20 Questions with Renae Cuellar

Renae Cuellar sits down with us for today’s segment of 20 Questions. Cuellar was born in California to Mexican parents on June 24, 1990. After a stint on the USA national system, she decided to play for Mexico’s Women’s National Team. She started her college career as an Arizona Wildcat and finished an Oklahoma Sooner. Her professional career includes some pretty top notch clubs: FC Kansas City, Seattle Reign, and now the Washington Spirit.

She joined Kansas City as one of the Mexican National allotment to the NWSL. She appeared in 11 matches for Kansas City. Renae scored the first goal in NWSL history against the Portland Thorns. Her playing time with Kansas was shortened after a tackle from Rachel Buehler; she missed two games from a sprained knee. On July 1^st, she was traded to Seattle for Teresa Noyola and a second round draft pick. This trade was seen by many as an attempt to push Seattle through to the inaugural playoffs of the NWSL. Seattle made a bunch of moves to strengthen their lineup. Bringing on Cuellar added a serious offensive threat to the Reign.

At the end of the NWSL season, Cuellar signed with Sundsvall of the Swedish league, and in October, the Seattle Reign announced that Cuellar had been traded to the Washington Spirit.

Now that we’ve re-hashed what everyone can find on Wikipedia or other media sites, let’s get to the down and dirty of what Renae described as the “most fun interview I’ve done.” Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I give you, Renae Cuellar’s 20 Questions:

1.     You were born in California to Mexican national parents. What made you decide to play for the Mexican national squad versus the United States team?

I made the decision after playing in the youth USA national team system because I felt it was the best decision for my career to progress. I was given the chance by team Mexico for the full team at 18 and I made the choice then and have been with this great program ever since.

2.     At the time you scored the first NWSL goal, was that something you were aware of? Did you know

that you would be the subject of NWSL trivia for years to come?

I felt such a rush, my heart was beating out of my chest and so many emotions were going on in my head. It didn't hit me till after the game that I had made women’s soccer history and the best part for me was that I did it in front of my family; they were in the stands watching me.

3.     Typically players only receive the match ball for scoring a hat trick in a game, did you manage to snag the match ball after you scored the first ever NWSL goal?

Yes and it was a moment I will never forget. My coach for FC Kansas City presented me with the game ball after the game and all of my team signed it.

4.     You started out in the middle of the United States with Kansas City. You were traded to Seattle, and now you’ve been traded to Washington DC. Which is your favorite place so far, the Midwest, the West Coast, or the East Coast? Why?

I haven't been to the east coast, I mean to live there so I can't say not the east coast but as of right now, the Midwest is a nice place as well but I definitely love the west coast the most. I grew up on the west coast and as we say west coast is the best coast ;)

5.     Washington DC is my hometown; therefore, I will always be a DC sports team supporter (Let’s go SPIRIT!). What professional sports teams to you support and why?

I support the Dallas cowboys, I was raised a cowboy fan because my dad’s side is from Texas.

Quick fire questions; GO!

6.     What’s your favorite book?

The Giving Tree

7.     What’s your favorite TV show?

Scandal

8.     What’s your favorite movie?

Space Jam

(Really, Space Jam? You may be the only person in history to answer the question, “what’s your favorite movie” with Space Jam.)

9.     What’s your favorite color?

Blue, any kind of blue

10.  Who’s your favorite singer?

Drake

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming:

11.  If the Zombie Apocalypse happened tomorrow, how would you survive it?

I would stock up on Starbucks, need my daily fix ;) I would go to a secret location and hide out haha as well as freak out because I wouldn't truly know what to do.

12.  If you had to choose one restaurant to eat for the rest of your life, where would you dine?

Olive Garden

13.  This may be the most important question of the interview: Manchester United or Manchester City? (Choose wisely)

Manchester United

           

(You have chosen wisely!)

14.  You’ve come across some pretty tough defenders during the inaugural NWSL season. Who was the toughest fullback you faced and why?

