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The Armenian Weekly; Volume 74, No. 29; July 26, 2008
Features:
1. Fifty-Year Reunion Proves Bittersweet
2. Here Comes Yura Movsisyan
By Antranig Dereyan
***
1. Fifty-Year Reunion Proves Bittersweet
Her name is Nancy Fay and she sat before me in a high school history class.
You couldn’t help but notice her. Bright. Chirpy. Beautiful. That was Nancy.
She had everything going for her-belle of the ball.
I used to admire her at football games. She was a cheerleader and could
whirl and twirl with the best of them. Truth be told, I would watch Nancy
more than the football players. She always came out a winner.
Come exam time, an occasional glance at her paper gave me all the answers I
would need to pass, except when the teacher alternated worksheets. Then, I
would do bird imitations.
For four years, we never spoke, not that I didn’t want to. I could never
gather up enough nerve for a conversation, much less a simple hello. When it
came to girls, I had malaria.
I don’t think she ever noticed me to tell you the truth. Maybe I was like
that invisible rabbit "Harvey." I made it a point to be conspicuous to no
avail.
On occasion, I would attempt to make an approach when trepidation gripped
me. Once during gym class when I finally mustered up enough verve to ask her
to the prom, another guy made the encounter first. He happened to be the
team captain and star quarterback. I was the last runner on a track team.
She lived on the adjacent street in Somerville so distance was never an
issue. We would attend the same church and patronized the same variety store
inside our neighborhood.
Come graduation day, she had an urge to attend college. Her pet peeve was
"bossy people" while mine was "litterbugs." After that, we traveled our
separate roads and lost touch. Like they say, out of sight, out of mind.
Fifty years passed and no sign of Nancy Fay at a class reunion or through
destiny. I did wind up with another Nancy as my lifelong partner and lived
all the better for it with three wonderful children.
Now, here it was, the evening of an ARS convention in Lowell and the host
chapter was giving a reception for its delegates at the community center. A
tour bus pulled up to the front and out poured 50 delegates and guests.
The group danced its way into the hall like some spirited kef time and
savored all the food and drink set before them. They came from all over the
region in what proved an historic occasion for this Armenian community.
The night was warm and the crowd seated inside the hall made it even hotter.
I filled my plate and took it outside for a breath of air. I managed a seat
on the front steps, next to a couple women from the Binghamton.
The New York chapter was nothing new to me since I had just reviewed its
history in the pages of the Armenian Weekly as part of my series leading up
to the ARS Centennial. They did not make a connection until introductions
were made.
"Hi, I’m Zabel Fay," the older one said. "Mooradian is my maiden name."
"Fay, huh? Where have I heard that name?"
"Well, I’m from Somerville originally," she interjected.
"Same here," I shot back. "You graduate from Somerville High?"
The woman cracked a huge smile. "Matter of fact, I did. Class of 1954."
I was four years ahead, Class of 1958.
"That’s my sister-in-law’s class," Zabel revealed. "Nancy Fay? Did you know
her? She was a cheerleader."
Gulp! My heart skipped a beat.
"Vaguely," I said, feigning a lie. "Wonder what happened to her?"
Next thing I know, the woman pulled out a cellular phone and began dialing a
number. "I’ll get Nancy on the line and you can say hello. She’d love to
hear from you."
I sank with humiliation.
Here it was, a half-century later on a remote street in Lowell during an
ethnic gathering and an acquaintance was about to be rekindled, even though
it was pretty much one-sided on my behalf.
The voice was mellow, yet longing. I had no idea what she looked like now
but my appearance was also a mystery.
"You used to sit behind me in history class," she recalled. "And didn’t you
live in my neighborhood? I thought you were very funny. How come we never
became friends?"
We wound up talking for an hour and catching up on lost time before the
phone went dead.
——————————————– ———————————-
2. Here Comes Yura Movsisyan
By Antranig Dereyan
PLAINSBORO, N.J. (A.W.)-In the world of professional sports, the word
"rarity" is often used to describe events, like the Chicago Cubs winning the
World Series in baseball (it hasn’t happened since 1908), or a Triple-Crown
winner in horse racing (it hasn’t happened since 1979), or finding Armenian
players. After Andre Agassi, Armenians in professional sports are like
diamonds in the ruff: they are rare to come by, but when they are found,
they stand apart from the crowd and shine.
