Broke Boyz From Fresno
Hey everyone it's Martin from the Broke Boyz From Fresno Podcast, my goal here is to entertain, inspire, and uplift our community. I'm all about keeping it real, sharing my daily struggles, and motivating others who might be going through the same. Join me as we navigates life’s challenges, supports one another, and builds a stronger, more connected community together.
Broke Boyz From Fresno
Fresno's La Banda: Building Community Through Soccer
La Banda del Valle is a soccer supporter group and recreational team that has created a tight-knit family through their shared passion for the game. What started as a small group of friends has evolved into a community of about 30-35 people who support local soccer, play together, and build meaningful connections beyond the field.
• Members explain their multiple roles within the group, from leading chants to creating artwork and streaming games
• The group supports Valley FC and runs their own indoor soccer teams, which have already won five championships
• La Banda describes how their group feels like family despite no blood relation
• Members discuss how they've become trendsetters in Fresno's soccer scene through social media, game streaming, and professional-style content
• The annual "12 Pints" event in December has become a beloved tradition where members visit 12 bars and drink 12 different beers
• La Banda maintains an open-door policy with no formal application process—anyone who wants to hang out is welcome
• The group recently established their HQ at Fresno Indoor, giving them a space to prepare for games, create content, and strengthen bonds
• Members express their hope that La Banda will become autonomous and outlive any single member, continuing to grow soccer culture in Fresno
You can find La Banda del Valle on Instagram @labandadelvalle , as well as individual member projects like Dominguero TV for game highlights and Soccer Style for jerseys and merchandise @soccer_style_2024
@Dominguerotv, @rollin_raul_, @champagne_dari, & @rey_purepencha_menor559
Follow us @ brokeboyz_ff on Instagram and TikTok
Intro Music by Rockstar Turtle- Broke Boyz (999)
Christmas Intro Song by Nico
don't get nervous, it's all good, get comfortable.
Speaker 2:I know this is gonna be so funny, can we gaslight him on the podcast, is that okay?
Speaker 1:yeah, go ahead, as long as it's okay between you guys, oh no we literally drag each other, but we don't take a person's mind, nice.
Speaker 2:So where would you like us to look when we're talking to each other?
Speaker 1:You guys can look at each other if you have a preference and then To be fair, to be honest, I'm going to ignore the camera, so you normally how.
Speaker 1:I do is I look on todos, so I look at everybody, I'll talk to everybody Sometimes. So you, normally how I do is is hablo con todos, like yeah, so I look at everybody, I'll talk to everybody. Sometimes I refer to the camera just wherever you feel comfortable and then don't don't worry about stuttering or anything like that. It's authentic. I stutter a shit ton, so it's just let it naturally flow. The camera's not even here, the lights aren't even here.
Speaker 4:I'm sure. If you want to speak Spanish, the man way you speak Spanish, there's nothing wrong with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I just need a translator. You know I don't speak.
Speaker 4:I'm going to put up some subtitles when he talks like 3D in real time. Yeah, we need the meta glasses.
Speaker 1:The holographic yeah.
Speaker 4:The lens, the Google lens.
Speaker 2:I've been thinking about getting some meta some, meta Ray-Ban, just so I can like, you know, like everything that I see From your point of view?
Speaker 4:Yeah, ones, that are men in black shit.
Speaker 2:Just looking down on my day, just yeah.
Speaker 3:Hey, okay.
Speaker 1:And then when you talk to the mic, make sure the mic is like you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my face right here. So that way it picks it up Like if it's just a big old.
Speaker 1:I had to lower it a little bit more, because it's picking up all the other stuff.
Speaker 4:Yeah that's cool just don't put it in your mouth, marcos yeah just don't suck on it.
Speaker 3:You see a big black thing in front of you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like instinct the temptation is there, I know okay, welcome back to another episode of the Broke Boys. I'm Morin and today I have a special guest the people from the supportive group or soccer club, la Banda, la Banda. So tell me a little bit about each other's roles. Like, what do you guys represent from the group? You guys are just, you know, like having fun. Like tell me a little bit more.
Speaker 4:I'll get started.
Speaker 1:Well, first of all, thank you for having us on the show. No, thank you, guys for being here, but um and inviting me over here. Dude, I love the set.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, of course I love the set uh, well, first of all, I'm, my name is raul, uh, ramirez salazar, and my role in la banda is just kind of well. I mean, all of us don't really have one role. We kind of all do a different number of things. Yeah, so lately we've been working on because, like you said, we're not really a supporter group or a club, we do all kinds of things. But lately I've been helping with social media, running La Habana and Dominguero TV, doing commentary, okay, and on game days I also lead chants, so that's another fun part of it too. Who? Okay, and on game days I also lead chants, so that's another fun part of it too.
Speaker 2:Dario, my name is Dario, don't worry about my last name.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me at the Broke Boys from Fresno podcast. You know I've been looking at you guys' podcast a lot. I enjoy it. I love it. It's one of my things to watch while I'm at work, you know, like it literally just feels like just some friends talking and stuff, you know. So I really appreciate that podcast being here, Like I said, I'm Dario. I guess my role. I just I'm just like a creator, Like whatever random thing I think of I try to do and I try to implement it. Fijla Banda, obviously I do that. So, like the artwork, like you know, the our original logo and then the updated logo you know I created those and just things that take artwork, like I really enjoy doing that.
Speaker 3:I was doing graffiti when I was in high school, so like that artistic style like that sparked your creativity.
Speaker 4:yeah, yeah, we got people with the background here, so you know, whatever your field is, you know kind of just end up being in charge of that Nice and obviously I tried doing Twitch when I was younger and stuff, but like that didn't come out good.
