This Is American Soccer, US Soccer, MNT, WNT, and MLS - Tackling the subject of Soccer in the US, and worldwide.

Indoor is in a weird place. If you think soccer has it bad in the American sporting landscape, how bad is it for its little indoor brother, a wholly unique being known to most players as that crazy game that filled the cold winter months between club seasons? Better than you might think actually.

I loved it as a kid. Playing inside that oval felt like being inside a virtual video game. There were penalty boxes. It was hilarious. But professional? That was the farthest thing from my young imagination, even considering that before the 1994 World Cup the only professional soccer I saw as a kid was the Atlanta Attack indoor team. But even as a kid you knew those guys weren’t making much money.

Yet then and now guys are working, doing their thing, earning a living, maybe doing better for themselves than if they were in MLS. But still indoor is one of those things people forget existed if they ever knew at all, like so many local (maybe backwoods) sports. I saw some figure-eight car racing in Northern Illinois as a kid that still blows my mind when I think about it today. People get paid to do some crazy stuff. And people who may or may not know who the players are come out for the entertainment.

Oral Bullen plays indoor in New Jersey. The son of a welder and nurse from Trinidad and Tobago, Bullen was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens where you gotta go out and find a soccer field. It’s not given. But if you love it, you’ll ride your bike like Bullen did as a kid to Long Island to practice on a real field. And then you will ride back home. And then one day, maybe, you could be a professional indoor soccer player like Oral. Or maybe you could pay for an education with your athletics like he did. Or maybe you could do both. If you choose to go that way and make it in the world of indoor soccer, it’s probably best to do both. I sat down with Bullen to discuss the reasons why.

TIAS: A few weeks ago we saw eachother at the MLK high school awards banquet. You spoke to the kids about the importance of education. You spent 4 years at U MASS and obviously feel strongly about the importance of education. I’m curious to get your thoughts on the college game as we follow your career into the professional ranks.With the college season wrapping up recently there has been lots of talk about where college soccer fits into the American developmental system. Arguments appear from all sides. What’s your reaction to what has seemingly become a yearly review of the collegiate game?

Bullen: I can definitely agree to some extent with the negative perceptions. A lot of guys that I meet now that are professionals didn’t go to college. They started playing professional at the age 15, 16. When you graduate from college your 22 or 23 so maybe we missed the boat or got on it late. But you can’t talk about collegiate soccer without talking about the academics. That education is one thing that we have that no one is every going to take away from us.

And for scholarship players, you don’t have to pay for it.

Exactly. If you go pro and then go back, you’ll be paying. But I got the chance to play college soccer, get seen by scouts, and also get an education, so just in case those scouts don’t come calling, you’ve got something to go on.

Sometimes when I think about it, college soccer almost should be more important to the perspective pro. Up until recently and even now to a large extent, the opportunities are widespread or obvious for the American soccer player. Salaries aren’t that high except for the top few percent. More than maybe any other pro sport, soccer players need to pay more attention to life after the game. I mean, most of the players could be making more money, college degree or not, working some other sort of job.

That is truth. Everybody knows MLS doesn’t pay as much, especially for young guys who aren’t in the national team fold or hooked up as generation Adidas maybe. And even some of those guys aren’t really seeing the fruits of your labor. A lot of guys like myself have to do the outdoor and indoor thing and you kind of wind up making more doing that as a young rookie or something—you end up making more money playing a few seasons in one year than just playing a rookie season in MLS on a developmental contract or something. It has its tough  moments, but if you love the game, you’re going to chase it as long as you can.

Take us from U MASS into your professional career. How were those first few years?

I wasn’t really paid much attention coming out of college. I got an invite to the LA Galaxy combine. About 28 or so guys started out and they kept like 4 or 5 of us to continue on overlapping into the preseason with the team. So we got to train with Kobi Jones and Landon Donovan. Then they sent me over to Portland to get some more experience. So I went there; signed with Portland.

And you played one year for the Timbers.

Yeah. One year. And then I went to Milwaukee to play indoor and then here to New Jersey where I am with the Ironmen.

Why just one year at Portland?

Our head coach and GM screwed up the finances. I was supposed to re-sign with them but there was a whole big kind of like money scam that the old coach was running. A new coach came in and kind of wanted to clean house. But I found a home in indoor. I didn’t expect I would end up playing the indoor game but I started to get some interest in it, things started out well, so I stuck with it.

How did the opportunity of indoor first present itself?

The same coach at Portland got a call from the Milwaukee coach saying that they were looking for players if he had any who wanted to play during the winter. Outdoor is only a 6-month season so a lot of guys go indoor for the next 6 month to get paid for that time, so I tried out, made the team.

What was that transition like? Did you have a background in indoor as a kid?