One of those rare diamonds is soccer play Yura Movsisyan, 21. Movsisyan, who
currently plays for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS), did not
start at the top, he fought his way to the top. His story is one that not
everyone can understand, but he survived his upbringing and made his way to
the top with the play of his feet and the size of his heart.
Movsisyan was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1987, during the end of the
Soviet era.
"I am Armenian. I was born in Azerbaijan, but I am Armenian. That’s what I
want people to know," Movsisyan said during an interview on Jan. 16 with
Scott French, a contributor to MLSnet.com.
Movsisyan has little to no memory of life back in Baku, but in early 2000 or
late 2001, his family, which consists of father Sergey, mother Aida, and
brothers Movses and Hovhannes, came to the U.S. seeking political asylum.
Their case is still pending in Washington, D.C.
"We got out of Baku because over there Armenians are the least-favorite
people. We just ran away from there, the whole family. I don’t remember how
we got here. I was a kid. From my parents, I learned that nothing is easy,
especially getting into the United States. But we got lucky."
The family settled in "Little Armenia" (California), which stretches from
Glendale to Pasadena to Hollywood.
What did that feel like…"to have around me all Armenians, to feel you have
the love of your nation’s people"?
"Of course, everywhere I go, it’s almost all Armenians," he said. "It’s a
good feeling to be around them. It’s a very good feeling not to have to go
through the same things my parents had to." Movsisyan attended Pasadena High
School and later went to community college at Pasadena City College (PCC).
He never played organized soccer before coming to the United States, but
during his last season in high school, he scored 32 goals in only 13 games,
marking a new record for the school. In his first and only season at PCC, he
scored 18 goals and was named the school’s Male Athlete of the Year for the
2005-06 season. The California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics
organization also selected him as the November State Athlete of the Month,
during the year of 2005.
Movsisyan’s story may be unbelievable, but believe it. Just because he never
played organized soccer doesn’t mean he never played soccer with other
people; he played with his brother Movses, and both Yura and Movses were
good at the game. But once in America, a decision had to be made.
"It was either me working and Movses playing, or Movses working and me
playing," he said. "He wanted me to play soccer. Instead of me being here,
he could have been here. I appreciate that a lot. Everyone in my family has
been behind me from day one."
More luck would follow Yura, and that luck was in the form of his coach,
Cherif Zein, a local folk hero in southern California who took Yura under
his wing. Before Yura or anyone else knew how good he was or could be, Zein
introduced him to Ralph Perez, a U.S. national staff coach, formerly a Los
Angeles Galaxy assistant coach. Perez spread the word about Movsisyan, an
unknown, and a few other coaches took a look at him when he joined Rancho
Cucamonga’s Arsenal club team at the Nike Friendlies in Florida.
Before he knew it, he was being offered a deal from the MLS and during the
SuperDraft of 2006, Movsisyan was selected 4th overall in the first round by
the Kansas City Wizards. His selection made history, as he became the
highest picked player in MLS SuperDraft history for a player who did not go
to a Division I college program or was not a U.S. youth international.
During the home opener for the Wizards’ 2006 season, Movsisyan took the
pitch (field) in the 54th minute and scored a goal, his first as a
professional in the 70th minute. The Wizards won the match 3-0 against
Toronto FC.
Movsisyan spoke to MLSnet.com staff writer Bob Rusert after the game.
"It feels great. . It’s great to score and win at home. . I didn’t really
feel like it was going in. Once it deflected, I thought it was going out.
But once I saw the ball in the net, there it was. Hopefully more to come."
Movsisyan’s career, both on and off the soccer pitch, had nowhere else to go
but up. On Sept. 14, 2007, he was traded from Kansas City, along with a
Youth International roster spot, to Real Salt Lake for Real Salt Lake’s
natural 2009 3rd round SuperDraft pick (every player available to be
drafted, from college or pro leagues), the 2009 1st round Supplemental Draft
selections (players from only America’s United Soccer League), and a portion
of a player allocation (money for players, both international and domestic;
for more information on player allocation, go to ).
Movsisyan may not be Agassi or Armenian/Iranian international soccer great,
former Iranian International player, Andranik Eskandarian, but at 21, he is
carving out a name for himself in MLS and world soccer.
"I came here wanting to live a dream life, and I am living a dream life.
There is so much in me."
As for how he would like to pay America back for its hospitality?
"Hopefully, I can make the U.S. national team. That’s my dream, that I can
play for the U.S. national team, go to the World Cup, and that’s how I can
show my appreciation."