Stepping off the plane it hits you, the muggy, dense air of Laredo, Texas. Nestled against the border with Mexico, the city is hot in the early summer, just barely below 100 fahrenheit, and sticky with humidity. The land is green and lush, just north of the main body of the Rio Grande Valley. The roads are surrounded by thick brush, lush and teeming with bugs, birds, and a variety of other wildlife. But as my shirt sticks to the small of my back, I’m having a hard time appreciating the weather or the nature around me.

An Origin Story

No doubt Shashi Vaswani had a similar experience almost 40 years ago, when his family immigrated to the area. Vaswani’s father was a tailor from India and while his son was still a teenager, packed up his family and moved to Toronto for a short stint before taking his family to the city of Laredo. Shashi grew up in a family full of hardworking, industrious people and he fits right in. After founding a video game distribution company with his wife, he just kept adding companies to his portfolio: property development, hotel operations, and, of course, his beloved soccer team, Laredo Heat.

Vaswani founded the Laredo Heat in 2004 and joined the PDL. The club experienced early success, winning their division 6 out of the first 9 years and the national championship in 2007. Though isolated geographically, the team was competitive and well supported by local fans. Averaging close to 1,000 fans a match is no small feat for an amateur soccer club. People were showing up and the team was winning, in a small town like Laredo that’s a recipe for sustainability.

When the PDL failed to flesh out a competitive division in 2016, Vaswani and the Heat decided to go on hiatus. And after two years, the decision was made to join the NPSL in 2018. At the time, JJ Vela, the long-time club manager, spoke about the decision to return to play. “We chose the NPSL primarily for the competitive structure and the number of teams in the region. It made sense to be financially responsible, and because of this, the NPSL as a whole made the decision easier.” Vela’s response mirrors Shashi’s approach to club management. He has high expectations and treats the club like a business. That approach to his soccer team is reflected by everyone he’s hired, including current head coach John Powell. “The reason we work so well together is I’m the only one who wants to win more than he does. He’ll argue otherwise, but so will I.”

But as quickly as you might peg Shashi as a task master owner, his generosity is raved about by everyone you interact with in Laredo. While his employees work to please his high level of expectation, his fatherly kindness is consistently on display, as he checks in with them as they work. He’s gentle but stern, has high expectations but will quickly celebrate achievement. During dinner at a local restuarant, he casually switches between perfect English and Spanish with the servers as they pass the table. They know him personally, not just as a local businessman or a regular customer. The sincerity in the connection is real and palpable. The Vaswani’s have roots in this city and have made it their own. Investing in the Laredo Heat is a way to give back to the community that has welcomed them with open arms.

But since coming to the NPSL, the Heat have struggled to get far in the league’s playoffs. In its first year, the club managed to win a conference title and a national #1 rating, but lost in the regional semifinal to Little Rock. The next year was a disappointing one, with Laredo not even qualifying for the playoffs, finishing 5th in the conference. With Covid canceling 2020, the team returned to the playoffs, but lost to eventual champion and fellow Lone Star rival, Denton Diablos. 2022 would see Laredo again losing in the regional semifinal, but this time to Tulsa. 2023 would be another lackluster run ending in the regular season, outside the playoff picture for the club. For someone like Shashi, that kind of finish just isn’t good enough. As Powell describes it, “He wants me to guarantee wins and trophies, but I can’t do that. So I tell him I’ll do everything I can to deliver, because that’s the kind of leader he is.”

A Home on the Border

It might seem a little odd for an amateur soccer club which hasn’t won a national title in 15 years to invest a fortune into a new stadium, but as Shashi drives into the parking lot, he squints up at the building he’s built and you feel the pride. At each doorway, set of stairs, and block of seats, he talks about what he’s done to get here. Forty years in the Laredo community, building buildings and businesses, gives him and his wife some pull in the community, but more importantly, with the financial movers and shakers. “It’s a good thing we work with the local banks so much with our other business ventures. When we came in for the funding to build this, they knew us. They trusted us.”

The Vaswani family breaking ground for the complex, Shashi is third from left.

As we walk through the facility, there’s quality on all sides and yet Shashi apologizes for everything that’s not exactly done yet. The trophy case is still empty of the awards the club has won, but he’s working on it. The lights in one room aren’t turning off automatically, but he’s got someone coming to fix it. The elevator was missing a piece of decoration, but it’s going to be fixed before the match tomorrow. There’s a level of expectation in his eye and incomplete is not good enough. Never mind that we’re standing in one of the most impressive stadiums in amateur soccer, Shashi wants everything to be perfect.