Speaker 2:So I used all that experience into creating Domiguero TV, which you know I do soccer stuff. And then my favorite thing is that I'm able to help support La Banda by streaming their games here at Fresno Indoor, nice. That's my way of contributing to the group. You know, streaming their games and putting their highlights. You know people like seeing those sharing it with their family. Especially when we win, it's like the best feeling ever. Yeah, and people will share that with their families, you know and then we're also like a family together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and noticing it is, you guys are family-based. You guys are supporting not only just the teams that you guys are rooting for, but you guys also support each other. You guys always hang out together. You guys are always doing parties together.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, drinking, and especially but that's the beauty of it, right, yeah, all right, marcos well, my name is marcos, I'm the president of la banda, um, so I also I coach, uh, la banda fc. So, yeah, that's pretty much my role. I drum, um, I I play bombo when, when we support valley, so we support valley. We're so we're a small supporter group, uh, for here from fresno, uh, so I play bombo, I chant, um, and yeah, uh, so, yeah, this this is a small little group, it's.
Speaker 3:We've been like a year so, uh, so we started, um, a couple of guys, us, and we've been growing up a little by little. So our main we don't really have a main thing because we do a little bit of everything, we, but it's a supportive group, and our indoor team, yeah, and we do activities outside, outside, you know soccer, yeah, yeah, so so we can try to bring people together, not just sports, so just for us to have a good time and, like you say, like beer is it's a main thing, it's a together, never dry, yeah, beer well, before we continue, let's go ahead and start rolling the intro.
Speaker 1:Okay, are we?
Speaker 3:are we? I wrote up a few questions from just experiences of the whole thing. Okay, are we on?
Speaker 1:I wrote up a few questions From just experiences of the whole thing overall, from what you guys have told me, from what Adi had told me as well who, who's the first person you guys call when shit hits the fan within the group? Within the group, yeah, within the group, like our problem? Solvers, I think just the group chat Like somebody who's the peacekeeper of everything, or making sure everything runs smoothly, larry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely not me. I'm the shit starter, yeah that's not me.
Speaker 4:You're the one that throws the shit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I throw the shit, I'm like the middle guy.
Speaker 3:So I kind of make the last call, but the one that is more neutral, it's Larry, larry, larry.
Speaker 1:So how many of you guys are there?
Speaker 4:Now I guess like 20 of us yeah about 20.
Speaker 3:Like solid right.
Speaker 2:Yes, Core members 20, but off and on we're probably a good 30, 35.
Speaker 4:I would say, okay, I'm bad at math, yeah, I miss counting all the time.
Speaker 3:And you go to fresno state, yeah not for a math major what the hell according to my calculations, what?
Speaker 1:no, what was the moment when you guys all realized like, oh, these are my people, these are my family, oh, when was there any specific moment that brought you guys together to know like, oh yeah, these are the people that I rock with.
Speaker 4:I want to say, the first time I felt like I was like yeah, like I like hanging out with these guys. Um, I think when we had like a thanksgiving get together here at indoor and I think that was just so much fun, yeah and uh, we just had such a great time got to see marcos bust his ass, so I mean I think that brought everyone together yeah, marco falling brought everyone together.
Speaker 2:We all laugh as a team.
Speaker 3:You know exactly for for me, um, you, you know, I just feel really comfortable with these guys. Like they don't take it personal. We always talk shit to each other and like we just laugh about it. Yeah, Like like I fall and everybody laugh about it. This dumbass over here broke a leg on a wheelchair.
Speaker 4:So it's funny broke a leg on a wheelchair, so it's funny, you know. We just laugh about tragedies and nobody takes a personal.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I mean that. That's I feel. That's why everybody feels so comfortable. Yeah, like we, we get along pretty well. So none of us is we're family related, but we're like a family. We all take each other care of each other what about you, dario?
Speaker 2:me my moment, I would say, is I don't have a moment. We do things like the how random are the shit that we do? And we just do it. So I guess for me that's kind of like where I feel at home, you want to do something, how random are the shit that we do? And we just do it. So I guess for me that's kind of like where I feel at home.
Speaker 2:You know like you want to do something, yeah, and then, like you know, no one really is like on board with it. So you know that that dream of doing that thing kind of dies. Yeah, and right here with la banda is like one or two or three of us like, oh, you know, I'm freaking down, and then that starts building energy. And next thing, you know, know, we're at a cabin. You know, with everybody A lot of alcohol involved, just having a good time and just like being there with each other. So creating those moments is only possible when a whole bunch of people agree to do something together, you know.
Speaker 4:So for me.
Speaker 2:Those moments are what made me want to be part of this.
Speaker 1:Nice. So give the listeners a little bit more of what La Banda represents, La Banda del Valle.
Speaker 2:Okay, so we're obviously a supporter group, so one of our main things is we support local soccer. We follow this local soccer team semi-pro called Valley FC Valley. Fc so that's like one of our core thing that brings us together and also, at the same time, we're an indoor soccer rec team. So you know, recreational soccer team.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So you know, like a lot of us are older and stuff, you know we can't really like, do like professional soccer or club soccer, because we're definitely not in shape for that, but we still love soccer so we want to play and stuff, you know. And so, creating this team, we got two Divengers right now, so it's just a lot of reason for people to come.
Speaker 4:Today's actually the debut of our new team, so we're waiting on that to see how that goes today with the D4.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 4:First time that. I mean we're a year in and it's the first time we've had a second team like that. Oh really yeah.
Speaker 3:Nice and we already won five championships, and today we're going to use our new kits, so this is one of them for our D4. So, yeah, we're really excited for that, you know. So the teams, they have brought up a lot of people into the group too. There's people that want to play with us. They like our vibe. Like when the game is going on, we always like talk shit to each other and it creates like a good vibe, and I feel like we're the only team here in Indoor that does that, oh okay the game is going on and we're talking.
Speaker 3:We're talking shit to to our players yeah, just to motivate them and do better.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and we just laugh about it and I think you can see with just how big like our bench is, and that's why we have to start a new d4 team. It's because, like, we just have so many people that you know that enjoy like playing with us and having like like spending time here. Yeah, so you know they want to play and you know we can't get everyone playing time, so we gotta make a new team, you know? Okay, just uh, I think that just is like a testament to you know, how fast it's kind of growing, you know that's good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, people want to hang? That's good. Yeah, people want to hang out that's really cool, yeah. So I have a funny question If your guys' team, or you guys as a whole, like your family, what's a song that you guys would play?
Speaker 4:like a soundtrack. Oh, do we have a soundtrack?
Speaker 3:Well, I have a song for him La de compas.
Speaker 4:Karim Leon.
