Matt Lewis is, regardless of the rest of the descriptors you want to pin to him, a realist.

As we walked through downtown El Paso, I offered a choice that I’ve offered to anyone not from my hometown. “Mexican food? Or something else?” As we stood at the light, waiting for the change, I could tell he didn’t have enough information to go on. “We could do pizza?” And that was the decision made as we stepped across the street into the El Paso sun.

A key part of the dominant backline for Detroit City, Matt Lewis has played soccer for clubs across the country. A standout at almost every level, the center back has always pursued his dream of a soccer career, regardless of where it puts him in the country. Set to rejoin his Detroit teammates three days later, Matt had played in the midwest, east coast, and, at least for the week, the southwest. But today, he would sit across from me at the Pizza Joint (which Matt described as “class”) and talk soccer, his career arc, and the upstart league he now plays in, NISA.

Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Matt graduated from Rockhurst High School and headed to Fordham University in the Bronx. To say Matt hit the ground running in college would be an understatement. As a freshman, he started all 21 matches for the Rams. That team would win the Atlantic 10 title and Matt was named to the All-Championship team. In his Sophomore season, he again started the entire season for Fordham, playing 1,748 minutes out of 1,801 possible minutes. He was an absolute workhorse. After two years with the Rams, Matt entered his Junior year as the team co-captain and started every match that season in which Fordham won its second Atlantic 10 championship in three years. 2017, his senior year, was the capstone of his collegiate career. Lewis would be named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the year, First team all-conference, and become the university’s career leader in games played and started. That same year, he was signed to a Homegrown contract by Sporting Kansas City.

Matt describes the Kansas City experience as complicated. After believing he had earned his spot on the MLS roster, he was moved to Swope Park Rangers, the farm team for KC. Again, convinced he had earned a contract to move back into MLS, he was informed that instead there was no contract for him and he was on his own. So Matt headed back to New York with a contract offer from the New York Cosmos, who were playing in the NPSL at the time. Initially, he was unsure of signing with the Cosmos who were in a state of flux. “At first I was really on the fence. I don’t know how this was going to happen. I was getting paid well with the Cosmos, but I was looking for a career not just getting paid. That was difficult for me to swallow at that time.”

The Cosmos had exited NASL play in 2017 and were only playing in the amateur NPSL as “New York Cosmos B,” the team’s reserve side, in 2019. But a reserve side without a parent club creates a complicated roster situation, particularly with so many pros to shuffle around while the NASL was in limbo. For a 22-year old player in the prime of his career, just denied his first-tier professional dreams, it was hard to understand why a fully professional side had to play in an amateur league. “You’d head into a game on the weekend and think ‘does it really even matter?’ We were playing amateur teams. For me, it was a mental battle.”

“He’s so professional as a coach, you always want to impress him.”

— Matt Lewis, on playing for Trevor James

To his point, the 2019 New York Cosmos B team should have been playing in a better league. The best proof of that, from Lewis’ perspective, was the Second Round of the US Open Cup, where Cosmos B “battered” Hartford Athletic before eventually losing 2-1 on some unlucky plays. For Matt, the club belonged in a professional league, but circumstances dictated a time in the wilderness of amateur soccer for the club and every player on the roster. The Cosmos B team didn’t show weakness in NPSL play against the amateur sides playing in the North Atlantic Conference. Matt helped lead the team to a 13-0-1 regular season record, giving up a total of FOUR goals through the 14-game regular season. That level of dominance would extend into the playoffs, only surrendering a single goal through three playoff matches.

That run would end in the Final against fellow professional side, Miami FC, who had also fallen into the NPSL after the NASL had shuttered up shop. Miami FC won the match 3-1, scoring almost as many goals against the Cosmos as the New York side had given up all year. Lewis felt frustrated and angry that the team wasn’t getting a chance to play in a more competitive league. “When you’re on a team that you know belongs, but there’s not a place in the system. That’s when it gets frustrating.” The war being fought between the NASL and US Soccer was costing players the chance to play their careers and, according to Lewis, that war was being fought contrary to most of the feelings of the Cosmos’ team. “In house, everyone wanted to be playing in the USL. The players, the staff, everybody wanted to go to USL, because we knew the team could be successful. Playing in the NPSL with that team just felt like a waste. It was unfortunate.”

Lewis credits Coach Mendes for much of his professional growth.

For the purity testers of the lower league soccer world, that idea might be tough to swallow. The pride of American soccer lore, New York Cosmos, pining to play in the USL, it boggles the mind. But Lewis is honest about the reality of the situation facing American soccer players. “For me personally, the system could use a change, but what am I going to do about it as a player? I have to play in the system that’s there...If I want a career, I have to play where I can play. It is what it is.” He sees the current participants in the system as almost innocent. “I don’t blame owners, players, or coaches for playing the system. It’s not their fault. Talk to any owner or player in the league, promotion/relegation is something that everyone wants (and I think it will happen in the future).” As always, Matt is a realist.

