This week's 'Five for Friday' is with Jeremy Melul, who I met in South Africa last summer during the World Cup. Melul at the time was working for Grassroots Soccer and is now starting a new soccer website called Jogabo that will officially launch in the next few weeks. Although he is a fan of Arsenal and France, two teams that I (along with most soccer fans) despise , he is a great guy that truly loves soccer and wants to share his passion with others.
Soccer Banter: What is your background with the sport of soccer?
Jeremy Melul: Well apart from playing the sport since I was 7 and then playing club throughout my education, I have always been involved in running the clubs, leagues and tournaments of the different schools I attended. During my MBA in Madrid, I was the presidentof the soccer club which had about 400 members. I am also the founder of the GreenLaces Cup which is an MBA soccer tournament that aims to inspire and educate young professionals about the environmental challenges facing the planet and the measures we can all put into practice to defend our environment as athletes. More recently, soccer has also been part of my professional life as I have worked for Grassroot Soccer, an NGO that uses the power of soccer in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and I am now working on my own startup "jogabo".
SB: This past summer you were in South Africa, what is your best memory of the 2010 World Cup?
JM: For me the best part of the World Cup was what was happening off the field: the fans, the atmosphere leading to the games, the roller coaster of emotions. One memorable moment was during the Serbia vs Ghana game in the group stages in Pretoria. I was waiting outside of one of the gates for the last few kids that I was bringing to the game that day and was actually left with 6 extra tickets. I was looking for people to bring along with us when I came across this large Ghanian family who was just standing there all dressed up in their traditional costumes to support their team. They didn't have any tickets and only wanted to be close to the stadium where their idols were playing. You can imagine the father's face when I asked him if they wanted to join my group. He started crying of joy and then singing and dancing, forgetting to even mention what was going on to the rest of his family. His wife ended up taking care of that which led to the rest of the family joining the celebrations. We ended up watching the game together and as you know, Ghana ended winning the game which made the day even better. It was the only game I went to where the singing just about covered up the noise of those darn vuvuzelas!
SB: You have started a new venture called Jogabo...What is Jogabo?
JM: Jogabo is the social and easy way to play soccer. Our aim is to make amateur soccer "bonito" by connecting soccer enthusiasts, facilitating the organization of games and adding a social layer of fun and competitiveness to the beautiful game.
What we are doing is building a location aware web application for the soccer community that allows users to organize games, share their plans and discover opportunities to play in their area. Organizers can create games, invite players and get simple tools to manage their event. Players can follow games their friends are planning, as well as games that match their location and interests thereby helping them discover playing opportunities they would ordinarily be unaware of.
SB: Why Jogabo?
JM: I believe soccer is a social sport at its core but it seems we are quite far from that today. If you look at how people get their games organized or how they go about looking for playing opportunities it is quite astounding and archaic. It is a painful and inefficient process that requires using multiple disconnected tools and usually leads to many people actually not playing, which to me is the biggest concern. At any given time and location, there are many games being organized and many players potentially looking for other players. Unfortunately, they are just not aware of each other’s interest, and are not connected in any way. When you think about all the tools that are out there, be it smartphones, facebook, twitter, location aware devices (you name it), this shouldn't happen!
To give you an example, when I was at the World Cup in Pretoria, I was dying to get a few games in. I didn't know many people there and I was continuously asking anyone I could if they knew of any pickup games or anything going on. Only after a month and countless efforts did I manage to finally find a game...and what a game it turned out to be! It was a pickup with a few journalists and some friends and family of the Argentina team. That game is now my claim to fame after I scored against Jorge Nicolás "El Pipa" Higuaín. This is obviously a special example but this is basically the kind of experience that jogabo is trying to facilitate.
Soccer Banter: What is your background with the sport of soccer?