The PEG Energy Stadium grandstand faces a wide expanse of land that will never change as it’s protected for wildlife. The brush is green and lush around nearby Lake Casa Blanca, with tall palm trees sprinkled across the view. Just past the edge of the main field are the locker rooms and two midsize practice pitches. Above the grandstand is a towering glass facade where the club offices are. And above it all is a beautiful free-hanging roof, vital in the hot sun of south Texas. Shashi’s pride goes on full display when he talks about the grandstand roof. “I didn’t want any support posts to obstruct the view. It was expensive, but look at the result.” And he’s right, it’s spectacular and the view is unblemished.

While the project is so much more than a stadium, it’s the part that’s complete at this point. In every direction (except one), the land around the stadium is scheduled to be developed. Vaswani’s development company has big plans of hotels, shops and stores, mixed-use buildings, an entire one-stop-shop area for people to spend the day shopping, the evening at a soccer match, and the night at one of the hotels. This is the kind of project that happens in big cities and Laredo might seem small, but has big plans for the future.

A History Lesson on the River

If you’re like most people, you may have heard of Laredo because of the ongoing border crisis, but the city of Laredo was here long before the Rio Grande River became the border. The city was founded in 1755 and blossomed due to the large amounts of trade coming from southern Mexico. During the upheaval that would see the independent country of Texas form (prior to becoming a state), Laredo would be the capital of a short-lived country of its own, the Republic of the Rio Grande. In fact, the city flag is that same Republic’s flag: a combination of stars, bars, and the addition of black to the traditional red, white, and blue.

The city would continue to grow as one of the northernmost cities in Mexico, until the Mexican American War in 1846, when the border was established as the Rio Grande River, which placed Laredo in the state of Texas, rather than Mexico. The people of Laredo petitioned the United States to allow it to remain in its original country, but that was refused. A sizable portion of the population crossed the river and founded Nuevo Laredo (New Laredo) on the Mexican side of the river, creating a sister city. Much like the rest of the cross-border inter-city relationships, families and friends have flourished on both sides of the border. Of course, business on the border is a big deal.

While much of the country is wringing hands over the border and how to best deal with the relationship between Mexico and the United States, Laredo has embraced its role as the entrance to the country for billions of dollars in shipping. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, $320 billion in total trade comes through Laredo, making it the number 1 port city in the country. In 2022, 5,546,575 trucks crossed the border crossing and, as you drive through the city, you can see warehouse after warehouse, lined with thousands of trucks waiting to carry goods north.

And that might make the city sound like some sort of industrial hellscape, but the city is vibrant in the way all border towns are. From large malls for cross-border shoppers to a revitalizing downtown with century-old hotels and neighborhoods, the city is full of life. The city is rapidly expanding in all directions and there’s developments and improvement projects happening everywhere. Just a month ago, the city began work on the Buena Vista Sports Complex, a massive multi-sport facility that will feature ten baseball/softball fields and two multipurpose fields for soccer, flag football, and rugby. Eventually it will expand to fifteen fields and be one of the largest city-owned sports complexes in the state. There’s a buzz of energy that comes with so much activity and hectic movement. There’s a lot going on in Laredo.

An Opening Night

Opening night, the crowd is lively. Just before the match, a team representative mentioned that the match had sold out, meaning 2,500 tickets had been sold. The concourse under the main stand is a milling mass of fans, some drinking and eating, some finding their way to their seats, and others just seeming to enjoy the newest spot in Laredo to action. A dragon mascot is being led around the area by his handler, posing with kids and adults alike. There’s a DJ playing Peso Pluma over two large speakers as the people pass, while techno music is blaring from the field’s sound system. The energy is as high off the field as it will be in when the match begins. There’s no calm before the storm, just chaos before kickoff. It’s a beautiful, palpable excitement and it’s contagious.

The amount of Heat shirts in the stands is on a level that’s unseen in most amateur soccer fanbases. It’s not to say that other clubs don’t have supporters, but the number of jersey-wearing fans is something generally lacking in most grandstands across the country. Whole families, parents and children, show up wearing Laredo Heat jerseys from different eras of the club. From men with gray beards to toddlers struggling to keep up with their families in the crowd, support is draped on everybody in sight.

