FitView: InterView of Enrique Montano
In respect to both sports, between football and soccer, the game of soccer burns far more aerobic calories per game. According to livestrong.com, “Soccer requires tremendous cardiovascular endurance, as players must engage in 90 minutes of jogging, striding, running and sprinting. American football requires explosive strength every 20 to 40 seconds. The running back, wide receivers, cornerbacks and safeties require overall fitness analogous to that of a soccer player. In soccer, obese players such as football linemen are unheard of.”
No doubt, this is why soccer players are the fittest in comparison to both type of team players. Soccer has always been a world-wide preferred sport and just recently I came across a great bunch of guys during my winter holiday travels in Mexico, “The Sacramento Republic”. While I was there enjoying the warm sunny beaches of Mexico, they were training hard on the soccer fields. As I waited for my flight, I got to chat with a 23 year old Sacramento Republic team player, Enrique Montano. Although Enrique’s family is from Guadalajara, a huge soccer state in Mexico, he’s actually from Salinas, CA. He’s been playing soccer and kicking soccer balls since the age of 3 years old. I asked Enrique what he enjoys most about the game of soccer. “I love the game because it’s not all about just one player, we as a team share the same passion of play and the goal is just that, we collectively as a team do one job and the job is to make goals and to win.” From there on, I decided to have some fun with them and test their sense of humor. Knowing that a few of them were suffering from an upset stomach from the rich food in Mexico, my next question was a biggie! My wife and I traveled in first-class, so I asked them if any of them would be joining us there at the front of the plane. They asked me why. “In first class we only have one bathroom and at my age, it’s something to worry about if an entire soccer team is jacked up from an upset stomach, and I can’t get in to use the bathroom at thirty thousand feet.” We shared a great laugh after that and our newly found friendship was created as well as a new fan (being me) of The Sacramento Republic Soccer Team.
Friends! Here in Modesto we are blessed with many options to be part of the game of soccer. The newest soccer field, Mart E Grogan, is actually close to my house and even though it’s a bit away from my front door, I can still see the glare of the stadium lights in the sky and hear the cheers when a goal is made. Make no mistake! Soccer players male and female are as hard as an Iron! They endure long training hours, their endurance is unbeatable, they play in whatever weather conditions and they are the fittest in comparison to any other sport on dry land. If you’re looking to lose some weight very quickly before the summer, I invite you to think about joining a soccer team. It’s not only an amazing sport to take up, but comparison to football it’s much less damaging on one’s body. Go Team! Go Sacramento Republic!
