Standing a head taller than most of the other kids on the Fort Lowell Rush 05 Boys Azul team — one of the hundreds of teams competing in the Tucson Association of Realtors Shootout three-day tournament — Mason Sanchez stood out from the 22 players on the field.
Mason joined the team four months ago, two months after his family packed up and moved away from Dededo, Guam, and made their way to Tucson. He played in his first shootout this year.
The Rush 05 Boys tied Coronado Athletic Revolution 05 4-4 early Saturday morning and then lost 6-3 to Tanque Verde SC 05 Boys White later in the day.
Mason said he was enjoying his time out at the shootout, but thought he wasn’t performing to the best of his abilities. He said he felt the team let themselves down after they lost their goalkeeper, who left the second game early after fracturing his wrist on a save, but recovered a bit during the second half.
“We didn’t really have faith in ourselves, but after a few minutes in after halftime, we did all right,” Mason, who plays holding midfielder, said. “I, myself, feel like I did a pretty bad job. I didn’t really stay in my positions as much, but we just have to learn from it and perform at the next game tomorrow.”
Moving Stateside
Mason’s mother, Sirena Sanchez, was working full-time as a teacher when she started working with the Tupperware company. Fast forward four years, and Sirena stopped teaching and worked with Tupperware full time.
Along with her husband Ian, the Sanchezes helped turn Tupperware into a $1.3 billion company on Guam, which prompted the company to offer the pair a move, so they could help grow the company in Tucson.
Five weeks after receiving and accepting the offer, Ian, Sirena and their three children boarded a flight from Guam to Tucson, with layovers in Japan and Los Angeles, and moved into their new home July 5.
Sirena said she can trace back her family being born and raised on the island for at least six generations, ending with her children, and, even though she has some extended family in the United States, they are the first of Sirena’s immediate family to move stateside.
The family said the move was a bit tough, but they’re more excited about the opportunities T ucson offers. However, one of the things Sirena said the family did miss most was not being surrounded by the ocean.
“I took it for granted,” Sirena said of having the Pacific all around the little island.
When the family knew they were going to be moving, Sirena said the kids would take any chance they could to go out to the beach.
For Mason, although Tucson has no beaches, he said he transitioned pretty well.
“It was pretty easy for me to make friends out here,” Mason said. “I do miss the ocean, I miss my friends back home – sometimes I have breakdowns – but they’re only a phone call away.”
Sirena said she believes the move came at the right time in their lives. Because her children are 13, 15 and 20, they were able to be raised on the island.
“We were able to raise our kids with family and our culture,” Sirena said. “They’re old enough to know where they came from and always remember the island and keep the island with them.”
What the family did say they enjoyed most about living in the U.S. was being able to wake up and go traveling. It takes about an hour to drive from the north end to the south end of the island, but here they can drive longer and explore more places.
Older sister Misa said she’s not a big fan of road trips because she doesn’t like sitting for long periods of time, but Mason doesn’t mind.
“I want to travel across the U.S.,” Mason said. “I like to travel a lot.”
Taking advantage of new opportunities
Mason started playing soccer when he was 2ƒ years old. As a toddler, he went with Misa to a soccer practice — the one and only season she played youth soccer — and he practically joined the team.
Ever since then, it was all about soccer for Mason, who turned 13 on New Year’s Day.
Last season, Mason was on the Islanders Elite team, was invited onto the Guam Football Association National Academy and won the division’s Golden Boot for most goals scored (21) that season.
And now Mason, along with his family, hopes the opportunity they’ve been given to come to the United States helps the 13-year-old grow his soccer potential.
“Hopefully, (I can get) some scholarships in the future,” Mason said. “And in the far future, hopefully get into FIFA. Make my poppa proud. That’s my main goal — make my grandpa proud.”
Ian joked that getting a scholarship would be very helpful for the family, but both parents said they’re very supportive of Mason’s talent and passion in soccer.
Last year, Mason went through an intense growth spurt and was required to wear leg braces for his ankles and knees, and was even told to take it easy and rest, but he didn’t want to stop playing the sport he loves.
“This was all him. It was never because of us (his parents),” Sirena said of Mason’s soccer career. “When he wants to do something, he really sets his desire to accomplish it.”
