San Diego scores big as the city welcomes Major League Soccer (MLS) for the first time ever, marking a new chapter in San Diego’s sports history.
On May 18, 2023, MLS announced San Diego FC as the league’s newest expansion team, bringing top tier talent and soccer to the city. Since then, the club has been actively recruiting, training, and engaging with the local community, uniting San Diego and beyond. On March 1, San Diego FC will play its inaugural home game at Snapdragon Stadium against St. Louis.
San Diego FC player Christopher McVey and Ulisses Barajas who is part of Leadership within Fan Club, Chavos Frontera Ultras gave their insights through private exclusive interviews with University City High School’s newspaper, The Commander, and other information was obtained from San Diego FC Players Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, Franco Negri, Pablo Sisniega, and Head Coach Mikey Varas at a media event where reporters were gathered to ask questions.
Fan Club Chavos Frontera Ultras is one of seven support groups for the team. Barajas shared how he has felt the excitement radiate through San Diego as the team starts their season. He said, “Getting to see all the people that are coming out and participating in some of the club’s events, or even ours, the support groups, it’s showing that we’re invested. We’re trying to make sure that the team knows that we’re here to support them, win or lose.”
Barajas also shared the importance of the team bringing our city together, and the importance of the fan clubs. “With the Chargers leaving, I think that it’s almost like trying to fill that void. So for us, I think it’s great. I think it’s a long time coming. I think the city is ready. I think the community is ready more than anything.” “The biggest thing that we’re trying to approach is inclusiveness. We’re so close to the border that the Raza, the Hispanic community is all coming together just because it is soccer.”
Center-back on San Diego FC Christopher McVey, and Leagues Cup (2023, Inter Miami) Champion, shared his views on being on a team that’s starting from scratch. He said, “It’s really cool to be part of the club’s history. Also meeting a lot of the fans, how excited they are just to have a team out here and be able to be a part of that and meet some of them here. The excitement is really cool. You can feel it in the whole city, so I’m excited.”
Left-back Franco Negri, and Leagues Cup (2023, Inter Miami) Champion, also commented on how it has felt to play on San Diego’s new team saying, “Es lo que estamos esperando, jugar con nuestra gente. Relacionarnos bien dentro de la cancha y fuera de la cancha. Y que crean en nosotros porque vamos a dejar todo para que el club vaya creciendo. Y podamos hacer del club una visión grande a lo que quiere en el club. [It’s what we’re waiting for, to play for our people. We understand each other well on the field and off the field. Believe in us, because we are going to give everything so then the club will grow. And we can make the club a grand vision of what the club itself wants.]”
McVey also vocalized the team’s commitment on the field as they prepare for their first games. He said, “As we’ve seen here in the first couple of weeks of training, we have a really strong squad. I think in this league, it’s really important, because there are so many games, with the cups and everything, to be able to have people that can rotate when we need other players, different types of players, because everyone has their own thing they’re good at usually. I just think it’s important to have a strong squad and I feel like we do.”
McVey has had a lot of experience on the pitch, and shared about his early love for the sport. “I started at an early age, probably like six, and my brother was playing as well. He’s two years older, so I kind of just followed in his footsteps. And I just loved it, doing it every day, and I was like, this is really cool, and if I could do this professionally for a living, then I’d love to. Just from an early age, I had already decided that I was going to make it, and I’ve just been working hard towards it every day.”
As a Leagues Cup winner, McVey also reflected on his championship and getting to win alongside Lionel Messi, his teammate, when playing with Inter Miami. “That was a really, really cool experience for me, of course. I mean, I grew up watching this guy, and he’s the best player in the world, so to be able to be a part of his team and play with him, it was almost a dream come true as well, just to be able to do that… I mean, and we got to lift a trophy together, so that’s pretty cool as well.”
Head Coach Mikey Varas has been eager to test his squad against MLS Competition, knowing the road will not be easy. “We’ll only know once the ball starts rolling against MLS competition and you get punched in the face for the first time… I love the punches in the face. The only way you grow is by getting punched in the face. And the only way we actually know where we stand is by hitting a challenge and going, ‘Okay, no, we have to improve this.’ So if we want to do something special, I want those challenges as soon as possible.”
