Player Feature: Bardia Kimiavi

Bardia Kimiavi poses for his Player Feature. (Photo: Tom Arnison | GFX: Tyler Navas and Crystal Hunter)

Bardia Kimiavi, forward player of Edgewater Castle FC’s Men’s First Team, has been a key offensive player since joining the club three summers ago. In this part of the Player Feature series, Kimiavi reflects on his experiences, his career, his commitment to giving back to his community, and how much he’s enjoyed playing for ECFC.

What’s your earliest memory of playing soccer, and when did you realize you wanted to play it in your adult life?

“My first ever organized soccer game, I was two years old at the YMCA on the gym floor. As soon as the first whistle blew, I ran off the court and sat on my mom’s lap and cried for the whole duration of the first half. But I’ve been playing [soccer] for as long as I can remember. I decided at a very early age that I wanted the rest of my life to revolve around sports in some capacity. Whether that’s playing, coaching, doing stuff behind the scenes. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned about more roles that take place off the field as well. It’s always been an implied thing that, in some way or another, my life will revolve around the game [of soccer] in my adulthood.”

What was the biggest challenge you faced on your journey to becoming a semi-professional soccer player?

“I’d say one of the biggest [challenges] is sacrifice. To excel in a sport, you have to give up a lot of things. Whether that means missing out on nights with your friends to travel for tournaments or getting home straight after school so you can do your homework and go to practice so you can actually sleep at a reasonable hour instead of playing video games. The sacrifice portion is definitely one of the biggest challenges. I would say another is making life changing decisions. Whether it’s where to live, where to go to school, whether to go to school or not, there’s so many opportunities that the game [of soccer] can bring. It’s just about having a good support system that can help you make those decisions that will really be the best for your future, both during your playing days and beyond.

Who has been the most influential coach or mentor in your career?

“Back in my hometown club in Reston, Virginia, I had my first ever travel [soccer] coach, Kamal Ismail. He recruited me to play with his U7 team when I was five years old. He was like a second dad to me at the time. I would go over to his house and play with his kids and he would drive me and some other teammates to games. Eventually it got to a point where I had been at the club for three or four years and he sat me and my parents down to tell us that we needed to move on to somewhere else, a bigger club. Especially as a coach now and the experience that I’ve had in the game, understanding how he had my best interest in mind to tell me [to move to a bigger club], even though it meant that I wouldn’t be playing for him anymore. I think that’s really what the game is about, that’s what makes a good coach and a good leader. Even if it’s not in your best interest, how can you put those that you’re leading in the best possible position to succeed. I’m definitely grateful to him.”

Is there a moment in your career you’re most proud of?

“One that sticks out to me, looking back, is the national championship that I won with my club team back in 2016. It was my first year with the club and it was a pretty big decision for me to go from one club to another at the time. It was my sophomore year of high school and we ended up winning pretty much every competition that we competed in, except for the Disney soccer showcase, but we ended up beating the team at the national championship that we lost to in the final of [Disney soccer showcase]. It was a nice redemption moment, we won the whole tournament and I even won the golden ball award. It was right before schools could start making official offers to players, because it was the summer between sophomore and junior year, so the timing worked out really well in terms of helping me get more opportunities to continue playing at higher levels.” 

What does your typical day look like during the season vs. during the offseason?

“It’s funny because it’s still a lot of soccer. My main full-time role is at a sports facility on the West Side called Intentional Sports. The premise of it is to give kids in this community access to high quality programming for an affordable price. As the director of business over here, I pretty much oversee everything that comes on the calendar. Partnerships, different programs, different events, all that sort of stuff. Most of my mornings and afternoons are spent here. Most of my afternoons and evenings are spent coaching either here or back up in Evanston, because I still coach a couple of teams up there. The night time looks like training during the season. Then in the off season, more so self-led workouts, pick up games, or more downtime. Whether it’s [hanging out] with some of my old teammates that are still living in the city, my girlfriend, or some other close friends that live around here, I would definitely still play a lot of soccer, but it’s just a matter of how intense it is, whether it’s in season or out of season.” 

