VIEWPOINT MAGAZINE Volume 2.1 October 2013 | Page 9

COACH Homberto

By Bethany Armistead

U

rban Dictionary defines passion as: “an ambition
that is materialized into action; to put as much heart,
mind, body, and soul into something as is possible”.
Passion- it is a source of purpose, a driving motivation,
and sometimes a catalyst for God’s calling. That is what
soccer means for Coach Homberto, Mountainview’s
new varsity coach from Brazil, — it has been his life,
and a tool for God to accomplish His purposes through
him.
From an early age, Homberto has had a passion for
soccer. He describes soccer as “the first thing he enjoyed
doing” and tells of the first gift he received being a
soccer ball. Born into poverty, Homberto’s developing
soccer talent became a hope, financially for his family.
He reflects on his childhood: “I looked at my family
situation and thought ‘through soccer game I could take
my family from poverty.” Though he remarks that
during that time his family wasn’t Christian and so, did
not know what God could do nor believed that there
was any way out for them.
He began to train in a soccer club team when he was
seven years old. Mornings were spent at school, but
every afternoon was spent at the club, with a game every
Sunday. When he was fourteen, “the Star,” his first
professional team, won a championship game. At age
fifteen, he transferred from the Star to Waterfall, Star’s
big rival. Homberto has fond memories playing for that
team, it was a National level squad and the only one in
his state Bahia. They won every game they played in the
season and only lost in the semi-finals of the
championship. As it turns out, famous soccer player
Kaka was playing for the winning team, the St. Paul
soccer team.
Unfortunately, his soccer career was abruptly put on
hold at the age of seventeen, the byproduct of a tragic
knee injury.