Starting from Scratch: UWM Soccer Star Laurie Bell Chases His Dream in Another Unlikely Town

“We’re ready for this, boys!” yelled captain Zach Lubin. “Everything starts tonight.”

The thud, thud, thud of his goalkeeper gloves echoed inside the tunnel. I fiddled with my shinpad tape, stretched a quadricep muscle, and glared at the referees, willing them to get this landmark evening underway.

I was understandably impatient. I had waited six years, and travelled more than 4,000 miles for this. In the most improbable arena, my professional debut had finally arrived.

Wearing Tulsa Roughnecks FC orange, seven more rookies walked out beside me – their first professional matches too. Same for most of the 8,335 twitchy fans, unsure whether to clap, wave a freshly purchased scarf or chug a half-price Modelo. Should I wave, should I clap? I didn’t know either. We were a brand new club in a city without soccer.

Read Laurence Bell’s entire story, Starting from Scratch, and hear team interviews on his website.