Speaker 3:Fuck you.
Speaker 4:If you feel a certain way about me, you could just say it.
Speaker 2:You heard, it live here folks.
Speaker 3:Oh, I forgot the camera.
Speaker 1:The camera.
Speaker 3:You guys didn't saw nothing, man, I don't know.
Speaker 1:That's a good. Oh man, I don't know. That's a good.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, Traca there you go, there you go, traca hijo de su puta madre.
Speaker 4:No, I don't know I've never thought about La Habana having an anthem.
Speaker 3:I don't know what do you think, Dario?
Speaker 2:I'd probably be Put On by Jeezy Put.
Speaker 4:On from my city. Put on.
Speaker 2:Because, honestly, dude, low key, well, high key. Right now we're kind of like trendsetters, you know, Like we do a whole bunch of stuff. Obviously we're still like growing and stuff, but the things we do it starts creating like value and other people want to do their own versions of stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like, for instance, like Instagram posts about our soccer team, make it feel kind of like you know, like a little bit more professional soccer team with posts.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know player of the match. We've talked about it before where, like, we were one of the first teams to have like an actual dedicated coach that you know doesn't play on a regular basis. Yeah, because that wasn't really something normal that happened here. No one had coaches, it was just you bring seven guys and you kind of just run around on the field and us having Marcos at the start as a just dedicated coach. I think, even though we're not like dedicated, oh, we're trying to win championships, kind of thing, it just added a little bit of structure to that and I think, as D dario said, that set that trend in terms of teams signing up with someone that's like okay, I'm not gonna play, but you know I'm just here to kind of direct things around, yeah, and with that. And then you know, streaming our games, uh, me doing commentary, um, just continually updating our page with like posts and when things are going on, like that's things that you know teams didn't do it like on a regular basis.
Speaker 4:A lot of people weren't doing yeah, but now it's kind of become the norm for any team signing up. Yeah, they want their instagram page up and they want yeah, you know a little bit of exposure yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 1:That's cool that you guys like originated a lot of the ideas, because a lot of people do see it and it's just like you know, you, you see it as like fuck, like you took my idea sometimes yeah, and I, I see that too. Like when I do stuff for like the podcast, I'm like what the fuck? Like kind of jockeying the style that you have, but at the same time it's also like hey, you're, you're creating something good, you're, you're doing something already, so keep it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that motivates you to actually do it.
Speaker 4:I think it's an important part of La Banda. Is that? Like, if you're, you know, taking inspiration from us, that's a good thing. That's not like, oh, you're stealing our ideas and you're jockeying our style. It's just like, you know, we're trying to help the soccer community here in Fresno. Like, if people are inspired and they want to grow their stuff and just grow soccer here, yeah, like, by all means, do so, you know. Like, if you want to stream your games, upload highlights that you know.
Speaker 1:Do so. Yeah, that's cool. That's cool. So which one out of everybody in the group is the most loyal and which one is the one that's always a wild card?
Speaker 2:I'm the most loyal by far, I'm the least loyal one here.
Speaker 4:Wait, are we talking about to La Habana or to Marcos, because I'm the least loyal.
Speaker 3:He's not loyal.
Speaker 4:He's loyal to the group, but not to me, Not to Marcos though.
Speaker 3:Same Well, I feel like my girlfriend Ariana. She's the most loyal Glazer Mamon.
Speaker 4:She's not even here, she just walked up, he's all looking for her. He's looking for her. We got into a big ass argument yesterday.
Speaker 1:Look at her.
Speaker 3:She's not even here.
Speaker 4:He's just starting to say it on camera. He's like so we got the receipts.
Speaker 1:So we got it right there. I'm talking good about you. He's going to tell her later like hey, you weren't there when.
Speaker 2:I said it. He's like oh, All that drama for that yeah.
Speaker 3:For me, it's her Definitely. It's something that she didn't know about. It's something that she didn't know about. She's not into sports or anything, so she just follows me everywhere Like a tailgate. She helps me cook to get things ready, like indoors. Sometimes we have late games. She would show up and I really appreciate that. It means a lot to me For somebody that doesn't know anything about sports, and spend all that time Because it means a lot to me for somebody that doesn't know anything about sports and you know, spend all that, all that time, because it's it's a lot of, it's a lot of time, it's a lot of work and and she, she put, she puts a lot of work into it. So yeah I'm grateful.
Speaker 3:With that, um, I mean these two guys, they're they're they're my backbone, like they're my support too, they're my support. They're my support, like if I have like any questions or or I need an opinion, I I take it from them. They're they're like my backbone that's cool.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, shout out to ariana. She's definitely an important part of the group. She brings that bubbly energy. And then also shout out to all of the women in La Banda. Yeah, they definitely play a role in the group.
Speaker 4:I think Ariana is a very important, like solid foundation of the group, just like being there all the time. But I think everybody that's just kind of like been here since day one has just shown a lot of resilience. You know, la B resilience, you know like one year strong, like it's been a lot of work, like marco said, but we've all done our part and like I think we're seeing the results of that. You know, when you're on, we're just new members and people telling us that you know that they're having a good time and I think that's what matters the most to us that's cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 4:She shows up on time no, no, okay, I was just like, she's not like no she never shows up on time but she makes it she makes it late but she's always here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but to be fair, I mean which?
Speaker 2:one of us is ever actually on time though yeah, yeah, I mean, I was late today here, except for Tailgate Tailgate's late now.
Speaker 4:I was like we are on Mexican timing most of the time, yeah, no yeah.
Speaker 2:Definitely. Tailgate's is something we're all never punctual.
Speaker 4:No, definitely not. Yeah, Marcos is the only one that's there on time.
Speaker 2:Let's say, a Valley FC game starts at 7. Our tailgates are supposed to start at 4. So, marcos, obviously he's not there at 4, but he's the earliest one there, so he sets up and he's done setting up and he's probably thinking all right, people should be showing up and you just see a hay blowing in the wind, like nothing.
Speaker 3:Most of us, we're Mexicans. You get invited to a party. A party starts at 5. People don't show up until 7. Nobody shows up early.