 How do you handle pressure or nerves before big games?

“With experience, you start to learn what works for you. I like to calm myself down with a specific genre of music. It’s like hip-hop but includes more of that minor, mellow tone just to slow my heart rate down, my breathing down, and that way I can pick it back up during the warm up. Regardless of what nerves or anything you’re feeling, when that first whistle blows, the adrenaline takes over, and it’s mostly instinct from there.”

If you weren’t playing soccer semi-professionally, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

“Probably coaching more to be honest. It’s tough for me to imagine what my life would look like without soccer or without sports in general. I would definitely find a way to stick around the game, even if I didn’t have any legs to play with.”

Why did you join ECFC?  

“I was actually surprised to find out that there were a lot of competitive, well run, semi-pro clubs here in Chicago. It is very much a soccer city. When I started working here at Intentional Sports, our founder mentioned Edgewater Castle and he knew the owner. He said they’re a new club and they’re trying to grow. He knew that I was trying to keep playing as well so he put me in touch with him. I think I actually filled out a ‘request for tryouts' form on Instagram that they had at the time. It was Sami [Ismat], who’s our assistant coach now, he had reached out to me. He invited me out to a practice and that gave me a chance to see the quality and the genuine people that are running the club. The guys that make it a good time both on and off the field. Granted, it was convenient that the practices fit into my work schedule as well, but I just enjoyed my time there from the first training session. I’m also a sucker for the sky blue color as well. It’s been a fun ride.”

What has been your favorite memory with the team?

“My favorite memory would be the very first game that I played with [ECFC] in the Midwest Premier League. We played against Berber City at the Fire Pitch. That was my first time playing [at the Fire Pitch]. We had a bunch of kids from the club that I coach at, Team Evanston, there in attendance too. I was able to score a goal in the first couple minutes and I went over and started celebrating with them. It was a fun night all around. To score a goal, to get the win, to be able to spend the night with close friends and family. It was a good time.”

What is your favorite pregame song?

“That is a tough one, it varies week to week. I could probably pull up my Spotify 2020-2024 playlist and could probably pick out ten or fifteen songs. It kind of varies between hip hop and a little bit of EDM. It really just depends on how I’m feeling and how long the car ride is. I can’t listen to upbeat music for two hours straight, so when we go to Joliet, we probably should mix it up a bit.” 

Who’s your favorite soccer player?

“My favorite soccer player of all time is Diego Maradona. My favorite soccer to watch growing up was Didier Drogba. My favorite soccer player now is probably Bukayo Saka, I’m an Arsenal fan.”

What’s your favorite pregame meal?

“Big fan of pasta. I like to get the carbs in, typically the night before [a soccer game]. I run a lot on the field so I try to stay as hydrated as possible as well. Whether that’s just drinking a lot of water the night before, or some liquid IV, or some Gatorade powder to get the electrolytes. Right before the game I like the pasta, the carbs. I prefer steak or beef over chicken in terms of meat, but I’m sure most coaches would tell you that’s probably not ideal. Some quality carbs, whether that’s pasta or rice and some meat, you can’t go wrong.”

What advice would you give to young players who want to continue playing soccer in their adult life?

“Continue building good habits at a young age. When you’re at that age, you have your parents, your coaches, that are behind your neck reminding you what the right thing to do is. The reality is that once you get to college or your adult life, you don’t necessarily have those people behind your neck all the time. It’s really down to the habits that you've built as a young player or as a teenager. The sooner you can develop those good habits and find out what works for you, the easier you’ll make it for yourself when you’re five, ten years older. When you can’t carry your body more often, you need to sleep earlier, eat better, and stretch more. It’s tough to just all of a sudden snap your fingers and create those habits out of thin air. It’s built over time.”