Shashi had joked before the match that fans would show up a little late. “That’s just Laredo.” And he was right. At the 8p kickoff, the stands were only half full and people were still parking outside the stadium and making their way into the mix around the entrance. But by the 25th minute of the match, already 3-1 for the good guys, the crowd had made its way into the stands and were clearly locked in to the action.

When writers try to credit fans with understanding the game, the stereotypical writer trick is to mention them applauding a defensive play or a deft pass that a casual wouldn’t notice. So let the trope continue, as the Heat fans clapped and cheered when a midfielder drifted back into the box to cut off a Houston pass, springing an attack on a backpedaling defense. The fans are loud, connected to the play on the field, and having a good time. It is a crowd fitting the setting and the level of play on the field.

In the final minute of the match, with Laredo clinging to a single goal lead, after seven had made it into the nets on the night, a penalty is called against the Heat. It was a good call, as the Houston forward slipped past the defender on the corner of the box. Caught out of position, the defender lunged and went to ground, making contact with the feet of the attacker. As he tumbles to the ground, the crowd drops silent, every eye trained on the official sprinting towards the box.

Penalty.

Unlike an early penalty call in the match, when the fans booed and cries of “Culero” could be heard from fans leaning over the barriers, heads can be seen shaking back and forth with knowing looks. They know. It was definitely a penalty and a three point result is about to become one. A draw snatched from the jaws of victory. And then, as the players mill around the corner of the box and the referee waits at the spot, the crowd begins to buzz and energize. Sure the keeper gave up a penalty earlier in the match, but maybe the unlikely can happen. Maybe this time he can get the stop.

As the penalty taker steps to the spot, the fans begin to clap, cheer, and pound on the grandstand with their feet. The noise is deafening, equal to the moment. Suddenly we’re in South America or Europe, with an authentic soccer fan experience that never happens in the states. Except we are in Laredo and this is South Texas, and these are local fans of an amateur club being as rowdy and loud as any of the great fan bases of foreign soccer teams. As the Houston player swings his foot through the ball, the keeper dives to his left and the ball arches toward the goal.

It’s a panenka. And it’s overhit.

The ball bounces off the top of the crossbar and the crowd somehow gets even louder. The fairytale opening match is complete with a happily ever after. Fans hug each other and celebrate like the match was so much more than just a home opener. It’s the first win in a new home, the smashing of a bottle of champagne on the ship, the triumphant victory lap, the cigar after a hole in one.

Game over, 4-3 Laredo Heat.

Closing Time

As fans begin to exit the stadium after a post match drone show, Mexican corridos are playing over the speakers, with a sprinkling of Taylor Swift on the playlist. Children are near the touchline, doing cartwheels on the turf, while interviews are happening on the other side of the field. There’s a satisfied feeling in the fans milling around the grandstand, as if the bartender just yelled last call and drunk patrons begin to discuss where to go find some food after drinking. The party is over, but can’t we make it last a little longer?

I’m standing in the press box area, next to JJ Vela, who has a smile the size of Texas permanently plastered on his face. His adult son traveled in to help this evening and both of them are giggling and celebrating, joking about the match and the missed penalty. Life is good in Laredo.

I packed up and wandered down the grandstand into the last of the lingering fans, the food trucks are packing up and the cleaning staff is emptying trash cans, party’s over.

I pass through the gates to the stadium and Shashi is there, shaking hands with fans and employees alike, thanking them for making the night what it was. But the truth is, this is his dream, and he put everything he had into making this night what it was: a glorious achievement for Laredo and his club.

One fan rushes up to him and pumps his hand vigorously. “You couldn’t have planned an ending like that!” He’s a little drunk and clearly thrilled with the match, the stadium, and the night. Shashi smiles, thanks him for coming, and then sends him along to his waiting family. He turns to me, shaking his head, “I don’t think I would have planned to give up three goals.” Even in a moment of victory, with a winning home opener and a beautiful stadium grand opening, there’s more to be done to find perfection.

Shashi Vaswani and his family have lived the immigrant’s American dream in an immigrant town. And now, in return for everything he’s accomplished here, he’s given the city something it can be proud of. He’s planted a stadium on the border that can be a focal point of their fandom and civic loyalty. And just as his team wears Laredo on their chest, Laredo can point to PEG Energy Stadium with pride.

- Dan Vaughn