Speaker 4:That's why when we were talking about tailgates. They just keep it at 4. They just keep it at 4, because people are going to end up showing up at the right time.
Speaker 2:Tailgates are really fun though. I definitely invite you to come check it out. You know our tailgates. We used to cook food but obviously bringing food, everyone like brings food and alcohol and stuff. Like we college party it up, you know.
Speaker 4:And we realized too, when everybody like chips in for food like that, it's more of like a communal vibe.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Because everybody, you know, does a little bit of their part and it's just really cool and it, you know, it's less work on one individual person. You know, like if everybody chips in it, just everybody gets to relax that much more.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, for sure, for sure, um, what got you guys all involved in soccer? Was there a specific moment you guys always grew up watching soccer? Was there somebody that influenced you guys to watch soccer?
Speaker 3:Marco since you're the beaner, I always been around supported groups. So my first supporter group where I started, supporting Morelia it's a Mexican club, now second division, but we were in first.
Speaker 4:Arriba Dorados, so yeah, so like 15 years now.
Speaker 3:I started doing support group, I started drumming, snare and baire, and after that I moved here to Fresno. So now I'm with the Peña from Real Madrid, Fresno Saludos guys. And LA Galaxy too, asco, and.
Speaker 3:LA Galaxy. So, yeah, those are the clubs that I support and yeah, it's been my thing like for the longest and and yeah, now it's fun. You know us having our little group and doing the things that that we like, something that I like, I bring my ideas. He thinks he's Argentinian. I definitely don't. Yeah, so, yeah, me never. So, yeah, those are the clubs I used to support and, yeah, I'm really excited, I'm really happy to see what we grew up to. It's really fun.
Speaker 1:That's cool man.
Speaker 2:What about you, darion? Really fun, that's cool man. What about you, dario? Um, well, originally my first experience with a supporter group was, uh, going to chichante to go watch fresno fc play, and I just saw a whole bunch of people having fun, chanting and especially like drinking. So I'll go with my cousin. You know we'd get, we'd get messed up and just watching them have fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And obviously that team folded so it didn't exist anymore and I kind of missed that. But I never really like knew what it was about. So like that got my interest into knowing what it is and then for me it kind of felt a little bit like Game of Thrones vibe, you know. Okay.
Speaker 2:For me it kind of felt a little bit like Game of Thrones vibes. You know, like the game to win is creating a culture of like soccer supporting here in Fresno, because there's not really like big presence like that here. Yeah, so I'm thinking like Lord Varys or like Littlefinger, you know, like what can I do to push that?
Speaker 4:forward.
Speaker 2:You know, I don't, I'm not that nerdy dog, I'm not getting the references here, okay, well pretty much it's like uh, what, what skills do I have that contribute to building a soccer culture here in fresno? Because there is none, and obviously I didn't know anything about that either.
Speaker 2:So I'm putting my own spin on it wherever I can do, and, uh, that that's what I'm working on, constantly working on, you know so random things, you see, probably meet my ideas into it. Will it work, will it not? No, but we'll find out, you know yeah, for sure what about you
Speaker 4:bro. So I think I'm the newest one when it comes to, like, the introduction to soccer, because I didn't really start getting into it until maybe about five years ago. Okay, I mean, I used. I've watched it before. You know, here and there, like I watched the 2010 world cup, yeah, 2014, I followed teams like city but, um, it wasn't until like 2020. You know, during covid. You know everybody's kind of locked up in house. I'm someone that likes to learn about as many different things as I can. I don't know how soccer just fell into my life. I've always loved sports, but I guess I just started learning more and more about it when I moved to Fresno, because I'm not from here originally. I'm from Early Mart, if anybody knows where that is? Nobody knows.
Speaker 1:But shout out if you know, nobody knows If you know, I love you. And shout out Population. That's right. Shout out everybody from Early Mart. Yes.
Speaker 3:But anyway.
Speaker 1:They don't even have Wi-Fi.
Speaker 4:Hey, shut the fuck up all right buddy Out of nowhere.
Speaker 2:We'll push this out, neither does your beaner-ass town Beans don't have to hunt for their meals.
Speaker 4:Anyway. No, but when I moved to Fresno, you know there's just a lot more going on here and I was trying to see, like you know, what can I sink my teeth into in Fresno? And you know there was already like so many supporter groups here and just of all different kinds, from like professional teams across the world to local teams. So I was like, how can I get involved?
Speaker 4:And from there that's how we kind of formed La Habana, because I realized when learning about soccer, I don't really care about the game as much but it was just kind of like the vibes, it's the community thing, and I think that's what's a very common thing all around the world is that it's just kind of like a community thing, like people come together and it's the game that does it. So I wanted that here, you know, and I wanted to do it right, and I think La Banda does it right, nice Well said Well said, I know you guys put the ball right here in your guys' little glass container.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, what is it so?
Speaker 2:this is one of La Banda's holy grails, you know, like one of our most important pieces from La Banda. Obviously, we love soccer. Here in Fresno we're always plugging local ballers, yeah. So we have a lot of professional soccer players here that are from Fresno. Like there's not a lot and like there's really few far in between, but when they do like, we enjoy it. We always see them, especially because we're here at Fresno Indoor.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:They're always, you know, connected with the soccer community here in Fresno. So Max Darfson he plays for Columbus Crew and then he's also part of the US national soccer team. He already had his debut this year, okay. So we're very proud of him and we're always wishing him the best. So he supports local soccer. So he was raffling out his signed T-shirt that he wore when he played against Messi, oh, okay, and so they took a picture of it, and then they have a soccer ball, and so he donated it to a Clovis girls soccer team for high school. Yeah, so they can get money to help pay for that season.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so they're giving out tickets. And then my barber, daniel. He's really cool. With max he cuts the hair a lot of the time yeah and so he was selling raffle tickets.
Speaker 2:So you know about two tickets. And next thing, you know, like, um, I didn't look. I didn't look at the at the live. Yeah, they're announcing it because I was at work but my barber called me live when they were announcing it, because I was at work, but my barber called me and he told me that I won, and so I picked it up and I'm like, oh heck, yeah, yeah, anything that has to do with soccer. I would love to get this room filled up with jerseys with all of our professional soccer players signature on it.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 2:That's definitely a goal, you know.
