VENICE BEACH FOOTBALL CLUB; TIM WALSH - LOS ANGELES, MLS & HANGING WITH LUIS ENRIQUE

Tim Walsh is co-founder of the infamous Venice Beach Football Club. Both Dillon Chapman and he have succeeded in their aims of creating a club representative of the traditions and culture ingrained in the local Los Angeles community. They are actively taking responsibility for the future of our game. In our over commercialised and diluted game VBFC are certainly rolling against the tide and they champion putting the power back in the hands of the ultimate stakeholder; the football fan. Not only are they apt ambassadors for the sport in "Dogtown" they are ambassadors for our game worldwide.

Hi Tim, can you tell us about yourself and when and where did you first become acquainted with the “beautiful game

I was born in Chicago IL & currently in Venice CA. I was fortunate enough to play in College and professionally after for 5 years in a few different parts of the world. I was a huge fan of late 90’s Arsenal teams and when the premier league was beginning to be broadcasted to the us, it was around then I fell in love with the game.

Can you tell me more about the VBFC concept and where and how did it develop? What were the goals/aspirations when starting and how have these evolved over the past year?

Venice Beach Football Club is community focused on growing football within our neighborhood and use the sport as a way to make a positive impact lives. After living in Venice, first as a player in the offseason and then as a coaches, we saw a raw community of talent. While Dillon and I were both coaching in the area, everything made sense to start a pickup game at the Venice Rec Center. From a community, coaching, and cultural perspective this made sense to be a foundation of hopefully one of the football destinations of the US, with one of the realest pickup games around.

Specifically, our goal is create a pipeline of local talent as future ambassadors of Dogtown playing in academies and pro clubs throughout the world. We also hope to be a resource for professional and ambitious players who hope to play at the highest level. Sometimes its by offering them offseason training and workouts, sometimes its just connecting the dots of who knows who.

"We have our own history, our own language, and our own traditions. We have our own rules that we live and play by. We are locally raising footballers to represent our values and traditions because they are our future leaders and ambassadors for Dogtown." - as read from VBFC's website, would you mind further elaborating on this paragraph Tim?

It’s pretty easy. We do our own thing. People in Venice are a little different than other places. You have to be live here. Things are very real in Venice from crime, to tourists, homelessness, gentrification. Our grass parks don't have soccer goals, but rather homeless people sleeping while rich people letting their dogs go to the bathroom on the limited grass fields where the neighborhood kids are supposed to play sports. We started playing at the Estadio because there was really not many other places to play. Our people are tough, humble, and have put up with a lot over the years in this community. We don’t train on perfect grass pitches, with all kinds of skills equipment. We have a beach, a wall, and a gym, with a few fields we know how to break into when needed.

Has it been nuts to have had players from Tottenham and Barcelona turn out over the past summer along with “Estadio de Dogtown” appearing in the new FIFA, surely you guys would have never imagined that?

At the end of the day, its the slum by the sea, but we are still in LA. Its common to see pro’s The Fifa thing was crazy and not expected at all. Barcelona was an awesome day that really left a mark in Venice. The worlds best club choosing the Estadio as their main North American promotion was very positively received locally and hope for more down the line. Seeing Luis Enrique kick around a ball all day on the courts was pretty chill as well.

How much of a positive influence do you believe it has been so far on the local LA soccer community and along with LAFC’s promising first year in the top flight do you notice an increase in the following of the game all over the city?

I think LA has been and will be one of the biggest handful of soccer markets throughout the world. The issue is not interest in the sport, but getting fans to support a LA club to the level they support their favorite Mexican, South American, European team. LAFC is a tremendous addition to LA & US Soccer and so far, the group and supporters there seem to be doing things in a progressive way that has been nothing but fun to watch this year.

Heartbroken by LAFC’s playoff defeat to Red Salt Lake who will you now be backing in the MLS playoffs and what players/teams should European fans eyes be peeled on?

I like Red Bulls and Atlanta. They play fluid attacking soccer, and they’ve been playing that way all year till now. I hope Atlanta does it. Miguel Almiron and Joseph Martinez. Both play for Atlanta and both will be playing for a top European club in the next 6-12 months in my opinion.

Thanks for your time Tim, finally where do you see VBFC and soccer in LA as a whole in five years?

Soccer in LA will be thriving more than ever in the next 5 years. VBFC in 5 years will continue to have the best pickup game in the US, and still be putting the freshest beats in the air during the process.

Venice Beach Football Club

Website: http://www.venicebeachfc.com/

Instagram: vb.fc

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYqyyWnBoo1VxiiAAaHjYmg

Tim Walsh

Instagram: twalsh.88

Totally Football Show: American Edition

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