It’s a tie between Becky Saubrann and Christie Rampone. Their athleticism, experience and defensive savviness was tough to go against.

15.  The Women’s World Cup takes place in Canada next year, and the games will be played on turf? What is your take on artificial turf during such an important tournament?

I don't think playing on turf is great, especially in such a huge important tournament. It’s very hard on each player’s body!

16.  If you were to play any other professional sport, what would it be?

Track

17.  What’s on your ipod’s playlist right now?

 The Mann- Aloe Blacc

       Drunk in love- Beyonce

       UENO - Rocko

       Counting stars- one republic

       Drake

       Rick Ross

       Yo gotti

18.  What DVD or BluRay do you have in your collection that would shock most people?

Casino

            (Are you sure it’s not Space Jam?)

19.  Do you play FIFA ’13 or ’14 on either Playstation or Xbox? Any good?

I love to play FIFA 13 on ps3 haven't gotten to play FIFA 14 yet, I am pretty decent!

           

(I hereby challenge you to duel!)

20.  If you could have any superpower, which would it be and why?

Force field, sometimes I just need my own space.

And as a bonus question and a question that will hereby deemed the Renae Cuellar Starbucks question: What’s your Starbucks order?

           

Venti iced coffee, 4 pumps white mocha, 4 pumps cinnamon dolce, shaken (not stirred), no cream or milk.

Spirit’s camp opens in March, and I hope Renae will find the east coast to her liking. I guarantee she

will never eat better tasting seafood anywhere in the world than in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Spirit are in need of some serious offensive threat, and I think they have just achieved it by signing Cuellar and Averbuch.

As a fan blogger and part-time-pseudo-journalist, I can’t thank those folks that are willing to sit down and talk to Following Futbol. Ms. Cuellar was an absolute joy to interact with. I look forward to seeing her excel in my hometown of Washington, DC. I think my first Spirit jersey may have her number on the back.

Keep checking back with Following Futbol for more 20 Questions interviews, the Referee Chronicles, and my opinions on the beautiful game.

From Champions to the Championship

Manchester United, you're really starting to anger me. Are you trying to be the first team to win the Premier League one season and get relegated the following season?! 

MOYES: GET YOUR HOUSE TOGETHER OR GET THE F*CK OUT OF OLD TRAFFORD!

Referee Chronicles--Week One

On November 16^th, I stepped onto a soccer field as a referee for the first time in at least 14 years. It was exciting, terrifying, blissful, and painful. You see, I’m 40 years old and far from a spring chicken anymore. Sure, Ryan Giggs may be able to play Premier League ball at 40, but that dude is in incredible shape: me, not so much. I agreed to do four adult club league games, playoff games nonetheless. This was far from a brilliant moment by yours truly.

Game 1: I have to say, for game one, I was feeling every bit of 10 feet tall and bulletproof. I was really excited to be doing something I’ve loved for so long, but I was unable to do for this reason or that. Mostly the reasons were I was over extended with volunteer fire and EMS commitments. I worked 48 hours a week and volunteered about 24 hours in my community. It was hard to squeeze in refereeing at the same time. Now, I have the time to hit the field, but I digress. The role of the assistant linesman can be both the hardest and the easiest job as a soccer official. You have less area to cover; however, you do a TREMENDOUS amount of sprinting. Often, you sprint the entire 60 yards from half to goal line. For the first game, I felt no pain. I was ready, willing, and able to run with the big boys. I often couldn’t keep up with the guys, but I gave it my all for every sprint. I felt really good because I knew the guys on the field and the sidelines would see that I gave it 110%, and I was never out of position for lack of trying.

Game 2: The winning team from game one had to play back to back against another team. They were considerably wiped out. I was tired, but I wasn’t wiped out. I was an assistant referee for this game as well. For the first half, my sprints were as hard and as fast as in the first game. However, come halftime, I was still feeling ten feet tall, but I was no longer bulletproof. About mid-way through the second half is when I started to feel it. It being, “Hey David, do you realize how stupid this is? Do you realize you haven’t run this much since, well, 1999? Do you realize that if you don’t die of a heart attack mid-sprint, you just may die of sheer exhaustion tomorrow?” This was just a question that probed the back of my mind as I huffed and puffed back to my position and hoped that the bulk of the play stayed in the other guy’s half for a bit.