Speaker 4:Hey, Ariana's back. Stop talking about her.
Speaker 2:But so yeah, so we're talking about is our barbers. You know like you can chill on anything, but you can't chill on your barber yeah that's facts, be loyal to your barber.
Speaker 4:I did it. I did it once and I trust me. I'm paying for it to this day to this day. No, but yeah, we love, we love to just support our local guys. You know, elijah Martin's another one of our guys Shout out to.
Speaker 2:E3.
Speaker 4:You know, shout out La Banda member as well, and he's playing over at AV Alta, so we're always keeping track of what he's doing. Other local ballers from here from Fresno, like the Huerta boys and stuff, so it's pretty cool to see. You know, everybody do their own thing and we're just cheering them on from where we can.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I didn't realize that there was a lot of professional soccer players here. I didn't think about it at the end of it, but damn, that's cool that you guys keep in touch and you guys always support them and they support you guys.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's dope, that's dope. What are you guys' favorite group activities?
Speaker 4:Drinking, drinking.
Speaker 3:That's what kept us together.
Speaker 1:That was the quickest answer that you guys had.
Speaker 4:That was just like on point that's about the best chemistry me and this guy are ever going to have right there the compass, the compass.
Speaker 3:There you go.
Speaker 2:If Lavanda didn't drink alcohol, do you think we'd still be Lavanda?
Speaker 4:Lavanda is not La Banda without alcohol.
Speaker 2:These are my people. That's why I love them. I'll take a bullet for them.
Speaker 3:I think we're all excited. We're all waiting for December for 12 Pints.
Speaker 4:Shout out 12 Pints.
Speaker 3:It's a cool little event that we do in December. Larry brought that up, our little white guy yeah our little white boy. He's not so little, I'm a fucking old ass guy, he's not so little yeah, so he's like our party planner.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:He brings all these ideas Obviously like drinking games.
Speaker 4:He's a hype man of the group.
Speaker 3:He's the.
Speaker 2:Bill Nye of drinking games Okay.
Speaker 3:So he's the one that brought up 12 Pints. So 12 Pints for those people that don't know what it is. So we go to two bars, we go to 12 different bars and we drink 12 different beers In December, in December, in December. So you can repeat um uh, a beer, so you drink a beer. You're done for the night with that beer yeah, you move to the next bar.
Speaker 4:You gotta switch beers, switch brands or whatever you want to call it, but 12 different types of beer which is you could say you know, it already sounds crazy.
Speaker 1:So you can imagine.
Speaker 4:How it feels at the end of the night.
Speaker 3:Our first year, larry. He got he got hella drunk. He ended up in the floor at Applebee's. Oh shit, he fell asleep for a minute. Hold on, hold on, I'll get up in a minute. I'll get up in a minute. That was, that was hilarious, and that was our first year, and he's the one that brought it up, so I would think that he was going to be the last one to get drunk.
Speaker 1:But no, he was.
Speaker 2:He was the first one, it was your idea buddy, you got to stay strong here, it's less of a drinking game and more like a game of Survivor. This is like endurance.
Speaker 4:This is like the Ironman test. Yeah, there you go Like who in La Banda really has? You know the steel, gut, you know yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, who? Who in La Banda has the steel gut? Who's the who's the one that can handle most?
Speaker 4:of it. I think I think Dario and Larry usually make it pretty far. Yeah, I think Marco sometimes as well.
Speaker 3:Oh fuck, I always make it to 12 beer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I'm not going to say that, so you miss out on two no last year. I had to catch up Because there's a hierarchy. You know like we need to start. Whoever the leader is the one that lasts the longest at 12 pints. That's when you start doing this, honestly.
Speaker 4:I mean, I need to start doing this Honestly. I need to elect a new president.
Speaker 2:If you can't hold your beard, then you can't hold the lines.
Speaker 4:You know Exactly, it's a lot of responsibility. You know, With great power comes great responsibility. There you go that.
Speaker 2:Uncle Ben said before he got shot up yeah, ip, uncle Ben, all right, you guys.
Speaker 4:One of the greats no but 12 Pints is definitely fun, I think the underrated part of 12 Pints is that we all bring ugly Christmas sweaters. It's kind of mandatory. Yeah, Get in the spirit. You got to get in the spirit which is kind of crazy, because you don't want to take anything too nice, because you never know what's going to happen at 12 Pints. But regardless, you got to bust out the the the festive drip though always.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we get hella drunk. Some people in wheelchairs, they start burning rubber I don't know what you're talking about parking lot, oh yeah, and then fall asleep at me and s the table right there those damn wheelchairs I don't know what to tell you can't stand them.
Speaker 1:No pun intended what do you guys hope for the future of la banda?
Speaker 4:uh, I think we just want to keep having fun and keep growing, yeah, like the more people we can just get involved in in local soccer, you know, even if they don't realize it, yeah yeah, like, uh, I think it's, it's just a good move for us.
Speaker 4:I think, yeah, keeping things relaxed, you know, making sure everybody's just having a good time, yeah, yeah, I think, just having just keep growing, you know, not being complacent with where we are, yeah, and just making sure that we're progressing every year, that La Banda keeps going. Just keep making progress. Cool, what do you think, dario?
Speaker 2:Well, my goal and aspiration for La Banda I want it to eventually become autonomous. You know like it works on its own. There's no, it's not needed to have like one person with a huge influence.
Speaker 2:I want everybody to love it so much that they keep it. You know, running and it outlives me, you know, like you know, when I'm nothing but bones uh, it's still growing. You know, it becomes a big thing here in Fresno, you know, and even if it like gets rebranded or whatever, like that spirit is still there and it grows. I think it has a lot of potential. Obviously, a lot of people do it a whole bunch of different ways and we just need to keep making it into something until it becomes something big. I don't think there's a lot of support for soccer, support for like for soccer here in Fresno, like compared to other places like Los Angeles or, you know, like New York and stuff, where, like you know, there's hundreds, if not thousands, of supporters and stuff. Yeah, but it all starts somewhere, you know, and so we're hoping to become that foundation. Okay, I see that.