With the NPSL season over, the Cosmos would transition to the NPSL Members Cup, before going dormant in the fall portion of the year. Rumors were swirling around the club and were eventually confirmed in November, as Cosmos announced a NISA bid for 2020. But the situation changed. With Covid on the rampage and New York announcing stiff bans on public gatherings of almost any size and type, the club announced it would not be participating in the 2020 spring season. With that news announced, Lewis was loaned to DCFC for the season. Of course, Covid ramped up throughout the country and the entire spring season was cancelled after he played a single match for Detroit. The Cosmos, with Lewis in tow, came back for the weird fall NISA season - limited matches were played, the playoffs were in a bubble, and the club were listless throughout the season. With the Cosmos’ owner, Rocco Commisso, buying into ACF Fiorentina the previous year, it seemed obvious to all parties involved that the bloom was off the rose in New York. That was solidified when the team announced it would be pausing operations indefinitely in the spring of 2021.

For Matt, it was time to leave and he was looking for another place to land, but it wasn’t all negative. “I honestly loved my time at the Cosmos, because I love Carlos Mendes [former Cosmos’ player and head coach]. I thought he was great and I learned a lot from him. He was a center back and that helped me quite a bit.” Initially the plan had been a USL loan, but, as Matt puts it, “Trevor James was keen on me.” Kevin Venegas, Matt’s former teammate at the Cosmos, had signed with DCFC the season before and was talking him up with his new club. When the call came from fall champion Detroit, Matt decided that was the spot for him. For Lewis, there was plenty to love about his new club, but the best part of Detroit was Coach James. “He’s unbelievable. He’s one of those guys that, when the game is over [meaning Lewis’ career], I’ll still be calling him every few months. He’ll get an invitation to the wedding. He’s just that kind of guy. He knows how to make relationships with guys off the field, which then makes you want to work for him on the field...He’s very professional. Unbelievably professional.”

The 2021 Detroit City run was the stuff of dreams, winning the Legend’s Cup, the regular season, and then the final to claim the 20-21 NISA Championship. The team played like the terminator, sprinting robotically from the opener to the final, crushing every team that stood in its way. “That’s Trevor...it’s how he built this team. If a really good player comes in, but he’s not team first, he [James] won’t take him. He’s not worried about talent. He wants to know who’s going to play their position, who’s going to play the hardest, and do everything for the team. And that’s why, especially at this level, we’re so successful...The best player is no bigger than the worst player on the team, because we’re all on the same team.”

While some pundits kept expecting Detroit City to take a match off, Detroit refused to let up. When asked about it, James scoffed at the idea of wanting to lose a match rather than remain perfect. From Matt’s perspective, that approach to playing soccer rubs off on all the players that play for the gaffer. “He’s so professional as a coach, you always want to impress him.”

And impressing the fans of Keyworth is certainly part of the equation as well. “It’s unbelievable. It’s the best environment I’ve ever played in...it’s as professional an environment as you’re going to get at this level.” The Northern Guard effect isn’t limited to Matt and the rest of Le Rouge. “A lot of times, when we’re scouting our next opponent, you're going to get an entirely different match if you're playing at Keyworth. For those guys coming to play at Keyworth, that’s the biggest match of their season. LA played in front of 8,000 in the Final, the game before that was just over 7,000. You don’t really know what you’re going to get from these teams because they’re going to give a little bit extra, because they’re trying to impress the crowd.”

But impressing 8,000 in Keyworth doesn’t allow Lewis to fill his bank account or step away from any side hustles. He’s grinding in the third division of American soccer, trying to make a living playing a sport he loves. It’s clear, as he talks about Detroit, that he loves playing for Coach James in Keyworth, in front of NGS, but there’s limitations that have to be dealt with. “I wouldn’t go anywhere else if there was a way for Detroit to move up in this system.” And that’s the rub. Detroit was the class of NISA Spring 2021, winning every match they played, cruising to a championship, but what’s next for the little club that could? Another season in NISA as the biggest fish in a little pond.

For Matt Lewis, now 25, it's about facing reality. What gives him, and players like him, the best chance of making a career in this sport. As we sat across from each other in an El Paso pizza place, Matt was on short-term loan because of one coach recommending him to Mark Lowery, the Locomotive head coach. It’s all who you know, but, more importantly, who knows you. If anything, lack of visibility for players in NISA is the big concern for Lewis. “I think the problem is the league not being taken seriously. By coaches, by the USL. Playing for Detroit is good. Playing for Trevor [James] is good, his word has a lot of value. Having those things on your side is good. But when folks watch your games, do they say ‘Oh wow, look how well he played’ or do they say ‘Look at who he’s playing against.’ That’s the problem.”

For now, Lewis continues to be a key part of the Detroit City defense, working towards a third consecutive season title. The club is the odds on favorite, as they should be, and Matt is an important part of that expectation. But Matt is forced, like every other player in this flawed ecosystem, to keep his head on a swivel, looking for the next step in his effort to build a career. If his club can’t make the jump to the next step, he’ll be forced to try and find a destination himself. That’s the life of a realist, playing soccer in the American system.

- Dan Vaughn