CHAVARRIA BRINGS SOCCER SKILLS HOME.Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer The bond between father and son was too strong, even after a nine-year separation. Ever since Michael Chavarria could remember, he knew his son, Jakob, wanted to come home. Things were too different over there. Nine years after Jakob went to live with his Danish mother in her native country, the son has returned to Newbury Park to live with the man he resembles, not only physically but also athletically. Jakob Chavarria was born in Denmark. His father, a musician, lived there five years and met his wife. Their three-year union brought Jakob. Not long after his son was born, Michael took his family to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . The marriage ended, with the parents gaining joint custody joint custody n. in divorce actions, a decision by the court (often upon agreement of the parents) that the parents will share custody of a child. There are two types of custody, physical and legal. . When the son was seven, he left with his mother for Copenhagen. For the next nine years, he adjusted to a new culture and geographic area. It wasn't easy. Most Danes are blond-haired and blue-eyed. Jakob has olive skin and dark eyes DARK EYES USN Electronic Warfare System , like this father. He also didn't speak the language. Things got better. People learned to accept Chavarria's features. He, in turn, learned the language and culture. Part of that culture was understanding that Danes go out of their way to make sure you're comfortable. In school, people supported him like they were his best friends. The lifestyle is much more open. Prostitution prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males. is legal and regulated, and 16-year-olds can drink beer, although they can't drive until they're 18. Another part of the culture was love of soccer. Chavarria played on a first-division club in Copenhagen. ``Soccer is really popular. It's like life over there,'' he said. People play it all the time, in the rain or snow. And they're not as polite as American soccer players, either. When Danish players tackle, Chavarria said, they try to hurt their opponent. The winters are long, cold and intolerable for a boy who spent his early childhood in sunny Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . Months of near zero-degree temperatures, and summer that barely reaches 80 degrees can be very depressing. ``It rains a lot, and when it snows, it snows a lot,'' Jakob said. The socialist government takes much of the workers' money and shares it with all Danish citizens, leaving less discretionary income Discretionary Income The amount of an individual's income available for spending after the essentials have been taken care of. Notes: Essentials are things like food, clothing, and shelter. . Michael Chavarria said out of a population of five million, only one million are working. ``Here, you work hard, you get ahead,'' Michael said. ``Over there, two million are retired, two million are unemployed. They figured out, `Why work when you can collect?' One million are working and paying taxes.'' The tax rate, by the way, is as much as 60 percent. Jakob visited his father every summer and every Christmas. While here, he saw his father had extra time and money to spend. The pair went fishing and hunting. They could play tennis (in Denmark, there are no public courts) or enjoy the sun. ``It was hard. I missed him,'' Jakob said. ``It's hard, but I had to hang on. I couldn't wait for summer. (Sometimes), I missed him a lot.'' Michael said his son stayed nine years because he didn't want to hurt his mother's feelings. But ``I think she knew (his returning to U.S.) was inevitable,'' he said. Now, Chavarria is home, and Newbury Park High School's boys' soccer team couldn't be more pleased. Chavarria is a major reason the Panthers are off to their best start in five years. They host Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. today at 5:30 p.m. in a Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school sports league primarily made up of schools from Ventura County. The Marmonte Leauge is part of the CIF Southern Section. Click here to view the league schedule. showdown. One reason Chavarria has provided a boost is that he spent the last nine years living in Denmark, where soccer is the most popular sport. Since he played it all the time, he got good at it. As a center midfielder
In association football, a midfielder is a player whose position of play is midway between the attacking strikers and the defenders (highlighted in blue on the diagram). , he is the main playmaker play·mak·er n. A player in a sport with goals, such as a guard in basketball, who initiates offensive plays. play on the field and leads the team with nine goals. ``He gets the ball and can do what he wants,'' Newbury Park coach Jim Marshall Jim Marshall is the name of:
Michael also made a promise to his son. ``Since he's here, I'm going to give him every chance to live his dream,'' he said. ``His dream is to be a pro soccer player and get a college degree. I'm going to give him every opportunity. He's doing well so far.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Jakob Chavarria Newbury Park midfielder |
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