Speaker 3:What about you, marcus? So for me, just grow La Banda, try to bring people together. Like for me, I really enjoy seeing new members. They like what we do, me, like, my, my favorite, um, like, I'll say like, like we had this girl, brooke, saludos, brooke, shout out, bro, our white girl too.
Speaker 2:She's like country girl.
Speaker 3:so she came into the banda to play with us at the indoor team. So dario put, put a post that we were looking for girls and she came in and first she was really quiet. She would sit on the side, not talk to nobody, and you know we try to bring her in. So everybody you know we try to bring people together talk to her and she starts to feel more comfortable. Yeah, now she gets fucked up with us there you go she partied with us, uh.
Speaker 3:So we we took her out, uh, for her birthday, uh not so long ago, and and seeing her um have so much fun, you know it make it make me feel good she was having really fun compared to how she started, when she was all quiet. Yeah and now seeing her like on on the, on the, on the club, like like dancing, drinking yeah for me it's, it's my, my favorite part, so I want that.
Speaker 3:I want that. I want to bring more people, uh, grow this and just us having fun yeah, for sure, I think, definitely we.
Speaker 4:We're always good like I think all of us are really good at getting each other out of our shell. Yeah, if we even have one sometimes, yeah, I was like, because some of us don't. Some of us don't have a show, but you know, some of us have one like. But uh, like I know, I I definitely have a. I had a show at the beginning but, as you guys can see now I'm super comfortable around these guys.
Speaker 3:I'm comfortable around everybody Not comfortable.
Speaker 1:He's touching everybody. You're not comfortable enough with you, pa.
Speaker 4:No means no, not always.
Speaker 1:Play back the clip of him holding the mic. This one over here.
Speaker 4:That's not what he told me. Adi's already jealous in the back. Oh sorry him holding the mic, this one over here. That's not what he told me. She is not pointing the gun at marco right now. She is not. She's over here threatening off camera.
Speaker 4:No, but I think just uh definitely having everyone come together and just opening up and and we start to see each other's personalities, and I think that's like the best part about it, for sure what is something you guys wish you guys had, wish people wanted to like know how to join better, because I think people are really shy, yeah, and like they want to get involved, but I don't think they know how to ask, like how to say, oh, you know how can I start, you know, becoming part, and because some people, just you know they're like oh, do I have to play soccer, yeah, or do I have to go to games? And, like we said earlier, like we don't focus on one particular thing, so you could do, you know, anything you want. Really, you know, we're just we'd love to have you around, yeah, and that's really all it is. It's just like if you want to hang out, you know you're a part of la banda like that's.
Speaker 4:It's as simple as that. There's not like a multi-step process, or okay, there's no application prerequisite, nothing like that. You know. It's just like if you enjoy hanging out with us, then you know that's it. It's as simple as that, and I wish people, uh, knew that a little bit more. Okay, because you know they see a club, they see a closed group of people that are friendly with each other. Yeah, so they, you know they want to know how can I join without you know causing, you know some?
Speaker 2:people are just shy, yeah, yeah, so.
Speaker 4:I get it, but I just wish people knew it's a lot easier than you think. Know, just come say hi, come watch our games, whatever you know. Yeah, and if you come watch our games enough we'll notice you, we'll go say hi to you yeah, for sure, you know, I think that's I think I wish people would ask more about that, about that what about you guys?
Speaker 3:yes, I mean the same um just copy on, yeah, just um just walk up and say oh hi, or something like yeah, we're not, we're not like like bad people always looking for trouble, or something like that, we're, we're family friendly. Uh, so I have my daughter, my girlfriend has her daughter, and we have other couples that they have their kids.
Speaker 4:La Habana has a kids sector. Let me tell you, we got an academy team going Project Mbappe is in the works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, bro, like money bro. I swear they're getting Mbappe out of nowhere.
Speaker 4:Penny is going to be our moneymaker in the future. All right, she's going to be playing soccer and she's going to be the one bringing in boot coop bills for La Habana, right you have a vested interest in her?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So yeah, I mean we're family friendly. Yeah, just come and say hi, you know, nobody's going to tell you nothing.
Speaker 1:I mean we talk to each other. But Eventually you guys will upgrade to that, eventually you're going to get there.
Speaker 3:You're going to feel comfortable.
Speaker 4:Like you know the vibes, you know it's, it's really just that's, that's our vibe, like we always joke around.
Speaker 3:So I think that that's one of the main things that that keep us together, that we're always joking around and laughing at each other, and yeah, I mean, just come and say hi and you, you, you're gonna have a good time, definitely you will I think that's part of that.
Speaker 4:Like mexican just thick skin, you know, you grow up getting roasted all the time yeah it's just built into the dna. I don't know what to tell you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we definitely need to, from my point of view, definitely need to like have like different, different things for different people. You know, because we're really for us, we talk a lot of shit, we say everything that's wild, yeah, and but for us it's because we're just so close to each other. But a lot of people, you know, like for them they might be like a little too much just because they don't know they're like, they're a little shy in the beginning, you know. So it's like we need to like level them in to being comfortable, to like you know, being like that with us and like you know, we never take anything personal. So I think that's probably like one of the number one thing that people should definitely know that, like you know, like, even if, like, you're new to the group, you should, you should talk a little bit. Yeah, like you know, we don't take things personal. You know, we actually love that, you know we're little toxicals like that yeah, she got toxicals for the win.
Speaker 4:I think I think people, just they realize how comfortable everyone is and I think that just that vibe, you know, passes over and they realize like, oh, I feel a little bit carefree too, you know, because when it comes to roasting, anybody can get it, that trust especially people in wheelchairs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you would take some home in tupperware, you know yeah they get drunk and go straight to a post, a broken leg allegedly, you've never had proof of that but but yeah, I think let's see, see him trying to think of something else.
Speaker 1:Was there anything else that you guys would like to say to your guys' group? Or invite somebody to be like hey, come back on here.
Speaker 4:I think Valley Games, you know, because I think we just have a lot of fun with our tailgates. You know, during the game where you know halftime we got Boar Banger going.
