stories

Soccer Nights Stories

Ian, Soccer Nights Participant

Reservoir Church runs Soccer Nights each summer for the community with all kinds of volunteers and participants. We’re happy to share with you some stories.

We’ve lived in the neighborhood for twelve years now.  I lived in one house for seven years, and loved the neighborhood so much, but needed a slightly larger place.  We wanted to stay in the neighborhood because we love it so much, and part of that is Soccer Nights.   I feel like we’ve gotten to know a lot of neighbors and become close with a lot of people in the neighborhood…. we take care of each other’s pets when we’re away or they’re away… it’s very informal and we can kind of drop in on each other’s houses over time and just hang out for a bit, which it’s really nice to get that.

We have a lot of block parties in the neighborhood, and Halloween;  there’s a block on Dudley Street where it shuts down, like the entire thing is shut down, and every house is decorated in some, like, unified theme. They had a Pixar theme one year where each house was a different Pixar movie.  And they put a lot of effort into doing it… it’s really, really fun to go down there and be part of that.  So, yeah, I feel like people are intentional about community here, which I think is really neat.

Soccer Nights draws so many different parts of the community and such a diverse group of people—I actually love that.  For me personally, I love that my son can be on a team and be the only white kid, like that’s actually a really appealing factor for me. I get to have lots of great conversations with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Whenever I think of Soccer Nights, I always think of that time in the evening where the sun is going down and the lights are coming on; I look out and it’s just such a picturesque, beautiful scene, and so many people.  Yeah, that’s what I think of as heaven, in a way.  It’s kind of such a wide range of people together, playing and having fun.