‘Soccer Fridays’ Invites Employees to the Turf

Four players dart across the spongy, artificial grass, kicking a soccer ball back and forth in the heat. It's the end of the business day on a Friday, and the men have switched out their work shoes for cleats.

The Duke "Soccer Fridays" group was started by Miguel Bordo, a media services manager for the Duke School of Law, to inspire lighthearted competition among Duke's employee and student soccer enthusiasts.

The players range from faculty and staff members to postdoctoral and undergraduate students and include both men and women. They meet every Friday on Central Campus field, which the group has reserved from 4 to 7 p.m. Bordo, who used to play with the School of Law's intramural squad, said he wanted to provide an alternative to the fast-paced student games that usually meet on West Campus late at night.

"The cool thing about 'Soccer Fridays' is it's open to all skill levels," Bordo said. "You don't have to be a great player. You just have to love the game."

The idea has been a few semesters in the making, but more players began to show up by the end of spring. Bordo thinks part of that influx can be attributed to the World Cup, which is played this summer as part of the regular four-year cycle for the international tournament.

Nico Hotz, a Duke mechanical engineering and materials science assistant professor, is of Austrian descent and described soccer as a sport close to his European roots. Duke international students also regularly show up to the pickup games, representing Germany, Russia, Guatemala and elsewhere.

"I was happy to hear there's a group of all kinds of staff people, of all kinds of levels," Hotz said. "It feels more equal. Last week, we had a physically intense game, but there was no tackling or fouling or anything like that. It was a friendly game."

Casey Collins, an energy engineer with Duke Facilities Management, will bring a change of soccer clothes with him when he leaves Smith Warehouse on Fridays to get to the field. Collins has played soccer since he was 5 years old. Now, at 31, he was looking for a pickup game to join.

"Duke is a big enough and diverse enough community that there were bound to be men who wanted to kick a ball around," Collins said. "It's a fantastic thing, and I'm glad it's out there. I have a family, so the convenience of being able to play on campus with other people at Duke is a big deal."

"Soccer Fridays" has its own set of rules. During the game, there is no slide tackling, and a player can walk on and off the field whenever he or she wants. The game is free-flowing and meant to encourage friendly competition, and players sometimes teasingly talk trash about each other's World Cup picks.

Duncan Murrell, an instructor and writer in residence at the Center for Documentary Studies, has played pickup soccer for years. He said at 45 years old, soccer continues to be a sport he can improve upon.

During a recent Friday game, Murrell said he achieved a Cruyff Turn, in which he quickly redirected the ball around a younger player and took a shot on goal. He said in that moment, a player can forget all the missed passes or fatigue on the field.

"You'll make a great pass or you'll make an interesting move and get an interesting shot or goal, and you'll remember that all week," he said. "It's your little moment of football glory."