Who Teaches the Teacher? Fanor and Felipe Spotlight.
In the modern era of sports, with all of its inflated egos and individualistic motivations it is hard to get athletes — people really — to buy into one common goal. Since its genesis UltraFooty and Dylan Evande have prided itself on exploring the steps beyond making a difference for athletes. However, it takes a particular expertise in one’s craft to be the difference for others. To challenge, to break, to repair, and to go beyond are the traits that I have clued in on during my brief time as the “fly on the wall feature writer” for this organization.
In getting the opportunity to sit down with some of the buyers of the UltraFooty dream, I experienced a slight air of complacency on my behalf. To ask is to find answers, to converse is to find meaning. Fanor Arango and Felipe Lucas were both on separate paths looking for their next level. Fanor at the time of his UF start was just looking to find quality training partners, a group of friends and fellow athletes training on an empty plot of grass during the pandemic — which now feels light years in the past relative to how far UF has come — became what we see today. Felipe had previous experience as a coach in Bayonne, New Jersey. Family ties and inspired recruitment led Fil to his current position as a trainer. It amazed me that two roads that appeared to have polar dynamics in theory ultimately led to the same place. Fanor was never really sure if coaching was in his future, but training provided a different spark. To Fanor, there is something special in being able to provide an element of assistance for the youth that he lacked in his younger days. For Felipe, the game would never leave him. If not playing, Fil emphasized that one way or another he would find himself around the game of soccer. The most beautiful game has supplied him with his most beautiful moments. The one to one training has been his revelation that — much like Fanor — he lacked in his younger days. Both Fil and Fanor view the tremendous growth of the sport as an exciting opportunity to “be the person they didn’t have.”
With more resources comes more expectation. With the rapid growth in popularity of the game, the two trainers often find themselves adjusting on the fly to the new personalities they encounter on a daily basis. Fanor and Fil experience the shift in dynamic from generation to generation through their experience. One day it may be an introverted child, whose social skills have been marred by technology and a year of isolation due to COVID-19; on another day it may be a young athlete who has never been told no in their lives. The key — which was emphasized by Felipe and co-signed by Fanor — is to place athletes in an “earned environment.” The accessibility to trainers is a privilege that most didn’t (and still don’t) have. Words don’t do enough, according to Felipe, “kids soak up actions,” which is why leading a training session goes beyond words to body language and exemplary self awareness.
Although these two young trainers have gone above and beyond what Dylan could expect from them, both still emphasize the road ahead in dealing with their clients. Patience was the word of the day at this juncture of our discussion. Felipe puts it best in his explanation of how I imagine most “mid 20s” adults would explain things.
“I find myself trying to explain things as if the kids already know what to do,” he said. They’re just kids! They don’t know. And to boot, they’re people — and worse — growing people whose every interaction is stored in a bank of memories later to be used toward their benefit or downfall. Finding common ground in a trainer/client relationship is of the utmost importance in the search for success. The truth is, not everyone is the same. Obvious as that may be — it remains the key reminder in the fluid experience of training for both Fanor and Felipe. Both lads are still learning — even as they continue to teach — and that may be the most difficult form of multitasking in life. They both instill in their clients, young and old, their life lessons. For Fanor it is competitive nature, the understanding that everytime someone steps onto the field there is a definitive “first and last” and he pushes athletes to understand and use those results as fuel. Felipe emphasizes traits and characteristics. If life is a play then all its people are characters, but respect for your peers and the game remain the universal mainstay. For both the greatest success included expansion and growth. Whether it’s opening a new facility or watching a client finally get through a difficult drill, Fanor and Felipe remain thankful for the lessons that they learn while teaching.
