Wichita Midfielder Borja Is Surprising the League
It would be a surprise if Wichita Wing midfielder Chico Borja wasn’t surprised.
“The fact that a midfielder is leading the league in scoring is incredible,” he said. “I’m getting a few more goals than I’m used to. I usually get more assists than goals.”
Through 15 games, Borja is tied with Dallas forward Tatu for the Major Indoor Soccer League scoring lead with 35 points on 20 goals and 15 assists. By comparison, Borja had 24 goals and 30 assists in 28 games for the Las Vegas Americans last season. He was hampered by a knee injury, but those numbers were indicative of his style of play.
“What he has produced for us so far has been a nice surprise,” said Wing Coach Roy Turner, echoing Borja’s theme. “Something has snapped in him. Whatever it is, it has worked.”
After the Americans folded, Borja became a free agent and was set to go to either Pittsburgh or Wichita.
Two days before the start of training camp, MISL Commissioner Francis Dale ruled that Coach Don Popovic could only bring a certain number of his former Las Vegas players to Pittsburgh. Therefore, midfielder Mike Fox, defender Jorge Espinoza and Borja were awarded to Wichita.
To Wichita?
“I come from New Jersey, and New York City is only 15 minutes away,” said Borja, who was born in Ecuador and moved with his family to New Jersey when he was 12. “I used to go see plays, and see the Knicks, Nets, Jets, Giants, Islanders, Rangers and Devils.”
Guess what, Chico. The Wings are the only professional sports franchise in Kansas.
“I thought Wichita would be a small town,” Borja said. “It’s actually a city. There are a lot of shopping malls. I was expecting something different. It was culture shock.”
The response of the Wing fans was also a surprise. There is probably a higher percentage of fans wearing orange jerseys at Wing games than at Denver Bronco games.
“Every where you go in Wichita, it’s Wings, Wings, Wings,” Borja said. “The fans are unbelievable.”
As an architecture major and soccer All-American at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Borja figured his postcollegiate days would be spent at drawing boards.
“I used to pass Giants Stadium almost every day when I was in college and I used to laugh when people asked if I thought I’d be a professional,” Borja said. “When the Cosmos drafted me, I couldn’t believe it. A New Jersey boy was making it in his backyard.”
Even though he was the only Division 3 player to be selected to the All-American and Senior Bowl teams, Borja did not think a player at that level would get enough exposure to be drafted.
“When a player agent came to talk to prospective professional players at the Senior Bowl, I went to the swimming pool,” Borja said.
After he scored a goal late in the Senior Bowl game, Borja suddenly attracted attention. He was asked to play on the United States National Team and then was drafted by the Cosmos.
Borja, who started on the 1984 U.S. Olympic soccer team, played on the Cosmos’ 1982 Soccer Bowl championship team and on the Cosmos’ club that was swept in three games by the Sockers in the 1983-84 North American Soccer League indoor championship series.
“You go anywhere in the world and say you played for the Cosmos and you are respected,” Borja said. “I never expected the Cosmos to fold.”
Another surprise.
By the time the Cosmos folded, Borja had gone to Las Vegas--another team that would fold just a few months later.
“It was a business decision to go to Las Vegas,” Borja said. “I went for it and it was a great experience. For a first-year team to win 30 games is incredible. It was a dream team. The problem was that three or four guys who were supposed to invest did not do so.”
The Americans folded and Borja rested.
“When I was with the Cosmos, I played soccer 12 months a year,” Borja said. “This past summer was the first time I had a whole summer off in four years. I think that has helped me. I’m only playing indoors now, and I think I’m coming into my own.”
Borja has three hat tricks, seven power-play goals and some breathtaking performances, such as his three-goal, three-assist game against Dallas.
“He took the whole team on,” Turner said. “Chico has an explosiveness. The MISL is in danger of being a hard-working league. Without the Chico Borjas around, the game will lose its excitement.”
Against St. Louis, Borja went from one end of the field to the other to score the game-winner with 30 seconds to play.
“Things are definitely going his way,” Fox said. “Shots are going in from incredible angles. Unpredictability is the key to his success. Every goalie will tell you the same thing. You never know what he will do, and goalies don’t know if he is shooting or passing.”
This season, Borja is shooting.
“A lot has to do with my attitude in the field,” Borja said. “Since I have been scoring, the players are looking for me to score. I enjoy that pressure.”
