2025-08-17, 07:29 PM - Word count:
There was a team near the armpit of Africa, maybe halfway between armpit and elbow. It was called Adowa Accra. There may be a record of who gave it the name and chose to place it there. But really, those are forgotten things.
I was excited to go to the armpit of Africa, or even halfway between armpit and elbow. A player excited to start their career could be excited to go the frozen gonads of Antarctica or the sweaty thigh gap of Uruguay. I played a season there, it was not special for me other than it having been my first season.
It's just prehistory. That was the 9th season of the league.
In the 10th season of the league, Adowa Accra disappeared like a burst cyst. In its place, Schwarzwälder Fußballverein. It took me months to spell right. There was pressure in this new place. The team leaders, @FaraDian and @Duilio05 felt it too, nurtured it. The team was more their team once it moved to the Black Forest. Being more their team meant the team's story was their story to forge. Adowa had begun as someone else's story.
Who else would begin this new story?
The first SFV roster had several players already who would be remembered forever as Zebras: Fara Dian, Peregrin Plink, Karl Schenkinger, Rob Tucker, Tamanna Whittington, and me, Muunokhoi Sarantsatsral. Zinedine Gintonic was our threat up front until homegrown ones could take up the mantle, and finished second in MVP voting. Sami Zerhouni was assistant captain to Schenk's captain.
Even in that first season in the Black Forest, we were more than expected by many. Third place. Almost enough for a promotion to the first division. Almost.
The next season, I took the assistant captain's armband from Sami. I also deepened my love of German magic mushrooms. We chased Hollywood all season, and earned promotion as second place to their first. Our rookie Dombrovski Maximiliano joined the fray, a mostly reliable defender. (A keeper can never let a defender feel too much praise.) Gintonic again finished second in the MVP race.
The season after that, Duncan Maxwell joined, who would later become captain as I grew too ornery mushroom-addicted old to lead. We were proud to simply not finish in last place in that first season in the first division.
Season 13 of the league saw our rise continue. Our improving backline and shot-stopping got us to 4th place, into the top half of the top flight. There were fewer player accolades, though our managers won managers of the year for the third time in four seasons - perhaps we were coming together as a team?
The following season was strong for me: I was named to the team of the season, though only on the bench. Reykjavik could always make their keeper look good with their play. We rose to third place. We were eager, but perhaps less ready than we hoped.
Season 15 had league ironman Owen Forty-Four lead the league in scoring. I saved nearly 82 per cent of the shots I faced, though Reyk's Brick Wall Jr managed two more clean sheets. Kimi Häkkinen won MVP as Gintonic couldn't before him. We were excellent. Even our defenders were generally adequate. And so we became undefeated, and so we became champions. I felt I could do anything. Maybe ride a horse and reclaim Inner Mongolia from China.
That was the story of our rise. From there, it is no longer an origin story of men and women becoming heroes. SFV remained contenders, never too far from first.
We still had five players rostered from our first season in SFV when we won that first premiership. Season 17 we won the cup, and season 18 saw us again manage an undefeated season for the premiership. Germany is a second home to all of us now, a place we gather with our brothers (and sisters). People to trust.
People to invite to join your doomed attacks on the Great Wall of China.
I was excited to go to the armpit of Africa, or even halfway between armpit and elbow. A player excited to start their career could be excited to go the frozen gonads of Antarctica or the sweaty thigh gap of Uruguay. I played a season there, it was not special for me other than it having been my first season.
It's just prehistory. That was the 9th season of the league.
In the 10th season of the league, Adowa Accra disappeared like a burst cyst. In its place, Schwarzwälder Fußballverein. It took me months to spell right. There was pressure in this new place. The team leaders, @FaraDian and @Duilio05 felt it too, nurtured it. The team was more their team once it moved to the Black Forest. Being more their team meant the team's story was their story to forge. Adowa had begun as someone else's story.
Who else would begin this new story?
The first SFV roster had several players already who would be remembered forever as Zebras: Fara Dian, Peregrin Plink, Karl Schenkinger, Rob Tucker, Tamanna Whittington, and me, Muunokhoi Sarantsatsral. Zinedine Gintonic was our threat up front until homegrown ones could take up the mantle, and finished second in MVP voting. Sami Zerhouni was assistant captain to Schenk's captain.
Even in that first season in the Black Forest, we were more than expected by many. Third place. Almost enough for a promotion to the first division. Almost.
The next season, I took the assistant captain's armband from Sami. I also deepened my love of German magic mushrooms. We chased Hollywood all season, and earned promotion as second place to their first. Our rookie Dombrovski Maximiliano joined the fray, a mostly reliable defender. (A keeper can never let a defender feel too much praise.) Gintonic again finished second in the MVP race.
The season after that, Duncan Maxwell joined, who would later become captain as I grew too ornery mushroom-addicted old to lead. We were proud to simply not finish in last place in that first season in the first division.
Season 13 of the league saw our rise continue. Our improving backline and shot-stopping got us to 4th place, into the top half of the top flight. There were fewer player accolades, though our managers won managers of the year for the third time in four seasons - perhaps we were coming together as a team?
The following season was strong for me: I was named to the team of the season, though only on the bench. Reykjavik could always make their keeper look good with their play. We rose to third place. We were eager, but perhaps less ready than we hoped.
Season 15 had league ironman Owen Forty-Four lead the league in scoring. I saved nearly 82 per cent of the shots I faced, though Reyk's Brick Wall Jr managed two more clean sheets. Kimi Häkkinen won MVP as Gintonic couldn't before him. We were excellent. Even our defenders were generally adequate. And so we became undefeated, and so we became champions. I felt I could do anything. Maybe ride a horse and reclaim Inner Mongolia from China.
That was the story of our rise. From there, it is no longer an origin story of men and women becoming heroes. SFV remained contenders, never too far from first.
We still had five players rostered from our first season in SFV when we won that first premiership. Season 17 we won the cup, and season 18 saw us again manage an undefeated season for the premiership. Germany is a second home to all of us now, a place we gather with our brothers (and sisters). People to trust.
People to invite to join your doomed attacks on the Great Wall of China.
