RENDEZVOUS With The KING PELE: First Professional Team
NOR EAST UNITED FC
In the Summer of 1972 , and at the end of a successful high school
career , at the age of 17 years old I was invited to join the training session of the NorEast United FC that played in the American Professional Soccer League [A.S.L.] the oldest professional soccer league in the United States. The opportunity was provided by my brethren, country-man and competitive rival Tony Romeo. Romeo was into his senior year as a member of Lehman College Varsity Soccer team and a key member of the NorEast United FC, a club built up on top flight college players based in the north eastern seaboard of the United States. Romeo was one of NorEast top strikers and key player at Lehman College, where I would attend after high school. Romeo was a skilled player who had played for the Junior Team at the New York Ukies and had gained valuable experience travelling to Germany as a part of tour by the New York German - American League All Star team. Romeo told the general manager and coach Eastman at NorEast about his friend [me] and I was told that I could come and have a trial session with the team. I never really dreamt of what was ahead but the experience gained at NorEast made life in A Merry Ka seem surreal.
Coming at the end of my final year playing high school soccer, and adding to my accolades received during Erasmus Championship year...including winning my first trophy after being named Most Versatile Player and later selected to the PSAL All New York City High School Soccer team...my first trip to Hempstead in Long Island to train with the NorEast United team, consisting of the very best college 'foreign imports' was simply elevating. Playing with a professional outfit in a professional soccer league before getting into a College/University team was the furthest thing from my mind.
I packed my bag and journeyed by train to meet Romeo where together we went to Long Island for practice with the NorEast United team. We were welcomed by the team's general manager and coach named Eastman. We were given socks shorts and numbered jersey for training which turned out to be my first touch of professionalism to training. The quality of college players in the NCAA during the late sixties and into the middle seventies were dominated by outstanding immigrant talent that executed high levels of techniques, conditioning, etc. I enjoyed a very good training session moving amongst these bigger and fitter players. Romeo seemed a bit surprised at the level of my play but to tell the truth..I was so HIGHLY motivated...feeling quite relaxed and felt as though I belonged...within the professional environs..like dreaming...we turned in our gear at the end of the session...tanked up with much fluid and looked forward to hitting the road and the train- to get back home- Romeo to the Bronx and IMAN to the burrow of Brooklyn.
My next training session at NorEast was even better than the previous evening as I dribbled by many of the senior players and spear headed quite a few constructive attacking plays...I remember well Italian defender Rosario and Haitian striker Serge Racine, both from Long Island University...I soon realized that it was not really me that was playing any real fantastic football but it was the fulfillment of "doing what I really loved and wanted to do". I also came to realize knew that I would be able to effectively compete against players in the NCAA college ranks. The general manager was particularly impressed with the quality of my play and signed me on as a member of the NorEast United FC. General Manager Mr. Eastman hailed me as his 'new found' PELE. This provided me with tremendous motivation and I was given special attention by Eastman himself.
Signing with the NorEast United FC provided me with my first opportunity to travel with a professional team and to play in real 'away' games. I also had my first experience in our first league match of playing at night 'under the lights' in a somewhat crowded astro-turfed stadium against the Boston Astros, in Boston, Massachusetts. I sat on the bench during this first match of our road tour and watched in awe how one thigh of most of the players was as big as mine put together and could move real fast. These players kicked harder, headed further and all engaged in very 'rough tackling'. The players from the Boston Astros were all built like giants and for the first time I saw the relevance/importance of 'size' and 'power' when playing professional sports. At first I was glad that I was not playing and felt much safer on the bench, but as the game wore on I began to feel that I could be out there playing among the pros. Perhaps I was suffering from 'stage-fright'. I knew yet that my chance would come to show my worth NorEast lost to the Astros by 3 - 0. It was men against boys and the college boys had met the pros. Romeo and I went back to our hotel rooms where we settled into some delicious Chinese food that we had purchased on our walk through the outskirts of the town. We passed through a little bar but could not afford to stay. After putting away the food we relaxed and reasoned about our defeat and how tomorrow would be a better day.
The next day would take us to Three River Falls, in Massachusetts to play in a friendly- exhibition game against a Portuguese Select Team from the Three River Falls area. At 17 years old, Eastman gave me the ‘buss’ go-ahead and this was to be my first 'international' game and my first with NorEast United; and it was a bit distressing. The Portuguese players moved like 'darts'. Their passing was remarkably accurate and done quickly and I could never dislodge any of their players off the ball without actually falling to the ground.
After 20 to 30 minutes I was ‘completely winded’ gasping for air trying to keep up in a very fast paced game. At the end of the half GM Eastman who became my 'guide' asked me how I felt seeing that I was really struggling. I could not hide my fatigue and welcomed my replacement. As it was a friendly match I was able to return to join the final ten minutes as Eastman had great faith in building my football talent. The final score read: Portuguese All Stars 6 vs. NorEast 1 . Nor East’s goal came from a tightly- angled fiercely driven consolation goal by Romeo in the dying minutes of the game.
This defeat put the young NorEast team into a 'tailspin'. At the post match dinner the Owners and Management team cursed out the team accusing the players of simply enjoying themselves and not playing with professional purpose. The players were threatened to either lift their game or risk not receiving the small stipend that was allocated to each team member. Of course, I did not fit into this category of player as my addition to the team was within the context of Eastman grooming a young and upcoming player. This became a very vexed point among the players remembering that they were really members of individual College and University teams playing together for the first time in and against professional league players. NorEast FC went on to lose our next league match against the New Jersey Brewers in Elizabeth followed by another loss against the Greek-Americans FC at Van Cortland and soon folded up and declared bankruptcy.
The teams’ series of losses led to panic within the management who really had no vision beyond making some quick money. The owners of the franchise it seems had planned to just 'make some money' from outdoor soccer. By gathering the best college talent they were able to register the club as a professional entity while avoiding having to "pay" real wages to the players who were really still amateur in their status. After the collapse, the players all went back to their home towns to basically prepare for the upcoming 1972 College season...which would be my baptism into NCAA College soccer.
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