Yeah, I played a bit as a kid, but I found I always got a bit injured. It’s tough on the body. But one thing indoor provides you is that year-round contract. You can play indoor in the winter and work camps in the summer and still be provided housing. That’s one thing the indoor game provides that the outdoor game doesn’t. This way I play for 6 months and then during the off-season I work summer camps for the team, continue to make some money and have a home base. With outdoor, there’s no camps in the winter, no nothing. You’re done. A lot of guys can’t really afford to take that time away from getting a check. It’s a money thing. One of the biggest things I’m noticing is guys coming down from MLS to USL. You can make the same money at a certain level in USL but make that money in 6 months instead of 12 and have the other 6 months to do what you want. It doesn’t really add up. Of course you want to play at the highest level, but the bills don’t stop coming.

The Atlanta Silverbacks are taking a year off from the USL. The MISL dissolved and now there are two, smaller indoor leagues I think. Arena football is taking a year off. From a players’ perspective, is that something you think about? Where do you see professional indoor right now?

It’s definitely tough. The old league, the MISL, folded last season. They created the XFL, the extreme soccer league, and NISL, national indoor soccer league. A lot of the teams split down the middle. Instead of taking a year off with the Arena league they decided to continue, have a shorter season, and set the ground for what they plan to do next year. As a player you’re definitely cautious. That’s one of things I go back to saying, is that I got a college education, so I’m not so dependent on, you know, if the leagues folds, what are we going to do? I’ve done other things, like office work, and getting to learn about the front office of the team. I’m expanding my horizons a little bit. I can’t just stay soccer orientated. I want to have some other options.

When did it first dawn on you after college that that was the reality you had to have—sort of dual track covering soccer with another job?

After my first year in Portland it kind of hit me where I saw the older guys and talked to them. They always said that you cant play forever so you have to set yourself up for life after soccer. So I started trying to do just that. Last year I worked at a pharmaceutical company. Answering phones, doing whatever, sitting behind a desk. It was boring, but good to get experience so that I’m not limited to just soccer.

You mentioned the front office. You’ve been sort of interning with the Ironmen, right?

That kind of came about when I played in Milwaukee. I noticed that the people in the front office were the ones with the sharper minds making more of the money. It’s not like in the NBA or baseball, where players are making these huge amounts of money, usually more than the guys upstairs. In soccer its different. People upstairs make more than the players. Now I like playing and want to continue playing but when my day comes, I want to be one of those people upstairs. So I just said to the team here that this is something I would like to do. And the people here are amazing. The GM, everybody. They said no problem, that they would bring me in and show me how things are done and let me get that experience. It’s is like an internship. It’s been great.

How much discussion is there among the players about the state of the league and American soccer opportunities in general? Is it a positive place these days, or are their worries?

A little bit of everything I guess. Guys talk about the league splitting and what that may mean, how it was better before. Everybody usually just wants to play as long as they can, so the talk is about how they hope the league is there for the future. The better chances to provide for families. I’m sure MLS is the same way to some degree. They’re thinking about next year and contracts and whether they will make more money or even make the team.

And now without reserve teams, it’s probably going to be harder.

Yeah. So those guys maybe try USL, which has teams that come and go. Guys are always worried about it. And especially now because of the economy.

When I was a kid, the only professional soccer I saw live was indoor. The Atlanta Attack. And I played indoor every winter between club seasons. But for some reason it  kind of blows my mind that professional indoor still exists. But looking at some of the numbers, it’s right up there with MLS in terms of at least some of the attendances. Is that a reaction you here a lot? The stupid question: what? Indoor soccer?

Yeah, and all that is the truth. I still love outdoor, but I’ve grown to love indoor. It’s all about skill. It’s a mix of outdoor and futsal. First touch, quick awareness and patterns. But we used to play just for fun as a kid like you did. Just a good sweat. Just fun. It was never something I understood as something that could be professional. Or draw like 10,000 fans, which we do. It was a wake up call for me the first year I played. The first game in Milwaukee we had something like 11,000 fans there. I was like ‘wow, 11,000 came out for indoor.’ We wouldn’t get 11,000 for USL games. Maybe occasionally. It was a big shock to me. But it’s family fun, kid friendly, indoors, and the tickets are cheap.

How long do you see yourself playing?

It’s tough. I have guys on my team who have played for 8, 9 years. I hope I can play the game of soccer, outdoor or indoor, another 10 years. But you have to stop and look. If the money is right and the setup is right then it is something you can do forever, but if you have a family to provide for—I’m engaged now—so I’m thinking family and kids and about the future. I’m 25 and have to be doing that. those are things I consider. If soccer works, that’s great. If not, I have to go another route.

Do you ever think about or question taking the soccer path? Any regrets?

No, I am definitely happy. You can go to the innercity area where I’m from in Queens, Brooklyn, or Manhattan, and its not one of the easiest situations for kids growing up. When I do go back I say to myself, ‘wow, it’s a blessing that I’m able to go and travel and see some places.’ People I know back home haven’t left New York City ever.  Soccer gave me that. Thirty-something states, Mexico, lots of different places. I’m grateful for that.

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nod to Wayne Davis for the phrase “a view from another place,” maybe my favorite random record store find of all time.

Sweet Bird of Youth

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I like the Things About Me I Once Despised

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