A city councilman, a school board member and a former college president met at Santa Monica College earlier this month, but they weren't wearing dress clothes and they didn't have an agenda of discussion items.
They were there to play soccer.
Ted Winterer, Ralph Mechur and Chui Tsang are all members of the Santa Monica Oldstars, a collection of men over 60 from different community circles who convene regularly to play the beautiful game. Or, as beautiful as their bodies allow them to make it.
They're perhaps not as quick or graceful as they were in their glory days, but clearly they can still play. Earlier this month, the Oldstars played a friendly match at SMC against a Glendale team and pulled off a 6-3 victory.
“It was not World Cup status, but it was an over-60 classic and a huge amount of competitive fun,” team organizer Graham Wong said. “And without the need of the paramedics from SMFD.”
Credit for the creation of the squad is attributed to Wong, a longtime Santa Monica resident and a well-known figure among local soccer enthusiasts.
Nine years ago a mutual friend introduced Wong to Tsang, who was then the president of the local community college. The two hit it off over their shared love of soccer, which led Wong to lobby Tsang informally for what many Santa Monica athletes and sports groups want: field space.
“Chui says, 'Look, I've got a field out there,'” Wong recalled. “If we focused it towards a community group, he said it was plausible that he could talk to his people and let us have some field time.”
Wong reached out to his numerous friends in the local soccer community and set up an open scrimmage. Mechur, an architect who is is currently serving as vice president of the Santa Monica-Malibu Board of Education, wanted in. So did Winterer, a real estate marketer and current member of the Santa Monica City Council. Tsang was excited to play as well.
“It looks more like a political action group than a competitive soccer team,” Wong said. “But you get to know these people and what really makes them tick. For a lot of them, it's soccer. You can tell that most of these guys played when they were kids and young adults. This is their real passion in life, just getting out and playing on a team.”
Recognizing that many of the attendees had demanding lives away from the pitch, Wong widened the demographic to keep the informal Sunday morning and Tuesday evening scrimmages afloat. There are now a few dozen regulars ranging in age from 25 to 70, and the recreational games have become so popular that Wong often has to turn away interested players.
“It's lots of fun and incredibly competitive,” Mechur said.
Teachers and custodians run alongside medical professionals, politicians and public officials. Prominent pediatrician Jay Gordon and former PTA Council president Rick Gates often find their way to the field.
Many of the attendees have served as coaches or referees in the local AYSO ranks.
“You have Jay Gordon coming up against a tackle from a kid he brought into the world 30 years ago,” Wong said.
Arguably the most prestigious members of the group form the Oldstars, who travel to Las Vegas every January to compete in one of the nation's largest adult soccer tournaments. They've also appeared at events in Santa Barbara and Arizona, although scheduling conflicts keep them from showing up consistently.
“It's worse than trying to organize 10-year-olds,” Wong said. “These are some well-known people, and getting everyone on the same page is tough.”
But the players make time for regular scrimmages at SMC. They step away from their professional lives to lace up their cleats, stay in shape and build relationships with fellow Santa Monicans.
“It makes the city smaller when you get that kind of mix,” Wong said. “It makes the world smaller.”
