Brian Farber of the San Diego Sockers
SoccerToday SOCCER NEWS INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVE
The San Diego Sockers are America’s Finest City’s professional soccer team and play fast-paced indoor soccer at the Valley View Casino Center — great for sports fans and families alike, going to a Sockers game is a great night of entertainment. And, for youth soccer players, watching the Sockers pass the ball, score goals and defend their quest for their 15th National Championship is not only fun, it is a great learning experience.
Soccer News: For the 2017/18 Major Arena Soccer League season, SoccerToday will be bringing you all the best in soccer coverage of the San Diego Sockers.
Our exclusive interview series will bring you inside the minds of players, coaches, and management, as the Sockers begin the hunt for their 15th championship.
Next, in the series is San Diego Sockers’, Brian Farber.
Diane Scavuzzo: As a successful professional soccer player how do you define success?
Brian Farber: Depends on what we are talking about, individual success or team success.
I would say as a team, success is accomplishing our goals. For the Sockers, our goal is always a championship — so falling short of that goal in recent years has felt very unsuccessful.
As an individual, I used to base success on stats but as players mature, it comes down to winning more than the goals for me.
If I don’t put away three goals but we win, then I am happy.
Don’t get me wrong, contributing to the win always feels a little better but in a tight game, I look at a game-saving block the same as an assist or a goal. It is not always about scoring goals but how a player contributes to the team.
Diane Scavuzzo: After years working in the world of youth soccer, if you could sum up what you have learned, what would it be?
Brian Farber: I don’t know if I can sum it all up but players find their game at different ages.
One day it just all clicks and all the lessons and training sessions finally make sense and player find that all-important confidence.
The game becomes easy. Parents always ask me to help their kids get faster to the ball or more aggressive and I always tell them to be patient and it’s coming but not all players are on the same timeline.
Parents need to just keep supporting the dream and if a player really wants it bad enough, they can accomplish amazing things.
Diane Scavuzzo: “Always striving for perfection” — what does this sentence make you think of?
Brian Farber: Never settling for good enough.
As a youth soccer coach, I love when players don’t want to stop training, they can feel the improvements and they know they are are getting better right then and there.
I remember as a kid I used to run this super steep hill and I would take my teammates there to run it and nobody could do more than three but I had been doing it for a couple years and could knock out twenty.
I would say that “always striving for perfection” means working toward perfecting something.
I never wanted to be second to the ball.
Diane Scavuzzo: When did you first start playing soccer? How old were you and where? Did you want to go pro?
Brian Farber: When I was four, I started to play soccer in the five and six year age group — my parents were the coaches so I got away with starting a year early.
I loved soccer from an early age and made it my priority. Eventually, I quit AAU basketball, I quit Babe Ruth baseball and I quit competing in motocross to focus on soccer.
I grew up in a small town in Idaho but sports was the main thing to do and for a very small town – a population around 5K – we have had several professional athletes achieve big things.
I always knew I wanted to go pro from an early age.
More importantly than making it pro was earning a scholarship and all those hours of training paid off as I was awarded a scholarship to Oregon State University.
I am now in my 13th season as a professional soccer player and have played in the Bay Area, Houston, Portland, Minnesota, Carolina and San Diego.
Diane Scavuzzo: When did you start playing for the San Diego Sockers?
Brian Farber: I came to the Sockers in 2011, Aaron Susi was the captain of the team and he was my former teammate. Susi recruited me to come to San Diego after the Portland Timbers season ended. The Sockers had lost two games in a row and had some injuries so I came in for one game against my former team the California Cougars.
I had five goals and an assist that night — and, that was the first game of the Sockers’ 48-game win streak.
Needless to say, I found my home that night. The guys took me in and it was a smooth transition.
Diane Scavuzzo: How do you describe your style of play?
Brian Farber: My style of play has always been built around speed and quickness and I made a career or enjoying both offense and defense.
I love to get back and help double team and make my teammates job easier almost as much as I like to counter and get goals.
Diane Scavuzzo: How did you get involved in youth soccer? When did you start coaching?
Brian Farber: I always wanted to be a teacher as a kid if soccer did not work out, and coaching is a perfect blend of teaching kids and having a positive impact on them — all built around a subject they all love.
I am passionate about coaching youth soccer because a good coach can make all the difference in the world.
Where I grew up, the coaches did not know the game but they brought passion and love to the field and the players worked hard for the coaches. I try to bring that same passion but back up the lessons with my experiences and help them improve each day.
Diane Scavuzzo: On the pitch, when is a player fastest?
Brian Farber: I’d say on a recovery run to get back behind the ball to stop a counter, I feel that is when I am at my fastest.
In indoor soccer, one goal against can shift momentum and if a player can get back into position and slow the play up until help can get there then he is valuable.
Diane Scavuzzo: What were your dreams when you were 16 years old?
Brian Farber: No doubt, playing professionally. All I wanted to do was play soccer. I was on the national pool through the US Youth Soccer’s ODP program and was one of only three Idaho players to ever reach that level at the time.
I had no distractions and was fully focused on soccer at sixteen.
Diane Scavuzzo: Do youth soccer players think enough? Do coaches help teach players to think?
Brian Farber: I would say yes, there has been a great shift in this part of the coaching.
Most coaches now are former players who played in college at least and the level of coaching has come up a lot in the last ten years.
Years ago, most coaches were volunteer parents and that’s not the case anymore. The lessons and exercises today’s coaches use are forcing players to think faster and have better field awareness. Player development and on-field performance will only get better and missing the world cup has been an eye-opener for a lot of people, so I expect to see even more changes in this area.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is the Sockers team like this year? How is it different from earlier seasons?
Brian Farber: This year we are very strong, we have a fully committed group who get along well and are still gelling as a unit but we all know why we are here and that’s to win a championship. I would not say that is much different from years past as those are always the goals but we have a very strong and deep team so one injury will not hurt us like it has in the past couple years.
Diane Scavuzzo: What was the match against Tacoma like, from your perspective?
Brian Farber: That was big for us. Tacoma is one of the teams we know will be up there at the end of the year and they are hard to beat. We came out and did our job at home.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is more important — fame or money?
Brian Farber: I’ve never put much thought into that question. For me fame means nothing, all I care about is that my teammates and coaches respect me. Money is important to provide for the family and make it possible to afford a home and to travel and see things outside of our small bubble, so I would say money is more important between those two.
Diane Scavuzzo: What do you like best about winning?
Brian Farber: I hate to lose so the best part about winning is I don’t have the feeling of losing.
I’m very competitive, I hate losing in practice — so a game is ten times worse. I try not to make it a habit.
Diane Scavuzzo: What do you want to say to the Sockers’ fans?
Brian Farber: The Sockers team, coaching staff, and front office led by Sean Bowers, our General Manager, have been telling the story of commitment, and we don’t take this lightly.
We are committed to winning for this great city.
We love coming out and playing in front of a packed arena and there is nothing better than hearing thousands of screaming fans cheer us on late in the fourth quarter.
We have built a great environment to play in — but without the fans support — it’s all for nothing so thank you and we will see you at the next home game.