Game 3: Remember that question that was probing the back of my mind? Yeah, it was no longer probing. It was a cross between a drill instructor screaming in my face for 80 minutes straight and hearing Stewie from Family Guy, say, “Mommy, mommy, mom, mommy, mom…” for that same 80 minutes. It was about half-way through the third game my left calf started to cramp. I forgot to bring bananas for the games, but I had a metric fuck ton of Gatorade to drink. My hydration was outstanding, but the Gatorade could no longer fill the potassium void, and I still had another game to go. During each stoppage in play during the third game, I had to find a way to stretch out my calf to deal with the cramping. Sometimes I would grab the bench near the players and stretch; other times, I would run over to the fence behind the goal. Once, I used a tree to lean against to stretch out my calf. The tree was infested with fire ants. I didn’t care. That’s how bad my leg was. I wasn’t going to give up, though. I wasn’t going to let my team of officials down by pulling up lame.

Game 4: To hell with my other officials, my head would say. If you want to walk for the rest of the month, you’ll stop this shit right now. Each leg cast a vote in favor of my brain’s logic. So did both of my feet; however, hubris will always cripple even the most righteous of men, and stupid of men, and I continued on. Another reason I trucked through the pain was my friend. His game was the fourth and final game. I really wanted to show him how decent of a ref I was. He was the goalkeeper for his team, and I called a penalty kick against his squad. At that point, his opinion of my skills as an official was loud and clear. I’m pretty sure he would’ve been happy for me to pull up lame in the previous match, but it was too late. Each stride I took, whether running or walking, felt like the devil was holding a mighty fine shindig on my shins, calves, feet, quads, and hamstrings. I think this the pain I experienced was what hellfire and brimstone feel like. And I’m pretty sure my friend was really happy with me experiencing that much pain, as they were knocked out of the playoffs, the PK being the difference in the match.

The Aftermath: The games ended, and I desperately wished my life had ended, too. To put it simply, I hurt. I shuffled off the field as if I had been hobbled like in the Stephen King book/movie, Misery. If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book or you just don’t know what hobbling is, imagine someone tying your ankles to a 4x4 block of wood then smashing your ankles with a sledgehammer or similar tool to keep you from walking. Did you cringe? Are you saying ouch? Umm, yeah, exactly. That’s about how I felt.

I guess my friend wasn’t too mad at me; he wanted to get some food after the games. Don’t get me wrong; I was famished. I just wasn’t a fan of this suggestion. I would’ve been happy to be fed through a feeding tube or an IV for the next week while I remained in a medically induced coma. Because the coma wasn’t a viable option, I wanted to go home, soak in a hot water bath or a bath filled with heroin to ease my pains. I think this dinner idea was actually retribution for penalty kick, but I could be wrong. Sitting down at IHOP and eating a short stack hurt, but I was willing to suffer through it with my wife and my friend.

For the next week, my wife had this mixed look on her face. Half of the look was, “oh baby, I’m sorry you hurt so much” and the other half was, “I so informed you thusly, idiot.” I thoroughly appreciated both comments, and I certainly deserved the second. The smell of Icy Hot and other brands of the nauseating menthol cream and greases and roll ons and patches permeated the air in our home. The dogs hated it. The cats hated it. The wife hated it. I would’ve drunk it if it provided relief. To be honest, I’m surprised I wasn’t kicked out of the house for that week and sent to live in an old-fart-trying-to-play-sports assisted living place. I would not have blamed the family in the least bit if they voted me off the island.

Saturday was fast approaching, and I needed to heal rapidly. I had three more games to referee. Sometimes, I’m not the loudest whistle on the soccer field.

aStay tuned for the next installment of the Referee Chronicles.