F e & r e d M . .by b e r
S p a t u S a l o ne m Monica Jones
.
InterviewHeidi Manzo
by by Paul Smith
Homecoming
Babylon’s Own Chris Wingert Joins New York FC
C
“Chris Wingert is a professional soccer player and life-long Fitness
Incentive “person”—both member and one of the many people who as a
child spent considerable time being minded by FI's childcare staff while
Mom and Dad worked out. He is a big fan—a lifer here at “Fitness,” to
use the shorthand nickname he and many others use when they talk
about the gym. Chris took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to
talk a little about his career and the role the gym has played in helping
him as a pro.
PS: You obviously
are a longtime
fan of the gym,
along with your
Chris, above @ FI and in action for New York FC
family, and there
is a long-standing connection between
yourselves and the Brown family. Can you
talk a little about some of your early
memories of the gym?
CW: Well, I was coming to the gym long
before I ever began working out
here…probably beginning when I was
three or four years old. This would have
been when the gym was across the street
at its original location (Grove Place), in a
tiny room no bigger than this office with
whoever was babysitting at the time
while my mom worked out. Then Fitness
moved over to Main Street and got a bit
bigger, and I went with it there. Now it's
this big, beautiful place and people travel
considerable distances to work out here. I
personally know people who come from
20-25 minutes away, from all over the
Island because of its great reputation and
what an excellent facility it is.
PS: Your family is an athletic family and
of course you are a professional athlete
yourself. Your father was an athlete who
also played and coached soccer and your
grandfather was a jockey and won the
Triple Crown in 1946 aboard Assault. So
athletics has always been an important
4
presence to you throughout your life.
Can you talk a bit about this history?
CW: Absolutely. It actually was my
maternal grandfather who won the
Triple Crown, and that's something so
incredibly rare and impressive that my
father and I talk about it knowing we
will never achieve anything like it. But
my dad played professionally in the old
North American Soccer League in the
1970's. Times were different back then,
and he actually began teaching in the
West Islip school district at around the
same time. He ended up keeping that
job all the way through until he retired
a few years ago, which of course ended
up being a good decision. But he did
play professionally for a few years, and
when I was born and quickly started
playing every sport you can imagine, he
was always really supportive with
everything and really into it. I played a
ton of hoops growing up, as well as
baseball and tennis, but I was always
just a little bit better at soccer. I try to
explain it this way when people ask
how I came to choose soccer as my
focus. Probably not worth much but it's
my opinion on it. I think that when
you're a kid and you're better at
something, that thing tends to be or
become your favorite even if you don't
necessarily like it that much more. I
Summer 2015 FIT to Print
always loved soccer, but I don't know if I
liked it that much more than basketball or
skiing. I was a little bit better at it and so
got a little bit more of my attention, and I
think it excites you to play. It's also true
that soccer was the sport my dad knew
best, although he too played a ton of
baseball and other sports growing up. So
it was natural that he kind of caused me
to direct my focus in that direction a
little bit. It was always very much about
finding the balance between pushing and
not pushing too much. He did a great job
of that.
So my Dad was always kind of my coach,
and while I'd have other coaches along the
way, he was always there overseeing my
training all the way into high school. I left
Babylon and went to St. John the Baptist
High School, and we had a great team
there with a really great coach. Once I
reached college and continued to play, I
began to understand that there was a
chance I could play professionally, which
was always a dream I'd had beginning
when I was little.
PS: Ken Brown has told me that he
remembers your mom and you visiting
them at their house…swimming in the
pool…talk about those days.
CW: I don't remember the old house quite
that well because I was so young at that
time, but I've visited them in their house
now and it's my favorite house in Babylon!
So yeah, whenever I'm invited I'm trying
hard to take them up on the offer. But
yes, my parents and the Browns were
friends well before I was old enough to
realize it or recognize the relationship.
They've always been great not only to me
but to my entire family. For the last
twelve years I've lived out of state, and
now I'm back which is awesome. But eve