The Soccer Life - Aaron Gunyon

He's a fan of Coach Hankinson...

The Permanent Relegation podcast picked up a new member this year to be the written "voice of the BYB" and he's done an excellent job. He's optimistic when it's appropriate, but also tries to be equally realistic on the team's play. I like to read the posts that he writes and have tried to provide a spotlight on some of the fans (Nipun Chopra), writers, and commentators (Brad Hauter), as well as players (Estridge, Dawson) and front office staff (John Koluder) who make the Indy Eleven such a great team to support so I asked him once while we were hanging out in the press box to participate. He agreed to take part in my Soccer Life series and the following are his responses to my standard questions.

Thanks for your time Aaron!

1. Name:

Aaron Gunyon

2. Role (Player, Parent, Coach, Referee, General Spectator, All of the Above, None of the Above, Other):

- Retired Player, Occasional Sports Writer, Recreational Coach

3. Soccer-specific Nickname (and any story behind it):

-   

4. Age started playing:

- 8

5. First recollection of the game:

- My Dad used to "help out" during the early days in my YMCA program. I remember him running with us for about 30 seconds before he gave up and admitted that soccer was a real sport. He grew up playing baseball.

6. Highest level of play achieved:

- Carthage College Div III

Editor's note: I tried to contact the school to get some information, but didn't get any response. Either there isn't much to say about Aaron's career (see response to #7 below), those statistics were lost in a fire (see previous survey), or they make it a point to not give information to lowly blogs with a very limited following. I'm going with the last one...

7. Honors/Awards:

- I have a box full of runner-up trophies and sportsmanship awards if that is any indication how anonymous I was on the field.

8. Last competitive match – Date (if known) & Level of Play

- Summer 2001

9. Position:

- Left Back

10. Jersey number:

- 18

11. Coaching experience:

- I have coached 100's of kids in a variety of programs.  All of it at the Rec level, but its a lot of fun.

Editor's note: As a fellow coach of rec level soccer teams, I'll agree that it can be lots of fun, but I will also pat Aaron on the back because it is often a thankless task occasionally with families that treat it like it's something to do if they don't have something else going on. So Thank You Aaron for your dedication to today's youth and growing the Beautiful Game.

 

12. Refereeing experience:

- Refereeing is the least appreciated activity a human can do.  I will not subject myself to that type of cruelty.

13. Most memorable moment(s):

- I once scored unassisted from a corner kick.

Olimpico!

14. Least memorable moment(s):

- I got sent off for shouting at the ref "Try not sucking".  I was young.  It was an out of town tournament.  Coach was pissed.

15. Favorite World Cup moment(s):

- 2010 watching USA VS England in a casino with my friends.  Landon's group stage goal against Algeria was pandemonium though.

16. Favorite team(s):

- Indy Eleven and the USMNT.  Wolverhampton Wanderers is the greatest name in all of professional sports.

17. Favorite Historical Player:

- 

18. Favorite Current Player:

- None better than Messi.

19. Indoor vs Outdoor:

- Outdoor

20. Grass vs Turf:

- Grass

21. Other sports played (and to what level):

- 

22. Other Comments:

-