By Devin Lachapelle
As the days grow shorter and the temperature continues to drop, UMF students, UMF alumni and other area residents alike come together for friendly games of pick-up soccer at Farmington’s Hippach Field on Sunday evenings.
Isaac Raymond, a transplant from Presque Isle and a self-described Farmington “townie” is involved in the organization of games each week. Raymond said that the soccer group is casual and always open to new participants.
“This is total pick-up, we like to have anyone we can get,” he said. “I just grab people from in town. If I see that they have any interest in soccer I ask them if they want to come play with us.”
Raymond said that although quite a few students from UMF play each week, he is hoping to recruit even more. “On Sundays we have a lot of UMF students here,” he said. “It would be great if there was some way we could get connected with the University, to tell students where to go if they want to come play.”
Kesuma Laizer, a second-year student at UMF and a member of the UMF men’s soccer team, described pick-up soccer games as a great way both to stay active and to meet new people even though Sunday is the only day he doesn’t have varsity practice or games.
“It’s a good time to do warm-ups and get more touches on the ball,” Laizer said. “You make relationships and make friends, which is way better than just sitting.”
Laizer said that while the atmosphere can be competitive at times, players work together to make the experience enjoyable for everyone, regardless of experience level. “There are players that are really good, but then at the same time you don’t want to really go hard because there are people who are trying to have fun,” he said. “It’s kind of challenging but it’s good to learn something from others.”
Raymond said while there are no officials at games, players are generally very honest. He stressed that while the group rarely worries about following specific soccer rules, one in particular is always enforced. “There are no rules, except no kicks to the groin,” he said, laughing.
Ritter Bopp, a 30-year-old Farmington resident and former UMF student, said that although the pick-up soccer group has been around for at least a decade, the number of participants has only begun to increase in the past few years.
“I’ve been playing pick-up in Farmington just about every year since I was in high school,” Bopp said. “It’s always been such a tight group and the one thing we’ve experienced recently is the diversity of players that are showing up. It’s making for some really fun soccer games.”
Bopp said that the group provides an excellent way to build connections, and that having soccer games each week makes Farmington a better place to live. “We develop good friendships with each other, and when we see each other in town we always say ‘hey.’ Many of us participate in different leagues and maintain good dialog among the group as a whole, and I think that definitely helps to boost the value of a community like Farmington.”
Sebastien Dumont, a 2015 graduate of UMF, said that the Farmington pick-up soccer games provide a valuable opportunity for adults to play soccer long after they’ve left school. “It’s really great that we’re able to play as adults still,” he said, “because I think a lot of people, especially in rural Maine, don’t get a chance to play sports after high school.”
Dumont said he enjoys playing with students from UMF, as it makes games more competitive and more fun. “I think it’s great having UMF soccer players here,” he said. “They get that it’s just pick-up, that it’s not too serious. It just ups the level of play a lot.”
Dumont, who recently moved to the state of Washington, said that he’ll miss the competitive, but still good-natured, environment provided by the pick-up soccer games. “I’ll for sure miss playing here,” he said. “This is just too easy since I live in town. I can just drive three minutes and play.”
Bopp said that the group will continue to play on Sunday evenings at around 5:30 p.m. at Hippach Field until the temperature becomes too cold. Raymond and Bopp mentioned that anyone interested in participating in upcoming pick-up games should search for the “Farmington Adult Pick-Up Soccer” group on Facebook.