Speaker 4:So I think for anybody that wants to come, you know, check out local soccer también, and just support, you know, our local scene and then come hang out with us, have some fun. You know we drum, we cheer, we play games and it's just really a really relaxed and carefree environment. You know we got all kinds of things for everybody going all the time. So I think just everybody being there together, just the company that you're in, is an important thing. That's cool.
Speaker 2:And you know what a lot of people are always looking for like somewhere to belong. You know, like a lot of people, you know they just hang out at home. They have no like friends or like you know they're trying to do something new. There's definitely a place for that, you know, because we all started like that from one point or another. You know, and that's how we became a family and so, yeah, I think that's kind of like an important thing. You don't even have to send us a message, just you see us somewhere, swoop by, hang out. You know you don't have to say anything. Eventually, one of us is going to go and say what's up to you and stuff.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know that's how it starts.
Speaker 4:You know I was going to say any one of us, like there's a lot of us that are always here, you know, at Indoor, like we're always just hanging out. If there's at least one of us is always here and we're all really friendly.
Speaker 1:So if you just come say hi.
Speaker 2:You know, like I said, it's as simple as that. What about you, man? How's the podcasting?
Speaker 1:going. For you, the podcasting stuff is going great. For me, I have the new Spotify deal oh nice, congrats what oh yeah no, not yet. She was asking about the jersey, the jersey store. Not yet we're not there, yet Damn. Come on.
Speaker 4:Oh, my God.
Speaker 1:We're getting there Chill.
Speaker 3:You see, that's why I said in the beginning she's an important.
Speaker 1:It's over. She can listen to it. She can listen to it. I don't know, you haven't listened to it. She wasn't here. She's not here, she can listen to it.
Speaker 1:She wasn't here but, like I said, the podcast is doing good. I enjoy doing it and I'm glad that I could come here and you guys have this interview with all you guys and hopefully it gives more of a outreach for more people to come, especially like for women to be more involved, like my sister was saying, outreach for more people to come, you know, especially like um, you know, for women to to be more involved, like my sister was saying Um, and just so that way you guys can continue to grow and continue doing your guys's thing. And it's a beautiful thing. You guys are set as like a strong foundation and a strong family base and you guys are very welcoming. You guys do party, you guys do have a great time and you guys just have an incredible vibe. So I'm grateful for coming out here and having this episode with you guys and hopefully it shows other people too and encourage other people to just freely, just come over here and come to Indoor and watch La Banda perform and even be a part of you guys' family.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you, martin, for inviting us to be part of your podcast. I mean, it's pretty cool. So, yeah, for the people that live around Fresno that would like to join us, you guys are more than welcome. We're family-friendly. Like I said, we always try to do something different. We're already planning to go camping for Fourth of July, like it's not just soccer, so we're trying to you know, go outside the box too. We got runners and track stars on our team. We do different stuff.
Speaker 4:Like we had people like go do what Tabo just did, like the stadium run, yeah, and so like they do the support of blue too. La Habana does support the blue, yeah, so anything like that that our La Habana members you know have endeavors in, we'll go support. You know we had one of our members graduate from Fresno State yesterday or today I think.
Speaker 3:I don't know what it was. Saludos Lalo, yeah shout out to Lalo.
Speaker 4:I'm hopefully graduating next year, so I'm hoping they can be there también.
Speaker 3:Shut the fuck up.
Speaker 4:Nobody's talking to you, damn, but anyway, I think, just supporting each other. Whatever we do, we're always there for each other.
Speaker 1:That's good. Wow, I do want to talk about more of your T-shirt shop and your ambition and your how can I say your passion. That's what you love to do, so when did you start your journey of, like you know what? I'm going to make my own t-shirt stuff and start selling it here.
Speaker 3:So I started selling jerseys three years ago on the side, from home. I have my Instagram page and post pictures and people will send me messages hey, I need this jersey, so I'll get it for them. So I started buying from a guy. Then I started buying from my own and I have a big collection of jerseys. I love jerseys. So I got into it and I started selling it.
Speaker 3:And when I first started coming here to Fresno Indoor, I saw a little room on the entrance and that was like my vision. That was a year and a half ago and I kind of saw myself in there. Okay, I had a vision. I was like I like this place, this is going to be a good place to sell jerseys. But I didn't really do nothing about it until December. So me and my boy, gadi, we opened our little shop my partner, so yeah. So I knew that there was going to be people that are going to need jerseys. There's a lot of teams here, kids that need jerseys, and for me, like one of my favorite parts is just seeing a kid, you know, get their jersey all happy, you know, with their favorite players. So, yeah, I mean, I really love selling jerseys. That's cool. So yeah, that's how I pretty much started. I just walk in and saw the room and I'm like I need this room, yeah and it's perfect because it's right when you walk in.
Speaker 1:As soon as you walk in, you have everything displayed. It's a nice little shop Prime real estate right there. That's good, man, that's good. Uh, do you guys have anything else that you guys would like to say or to say anybody on the camera? Shout out or specific message. You know, call someone out.
Speaker 2:You don't have to, not just playing, it's on site I think I helped a little bit marcos to get that room because I was originally the first one to get a room here at Endor.
Speaker 4:I was going to say we have our club room that we're in right now.
Speaker 2:We have a La Banda HQ, aka also my office, where I started my streaming services for Fresno Endor, you know. So originally, for like the longest, I also wanted to get like a HQ room, you know. Yeah, I figured it'd probably be like a, an office in a plaza somewhere, you know, somewhere where we can all like hang out and like do stuff, yeah, and so I was here a lot when our first season, that La Habana yeah we'd be outside. You know with, with everyone else, you know with the general population you know general.
Speaker 1:you know with the general population. You know General pop, general pop. You know with all the brokies out there.
Speaker 3:You know shout out brokboys, you know.
Speaker 2:But yeah, like so, like having a place where we can all hang out, because obviously when you're around, everything is loud, everything is going around.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:We can't really talk with each other because it's just too loud and stuff you know yeah. Yeah, we can't really talk with each other because it's just too loud and stuff, you know. Yeah, so I always wanted like a club room where we can like do things. So my ambition was also like what can I contribute by getting this room? So you know, I put cameras on the rooftop so I stream the games, you know, Monday through friday, to any any team that wants it.
