Valdivia’s Number Changed, Then His Address
Armando Valdivia switched his uniform number this season because he wanted to change his luck.
He had been bugged by injuries his first two years as a professional indoor soccer player, so he dropped the No. 5 and became No. 3.
Now, he’s zero.
Valdivia, 25, is no longer with the team. He was waived on Wednesday, a victim of bad timing and a salary cap. A one-car accident June 1 kept him out of the first four games, and his $2,500 monthly salary slot made him a high-priced spectator.
The decision by Coach Ian Fulton and delivered by General Manager Don Ebert stunned Valdivia--and his teammates.
“It surprised all of us,” Dale Ervine said. “He had practiced good and worked hard. It caught us all off guard.”
But no one was more surprised than Valdivia, who said he was as fit as he had ever been when Ebert gave him the heave-ho.
“I didn’t know what to say,” Valdivia said. “I asked for a reason. He said that, with my salary, he wanted to make room for some younger guys. He also said he thought the accident pushed me back a couple weeks, but I can’t control that. But I feel great physically. I thought I was playing very good. That’s why I was caught by surprise.”
The Splash added midfielders Mike Lynch, 22, and Antonio Farace, 19, Tuesday; it also signed Chris Volk as a backup goalkeeper.
Lynch started Wednesday’s home game against Portland, a 4-2 victory.
“It was a simple matter of mathematics,” Ebert said. “I get to sign two good, young, very promising indoor players for the price of one. I had many discussions with Ian, and Armando wasn’t cracking our lineup and wasn’t going to be in the 14 [who dress for every game].
“In this league, he made good money. When I have a chance to sign two talented players with huge upside, it just became a matter of numbers. It’s a salary cap situation just like the NFL. Armando’s a victim of the salary cap--plain and simple.”
The Splash now has the maximum 20 players on its roster.
The decision was quite a setback for Valdivia, who had not only changed his jersey number this season but was also a changed man.
He played alongside former Splash coach George Fernandez in Cincinnati during the off-season in the NPSL, which changed his life professionally. And the accident (“The seat belt saved my life, no doubt--the CHP said the car rolled two or three times”), which left him with lacerations and a shoulder injury, changed his life personally.
“I’m at 152 pounds right now; my rookie year I was 155 pounds,” said the 5-foot-8 Valdivia, who weighed 162 four months ago. “After being with George in Cincinnati, I recommitted myself--the way he carries himself, his intensity, gave me a different outlook about how I should treat my professional life. I’m going to try to have his work ethic. I reset my goals to have a big impact in this league.”
Valdivia had 25 goals and 26 assists in 48 CISL games.
“The main thing is I want to play,” Valdivia said. “Ever since playing in Cincinnati to having the accident, everything in my life has changed in terms of my priorities. A lot of things I took for granted--family, friendships.
“When you have a near-death experience, you really change a lot of things, it makes you see what’s important in your life. All the things that were routine, that I took for granted, aren’t routine anymore. I honestly have a whole new attitude. I’m revving to go.”
Elsewhere, as it turns out.
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Bernie “The Bolt” Lilavois, the only Splash player to score a point in each of the team’s first first four games, sat out Wednesday’s game against Portland after being suspended by the league for elbowing Dallas’ Tatu--the CISL’s second-leading all-time scorer--in the season opener. The blow sent Tatu to the hospital.
Lilavois thought all along he would get suspended for the June 14 incident (“After all, it’s Tatu”); although the Splash knew about the suspension June 21, he said, he wasn’t told until after the June 25 game at Sacramento.
The tattooing took place with less than a minute left in a 14-9 loss. Lilavois had the ball in his own defensive end and a Dallas defender was “kicking the [heck] out of me,” Lilavois said. “They’ve got a five-goal lead and I’m just trying to kill the clock, so I throw an elbow to give myself some room up against the dasher boards, because he’s acting like he’s trying to score. But that doesn’t work. So I threw it again and missed him, and I heard this loud crack. It was Tatu.”
Tatu had a goal and assist the next night in a 6-3 loss to Sacramento. He went over the 700-goal mark June 22 at Monterrey, but missed two games last week--after surgery to repair a fractured cheek bone.
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Oliver Wyss, 21, a Swiss native on that country’s national team, scored his first professional goal against Portland, providing the finishing touch in an 11-3 victory over the Pride June 20.
P.J. Polowski, 23, who played at Fountain Valley High and UC Irvine, scored his first professional goal Wednesday, also against Portland, capping the 4-2 victory.
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The Splash still doesn’t have a radio contract, but Ebert isn’t fretting just yet. His primary concern is live coverage, even if it means for games later in the season.
“I don’t want to be delayed until 10:30 p.m. every game,” he said. “For our audience, that doesn’t do anybody any good. Unfortunately, the station the team had last year [KORG] sold the air time by the time we got the franchise [in April].”
There’s a chance the team could broadcast on the Bullfrogs’ station, Radio Aahs, during crunch time.
“Our hope is once roller hockey season is over and when we start our drive in September and the playoff games in October, we will be able to work some things out,” Ebert said. “We agreed to revisit the issue. I think that’s a good station--I just don’t want to be on at 10:30 at night. It’s no fun not having radio, but I have to make sure it’s the right one for credibility.”
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The CISL’s supplemental draft is July 11. Draft order will be determined early next week. Ebert said there are some good players available, but “the most important thing is team chemistry, and I will do nothing to upset team chemistry.”
“I’m trying to get local guys who fit in with all the other local guys,” he said. “We’re a local team. We have good chemistry on this team. It’s one of the tightest teams I’ve been around. I don’t want to mess that up.”
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The Splash had an 87% renewal rate on season ticket-holders from last year, and currently has sold 1,440 season tickets. “We would like to get to 1,500 this year; the magic number is 2,000 seats for next year,” Ebert said. “That’s a solid base. [The Pond] has 2,500 seats gone to the suites--that’s 4,500 seats a night. That’s my goal.”
