a soccer ball bringing joy to them, just one day together, it just changes your outlook on everything.
"You think you had it so bad, but you really don't. People that haven't been able to see the things that the 24 of us got to see together, have no idea. It was so special."
As the bus pulled into Wilford, the anticipation and excitement of the local children was palpable. The kids were running behind and alongside the Generation adidas bus until it stopped and let the team off.
"The kids were just smiling about the fact that we were there," said Cruz. "For them it was more just about spending time with people who cared. It wasn't so much how we acted or who we were, it was just that there were people who cared about them that wanted to spend time with them."
Cruz, along with teammates Patrick Nyarko (Chicago Fire), Stefan Frei (Toronto FC), Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas) and Chris Pontius (D.C. United), led the first group of kids in an organized game of soccer handball, a game they learned while training with the U-20 U.S. national team. The game involves using your hands instead of your feet, but they decided that would be the easiest way for these children to learn about the sport, particularly because not many of them spoke English, but rather their native language, Zulu.
To the children, it wasn't about who the best player was or who won, nor did it matter that most children didn't have proper soccer cleats. They were happy playing with no shoes at all.
"It's completely different when those kids are right in front of you and they're just loving you for no reason," said Cruz. "Realistically, they don't know me and will probably never see me again, but just the look in their eyes ... you would have to see it to understand -- it's something that really did change my life. I met a little kid who looked at me in such a way, it just kind of caught my eye. I took off my hat and I put it on top of his head and he was smiling ear to ear."
By the end of the clinic, Cruz and his teammates had given away their adidas cleats, hats and MLS W.O.R.K.S. T-shirts, leaving them with just their shorts. "Unfortunately, I couldn't give away my shorts," Cruz said laughing, "but we had a bunch of donated items including MLS W.O.R.K.S. T-shirts, adidas soccer balls and other MLS merchandise that we were able to give to the kids.
"I think about everything I've gone through to become a professional athlete and now that I'm playing in MLS, I'm lucky to have the opportunity to go to other countries like South Africa and give back to those who are less fortunate."
The lucky recipient of Cruz's cleats did not care that his size 3 feet might not fill the size 9 cleats for a few years. "I saw him walking down the street," said Cruz, "just carrying the shoes, making sure no one could get them."
In a guest column that Cruz wrote for American-Soccer-News.com he summed up the day's events: "When I left, I was barefoot and shirtless, but truly happy." After the clinic, Cruz wrote the following tweet: "I got to spend 45 minutes with kids who had nothing ... it changed my life."
Cruz expressed his immense gratitude for the entire opportunity. "The things that MLS and adidas made possible for us, this trip will forever be stuck in my memory."
Cruz had a unique path leading to the start of his professional soccer career. Before his freshman year of high school, Cruz had never played soccer. He had grown up in Glendale, Arizona playing football. Cruz describes soccer as being a winter sport in Arizona and it ended up being the sport he chose to keep himself in shape during the football offseason. Little did he know, four years later, he would be invited to play for the U.S. at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Choosing to play soccer at college rather than football was a decision that has panned out for Cruz. After spending two years at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Cruz signed a Generation adidas contract and entered the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. Following what Cruz claimed was an "absolutely horrendous combine," he was selected in the third round of the SuperDraft by the Houston Dynamo. After completing his first year in MLS, Cruz wouldn't change a thing.
"It worked out perfect," Cruz said. "I have two coaches who care about me as a player and who want to make me better and I have a group of older guys who treat me better than I could have ever imagined."
Last season, Cruz played in six regular season games and made appearances in all of his club's CONCACAF Champions League and U.S. Open Cup matches. Learning the sport at an older age, Cruz fully appreciates everything he has been fortunate enough to experience in his first season in MLS.
"I had to learn a lot quicker. The older guys and the coaching staff, they make it easy for me," he said. "I had my ups and downs as every rookie did, but I couldn't be any happier with the things I was taught and I feel like I am already getting better."
Off the field, Cruz has bonded with his teammates through their passion for philanthropy. Having been around the league longer than Cruz, teammates Stuart Holden and Mike Chabala have continually taken advantage of the philanthropic opportunities that come along with being a professional soccer player, including the Dynamo's local charitable programs and national efforts through MLS W.O.R.K.S., the league's community outreach initiative.
"For me, when I first got in to the league, I was so focused on me and trying to make sure that I did the right things so that I could continue to do this job," said Cruz. "But at the same time, I learned it's important to be able to give back."
Cruz started making regular visits to Children's Hospital with Holden and Chabala. In 2010, Cruz plans on increasing his involvement with the hospital.
"I try to do as much as I can," Cruz said, "because I go to work for three hours a day. So why not go and make other people happy."
Alissa Rotberg is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
