By Andrew Talamantes (@DrewTooSavvy):
Going on their second year of knowing each other, senior defenders Carlos Valdovinos, Joseph Kay aren’t shy when it comes to sharing their shoes.
Both wearing size 9.5, Valdovinos and Kay take full advantage of each other’s wardrobe, soccer shoes, and other shoes.
“When the fall started, we moved in together in a house, and then we put all our shoes together,” Kay said. “Then we were like oh I like yours, and I’m actually wearing some of his right now,”
Roughly around 70 percent of the population will be affected at some point in their lives by athletes foot, yet players attempt to defy those odds by swapping shoes.
It’s become so natural for the two that they don’t even ask each other anymore.
“We do it quite well actually, we do it discreetly so no one knows,” Kay said. “Everyone thinks I’ve got loads of shoes, when actually I’ve got four or five.”
Freshmen midfielder Finlay Wood begs to differ.
He has been one of the few to notice the amount of sharing that goes on between the two old guys on the team, and admitted that it’s not only shoes they share.
“It’s not just shoes, they share clothes,” Wood said. “They share everything, we will come into training one day and Carlos will have Joseph’s shirt on and vice versa”.
For Valdovinos , it all started one day in practice over the summer. He wasn’t too fond of his own boots, so he went ahead and asked to borrow a pair of Kay’s.
Whether it’s soccer cleats or dress-up shoes, the two always have open closets to share shoes whenever the other might need them.
There’s definitely an extended level of care that goes into their mind when wearing each other’s shoes to not mess them up.
“I think so, unconsciously, knowing that their his, I”ll probably take care of them a little more. Like if a soccer ball is coming, I probably won’t kick it if I’m wearing his shoes,” Valdovinos said.
Unlike Kay, this isn’t Valdovinos’ first time sharing shoes.
He said he’s worn shoes younger brother before, but on a whole different level. With a combined (around) 60 shoes, it makes for more variety to pick from.
Since he’s been the same shoe size since he was a freshmen in high school, it’s more of a collection for Valdovinos, but his taste for dark colored shoes have always remained the same.
When it comes to wearing bright colored shoes, Valdovinos and Wood seem to have the same admiration for dark colored shoes.
Coincidently, Wood happens to be the foot size as the senior defenders, so who knows, maybe he might be the next to share shoes.