Speaker 2:so I got a couple people that want that. Streaming helps me pay for the room, yeah, you know. So I do that and then. But we're also using, like on sundays, for, like, lavanda to play, like we all come here warm up, sitting and talking with each other and stuff. Yeah, and me and Raul were setting up getting ready to stream because I do the streaming Meanwhile he does the commentary yeah, legendary commentator, by the way.
Speaker 4:Thank you.
Speaker 2:I can see this guy going some places, you know, and so it's just a place for us to like work on our projects, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:He does his commentating. I do my video streaming, which I also turn into clips and, you know, post it on YouTube and Instagram slowly, you know, gaining traction on that. And then also, like recently, we painted a banner, you know, for La Banda, so we were able to do it here. You know there's a space here for it and stuff, and so doing that that was pretty fun.
Speaker 4:A lot of people came, so it turned into a regular thursday, turned into like a like a hangout day for, like, la banda, you know I think, yeah, like just spontaneous, like, oh, we all came together, we all had fun and painted our banner and I think that was really, really cool and it just shows like la banda's hq is just multi-purpose. You know like we do work in here, we have fun in here, people warm up in here before our games or whatever. We sometimes host watch parties here and watch parties. We got podcasts going right now yeah I think it's just an important.
Speaker 4:I think it's an important piece of lavanda, this room right here. Yes, that's tight it's a very important thing for us fuck, yeah, yeah, sell it tight, I think yeah with marcos's store on the other side too. It's a very important thing for us. Fuck, yeah, yeah, sell it tight, I think. Yeah, with marcos's store on the other side too. It's just, you can see, uh lavanda's influence around here. Yeah, it's really starting to show through yeah, it'll keep growing.
Speaker 3:That's the beauty of it, it's just going to continue excelling to the next yeah, you will always find a lavanda member in presnodding, always, yeah we're always lurking, yeah someone's here I would. I would like to thank you, martin uh, for having us I this is pretty, pretty fun. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for coming. I know, you know it's nerve-wracking. It takes a minute for you to get comfortable, not me.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I don't know about this guy. I don't know about marcos. I don't know about this guy.
Speaker 2:I don't know about Marcos, though I don't know what's going on with this guy.
Speaker 4:I was a little nervous.
Speaker 3:I was a little nervous, yeah, but obviously I can't calm down already.
Speaker 4:The magic elixir over here.
Speaker 3:No, yeah, Thank you, Martin, for having us, and I would like to thank every member from La Banda Raul, Dario, Ariana and everybody in La Banda. I'm really grateful, Everybody. You know they do their own thing, they put on their little part and it's just fun having everybody around. Yeah, For me it's really fun. I enjoy it. If we didn't have nothing going on, we would try to look for something to do.
Speaker 1:Something.
Speaker 3:Just so we can all be together. This is my favorite part about La Banda. We always try to be together. None of us were family related, but we see each other as a family and we like to spend time together. I really enjoy having all these fuckers around.
Speaker 4:I definitely just want to say, Tamien, thank you to everyone. That is a part of La Banda. Whatever you've contributed, whether it's two cents food, just your presence, anything like you're just as valuable as anybody else and I really love just that they're here and that they support in any way that they can Like. I said no matter what, it's important that they're here and that they support in any way that they can like. I said, no matter what, um, it's important that that they're members and and you know just, hopefully you could stick around as long as you need to.
Speaker 2:Yeah la banda not just like a club, not just a support group, it's like, uh, it's like an action, you know, like yeah consider you guys part of la banda.
Speaker 2:you know, just because right now you're part of this right now, and so all this helps things grow. You know, like whether you're just a number in a group of bodies, of people just hanging out like you're a La Banda member, we consider you a La Banda member. There's no prerequisite, there's no membership, just trying to. You know, hanging out with us, dude, that's more than enough to make you feel like you know, like you're a part of us, you know.
Speaker 4:Yeah, no, la Banda is definitely not one person. It's a mixture of all our personalities and I think I love that about it, like you'll see everybody's personality come through, and that's why I think you'll find you'll find something. You'll find something for you in lavanda, you know, like, whatever it is that you're missing, you'll find it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't even watch soccer like that, but I just be part of the scene and like, because you like soccer, like I like hanging out with you and whatever makes you happy, that just you know. Like I take some of that energy and I just like it helps me feel happy for you, you know.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think we all feed off of each other's passion, Whether if it's for soccer, for La Banda, just helping each other out. We all kind of feed off of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's cool man, that's cool.
Speaker 4:Well, thank you guys. Thank you, Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1:Thank you guys. Thank you guys for staying tuned for for another episode of the broke boys. I want to say first, go ahead and check out la banda's page. You guys can go ahead and plug in all your guys's socials, plug in the t-shirt shop as well, and I'll leave the floor for you guys, uh, just check out dominguero tv.
Speaker 4:Uh, my instagram at roland raul, because check me out on fresno state newscast and focus. So keep an eye out for that.
Speaker 3:Uh, you soccer style maybe uh, so my personal page um, follow la banda del valle on instagram. Um, so, yeah, I'm in my shop if you guys need any jerseys. I also do shipping. Um, so you can look me up on Instagram Soccer Style. And yeah, just send me a DM and yeah, I'll help you out my handle for Instagram is ChampagneDairy, and then also follow DomingueroTV.
Speaker 2:That's where I post all my content from Fresno Indoor on there. Definitely check it out. If you want to get my streaming services throughout the weekdays, yeah, just hit me up.
Speaker 4:You need commentary Also también hit us up, but make sure to follow La Banda. Oh yeah, la Banda Forgot about that.
Speaker 1:Perfect. We love you guys Much love. Don't forget to go check out Broke Boys on Instagram and on TikTok out Broke Boys on Instagram and on TikTok at Broke Boys underscore FF. I'll be sure to put all your guys' stuff in the bio and in the description. Thank you guys for having me and we'll see you guys to the next one. Much love, peace. Broke Boys, that was great. You guys, that was great. You guys, that was great.
Speaker 3:You did great that was great.
Speaker 2:Thank you, martin. You guys did great dude.
Speaker 4:You guys sounded great.