Jeremy Melul: Well apart from playing the sport since I was 7 and then playing club throughout my education, I have always been involved in running the clubs, leagues and tournaments of the different schools I attended. During my MBA in Madrid, I was the presidentof the soccer club which had about 400 members. I am also the founder of the GreenLaces Cup which is an MBA soccer tournament that aims to inspire and educate young professionals about the environmental challenges facing the planet and the measures we can all put into practice to defend our environment as athletes. More recently, soccer has also been part of my professional life as I have worked for Grassroot Soccer, an NGO that uses the power of soccer in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and I am now working on my own startup "jogabo".
JM: For me the best part of the World Cup was what was happening off the field: the fans, the atmosphere leading to the games, the roller coaster of emotions. One memorable moment was during the Serbia vs Ghana game in the group stages in Pretoria. I was waiting outside of one of the gates for the last few kids that I was bringing to the game that day and was actually left with 6 extra tickets. I was looking for people to bring along with us when I came across this large Ghanian family who was just standing there all dressed up in their traditional costumes to support their team. They didn't have any tickets and only wanted to be close to the stadium where their idols were playing. You can imagine the father's face when I asked him if they wanted to join my group. He started crying of joy and then singing and dancing, forgetting to even mention what was going on to the rest of his family. His wife ended up taking care of that which led to the rest of the family joining the celebrations. We ended up watching the game together and as you know, Ghana ended winning the game which made the day even better. It was the only game I went to where the singing just about covered up the noise of those darn vuvuzelas!
JM: Jogabo is the social and easy way to play soccer. Our aim is to make amateur soccer "bonito" by connecting soccer enthusiasts, facilitating the organization of games and adding a social layer of fun and competitiveness to the beautiful game.
JM: I believe soccer is a social sport at its core but it seems we are quite far from that today. If you look at how people get their games organized or how they go about looking for playing opportunities it is quite astounding and archaic. It is a painful and inefficient process that requires using multiple disconnected tools and usually leads to many people actually not playing, which to me is the biggest concern. At any given time and location, there are many games being organized and many players potentially looking for other players. Unfortunately, they are just not aware of each other’s interest, and are not connected in any way. When you think about all the tools that are out there, be it smartphones, facebook, twitter, location aware devices (you name it), this shouldn't happen!
SB: March wasn't the best month for your favorite club, Arsenal. What are your thoughts on their failures the last few weeks and do you believe they can still win the league?
JM: I am obviously very disappointed. Exiting from 3 competitions in that short amount of time is a huge blow. I think the Barcelona game had a huge impact on the morale of the team and it all went downhill from there. Offensively it's like Arsenal is a used lighter these days: sometimes it sparks, sometimes it doesn't. The team seems like it is constantly rotating because of all the injuries we have had and I feel that has to have an effect on the automatisms and how the overall team gels together. So when that is not working for us, it puts more pressure on our defense and we all know what the situation in that area is: the eternal question of our centre backs, especially without the wonderful Vermaelen. When are we going to have our own Pique/Puyol or Terry/Luiz or Vidic/Ferdinand?
Anyway, to answer your question about the league, of course I still believe we can still win it. You are not a fan if you stop believing. That doesn't mean it is going to be easy but I will believe until it is mathematically impossible to win (and I was a Math major so I will always believe in a mathematical possibility).
JM: I am obviously very disappointed. Exiting from 3 competitions in that short amount of time is a huge blow. I think the Barcelona game had a huge impact on the morale of the team and it all went downhill from there. Offensively it's like Arsenal is a used lighter these days: sometimes it sparks, sometimes it doesn't. The team seems like it is constantly rotating because of all the injuries we have had and I feel that has to have an effect on the automatisms and how the overall team gels together. So when that is not working for us, it puts more pressure on our defense and we all know what the situation in that area is: the eternal question of our centre backs, especially without the wonderful Vermaelen. When are we going to have our own Pique/Puyol or Terry/Luiz or Vidic/Ferdinand?
Anyway, to answer your question about the league, of course I still believe we can still win it. You are not a fan if you stop believing. That doesn't mean it is going to be easy but I will believe until it is mathematically impossible to win (and I was a Math major so I will always believe in a mathematical possibility).
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