Varas shared the team’s plans when it comes to conquering the tough games and staying strong throughout the season. “We’re going to be a team that plays really good football…. We’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to do what we say we’re going to do. But now the trick is winning games doing it. That’s a whole other level,” said Varas. “We’ll have an exciting style of play. There’ll be a lot of commitment in that. And we’re definitely going to be competitive in terms of winning games. It’s now a matter of how quickly we can get there.”
San Diego FC’s Designated Player Hirving “Chucky” Lozano — renowned for his skills on the pitch and his unforgettable goal that lead the National Mexican Team a 1-0 lead against Germany in the 2018 World Cup, triggering celebrations so grand, they caused an earthquake in Mexico City — shared his mindset ahead of the inaugural season. He said, “Tiene que trabajar mucho, ser muy abierto a la ayuda de los entrenadores porque sí, es una liga muy complicada, pero bueno, ojalá que le vaya muy bien…. Lo principal yo creo que son partidos de preparación, [los partidos] son como exámenes para ver cómo estamos y qué podemos hacer. [We have to work really hard, and be open to the help from the coaches, because yes, it is a complicated league but hopefully it goes really well…. The priority, I think, are games of preparation, the games are like tests to see how we are and what we can do.]”
Lozano also discussed Vara’s work and contributions to the team. He said, “Mikey está haciendo un gran trabajo. Está haciendo un gran equipo, un gran grupo y eso creo que es muy importante. Y la verdad que el estilo de juego, como dije, me ha gustado mucho. [Mikey is doing a great job. He’s making a great team, a great group, and I think that is really important. And truthfully the style of the game, like I said, I have liked a lot.]”
SDFC’s Goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega, MLS Supporters Shield Winner (2019) when playing for Los Angeles FC, also reflected on the coaches’ work saying, “I think the coaches have pushed us in a very good direction…. We’re doing everything in our hands to be ready for the season, to be in the best shape possible.” He also shared some insight on what the coaches are encouraging the goalkeepers to do, which separates them from other teams. “I think it’s great that they’re pushing the goalkeepers to play with their feet, that they have us as one more field player. I think it gets us a little bit out of our comfort zone, but it’s going to be very good for the team and it’s going to, I think, produce really positive results as the season goes on.”
“You have to do things that maybe on other teams, you don’t have to do, and you really have to be like a field player with gloves. I think that aspect is great. I think it’s going to help us break the press a lot. I think as the season goes on, as I said, we’re going to be more and more dominant because of this. So, I think it’s very good,” said Sisniega.
McVey, Lozano, and Negri also gave advice to University City High Schools’ youth and aspiring athletes. “I think especially in the sports world, and maybe everything, just a mindset. If you really want something, and you put in the time and effort to really, really want it, then you can make it happen. But you’ve got to be willing to put in the work for it,” said McVey.
Negri said, “A los chicos, siempre les digo que entrenen y que se diviertan más que todo porque en el fútbol hay que divertirse. Muchas veces ahora los chicos tienen muchas presiones dentro del campo y fuera del campo.” “Les digo que se diviertan dentro de la cancha, que es lo que tienen que hacer cuando son chicos. Y después, una vez que vayan siendo grandes, se van dando cuenta de las cosas que va dando el fútbol. Y uno así se va haciendo fuerte, reconociendo experiencia. Y el jugador se va volviendo más completo con el día a día. [To the kids, I always say to train and above all, have fun because in football, you have to have fun. Many times now, kids have a lot of pressure on the field and off the field. I say to have fun on the field, that’s what you have to do when you’re young. And once you grow up, you will realize everything that football has to offer. And like that, you can become stronger and get experience. And the player will grow day by day.]”
Lozano, the first Mexican player ever to have won the Serie A title (2022-23, Napoli), as well as winning other titles such as Coppa Italia (2019-20, Napoli), CONCACAF Champions League (2016-17, Pachuca), and Clausura (2016, Pachuca) shared his advice, “Hay que ser muy disciplinados, hay que ser muy entregados al sueño que están buscando y que no dejen de soñar, que siempre luchen allá. Traten siempre de seguir soñando. [They have to be really disciplined, they have to be really focused on the dream that they’re looking for and not stop dreaming, and always keep dreaming.]”