当时是九点多一点.m. on a sunny Friday morning during his final semester at St. 爱德华大学 Tony Ho ' 21 首先听到的是低沉的杂音. 咕噜. 的呼喊. 哨声和鼓声. 空心 phwump! 足球的. 金属 发出叮当声! 门柱的位置. The sounds rang out in the distance from his campus apartment, growing louder as he walked to class.
出生在越南, Ho immigrated to the United States at 4 years old 和 moved to the 奥斯丁 suburbs in third grade. He picked up soccer four years later, when his cousin immigrated, too. Ho played in middle school 和 high school 和 enrolled at St. 爱德华的 hoping to walk on with the Hilltoppers.
然后现实降临了. 学术界接管了.
“I saw my friends on the team juggling practice schedules 和 coursework 和 was like, “也许这不是我想要的.’”
仍然, after so many years tuned into the game, after so many balls kicked 和 so many shins bruised, the ambient sounds of the sport piqued his curiosity. 他现在走得快了一些. 高一点. He passed the Mary Moody Northen 剧院 和 the Sorin Oak, 和 when he looked off to his right, 穿过树林中的空地, he was gobsmacked to find the city’s new Major League Soccer team, 奥斯丁俱乐部, scrimmaging on the same sunny pitch where he’d once dreamed of playing. The team’s trendy new logo — two leafy live oaks, green 和 intertwined — was splashed across the midfield.
他停了下来. 他盯着. 在那一刻, 他说, spellbound by the athletes’ speed, 他们的耐力, their utter physicality — warm with nostalgia for the whole atmosphere of the sport — his desires crystallized. Just months shy of completing his Business 管理 degree, Ho now saw the path ahead. 有一天,他想， 我要去奥斯汀FC工作.
“If you had told me when I was 12 that I’d be here, I’d probably pinch myself,” 他说. 不到两年之后, he’s now a marketing coordinator for 奥斯丁俱乐部, the first major league pro sports team in the city. “这是超现实的.”
The passion Ho felt that morning during preseason practice, 他说, he now feels daily on the job. It’s the passion that keeps him coming back. 比赛日的气氛. The people — the fans 和 his colleagues. And it’s the job’s overarching mission.
“是的，就是足球. But if you think about it in a different way, it’s more than soccer,” 他说. “这有点像， 你如何建立社区?”
卡森·沃恩著
摄影:Chelsea Purgahn
了解更多 五部分的系列 of Hilltoppers who are part of a cultural shift as 奥斯丁 embraces its first major-league pro team, 奥斯丁俱乐部.
第5部分
校友 Channel Hilltop Spirit for 奥斯丁俱乐部
斯蒂芬妮08年 和 爱德华·邓普西05年 exemplify Hilltopper pride with La Murga de 奥斯丁.