From Nonexistence to Legitmacy
Pace’s Men’s Club Soccer team defeated Hofstra University Sept. 9 at Pace Stadium. A win in their inaugural game was quite an accomplishment, however the creation of the club is where the real story lies.
“I was sitting in Dyson Hall last Fall when I got an email saying if anyone was interested in doing club soccer, they should come to a meeting in Kessel,” says Alessandro Angelori, president of the club. “I went to the meeting and I was told the club was not created yet. Someone had to create it and secure the funding.”
Angelori was given the opportunity to become the creator of the club and ran with it. However, multiple challenges came with the position.
“One of the biggest challenges I faced was having to write everything from scratch. I had to create the proposal with very limited resources and do some outside research to figure out what we were going to need,” he said.
After time-consuming work which included recruiting the team, buying jerseys, hiring coaches, and writing various documents including the club’s constitution, the Men’s Club Soccer team finally had their first official game. In front of the Pace community against Hofstra, Angelori and his teammates proved their yearlong process was worth it.
“When we stepped on to the field for the first time, specifically when the referee blew his whistle starting the game, I sort of lost feeling in everything. I was stricken, even now I find it hard to talk about,” Angelori said. “One year of tireless working, practically day to day, and then we get on the field in front of the Pace community and we leave with a win. It was a great feeling that I wouldn’t trade the world for.”
A year of continuous work had finally come to fruition. The team that did not even exist a year earlier came away with a victory and a great deal of confidence. In fact, Angelori believes not too soon, they will draw crowds that can rival Pace’s football team.
“This is a very good team,” he said. “Our biggest strength is our positivity and the way we mesh together, whether it be play style or personality. So, as we keep moving forward and the word gets out more and we represent Pace in a great way, I believe we’re going to draw great crowds because I know that a lot of people on this campus were looking for a men’s soccer club or looking to watch the games and I’m just glad we’re able to provide that for them.”
The future for the Pace Men’s Club Soccer team features multiple games, including a game against Fordham University on Sept. 29 at 8:30 p.m. at Pace Stadium, which Angelori dubbed the “game of the year.”
“Just to compete against a team of that magnitude in our first year is great. I hope that will be the game where we see the most people out supporting us because that’s going to be a very exciting game.”
