A Scorer's Redemption
It’s 3:30 in the afternoon, hours before D’Feeters will take on Denton Diablos in their Round One match in the US Open Cup. At a local bar, Miles Byass leans back in his chair, his food untouched on the cluttered table. The music in the bar seems inappropriate for the time of day, but so does the beer that he sips as he talks. Across the table, two of his teammates, Luis Morales and Sebastian Mendez, are busy eating their lunches, seemingly disinterested in our conversation.
“Had to babysit,” he jokes. Taking another long draw on his beer. The guys across the table barely look up and continue eating.
The conversation shifts to the type of beer he was drinking. A local brewery, as it turned out.
“You just played in the UPSL Final. Scored the most goals for that team this season. Scored in the Final to win the game. You’re on a pretty solid run right now. Wikipedia says you’ve scored 57 goals in 58 matches for Foro, is that right?”
Miles smiles for a moment, looks up at the TV, then responds, “Yeah, but there’s been games where I’ve had 6-7 goals. Especially 3 years ago, some of the teams in our league were winning 9-1. Our team was ridiculous, we only had issues against Harrington, but the rest of the league was pretty weak…It was all tap ins, I was doing almost no work and getting all the goals.”
Miles Byass isn’t your average American amateur soccer player. Born in California in 1991, Byass played soccer in high school and early on got interest from big time clubs, including LA Galaxy. He was good enough to get a cup of coffee with the USMNT U-18’s, even scoring twice in 12 appearances. After a brief stint in college, he got a shot with Portland’s U-23 squad and then played for Orange County Blue Star in the PDL (now USL2). In 2014, he made the move overseas and spent some time in the Finnish league, playing for three different clubs and scoring for three. Since then, Byass has played in the NASL (Ottawa Fury), the NPSL (Ft. Worth Vaqueros), before finally settling in with Foro SC in 2019.
And the stat about 57 goals in 58 matches for Foro SC? Yup, Wikipedia confirms it, he averages .98 goals per match, playing for the Dallas club. Byass simply knows how to score. It’s what he does best. He has an innate ability to know exactly where he should be to maximize his chances of scoring. Unlike players who might have the quickest moves, fastest first step, or the size to bully defenders out of the way, Byass leans on the savviness that comes with being a veteran among young players.
“How did you come to play for D’Feeters Kicks in the Open Cup? Was it like, ‘we need some goals, let’s call Myles?’”
“Well, I’m cool with the guys who run the club and all the players. It used to be a pretty heated rivalry between FC Harrington [now D’Feeters] and Foro. I’d be the only one talking to both teams…I had been on the roster in Roja League but hadn’t played. So I qualified to play with them and they hit me up and asked if I could play Open Cup. I mean, who doesn’t want to play in the most historic tournament in the U.S.?”
Myles shakes his head after he says that last part.
“I botched my chance when I was playing for Portland [in the Open Cup]. I missed a PK against Kitsap Pumas. It was a terrible PK. It was a double save by the keeper. Just a terrible PK.”
In the bar the music is still playing, way too loudly and way too wildly, but there’s a moment of sincerity in his face. He tells the table they can find the clip on Youtube, even sends it to me later that night. There’s some catharsis here, a moment of hope to undo the mistake of his youth.
Turns out, the match wasn’t in the Cup proper, but was in the final qualifying round. In 2011, the Kitsap Pumas and Portland U-23’s were tied for qualifying for the USOC, so their regular season match on June 3, 2011 would serve double duty. Two first half goals for the Pumas had the club flying high, headed into halftime. In the second half, the clubs exchanged goals and Kitsap continued to hold its two goal lead. Then disaster struck, when forward Brian Burke was sent off with a straight red. Just three minutes later, Miles stood at the spot, set to take a penalty that could bring Portland within one.
In front of 4,754 fans, the third highest USOC attendance in the last two years (including MLS sides), Miles does a straight run up, as soon as the whistle blows. He doesn’t pause at all and, to be fair, his shot isn’t great. The keeper, Bryan Meredith, guesses correctly, but outdives the shot. It ricochets off his legs. The ball slow rolls back to Miles, almost like the keeper is giving him a second chance. And he kicks it right back where it came from, directly into Meredith. And Miles just stands there, a 20 year old who just missed his big chance in “the most historic tournament.” The Timbers would lose 3-2 eventually, leaving Byass without a goal in the USOC.
“I hated Kitsap, they were grown men. I was playing in the PDL, I was a little boy going into this different environment I wasn’t used to.”
He pauses for second.
“They were calling me boy out there. I was like “what?” Nowadays. that wouldn’t fly, but back then, fans were just trying to get under your skin. And it worked sometimes.”
We’re another round in, afternoon drinking with a match just hours away. Byass talks a bit about his time with Foro, his connection with the local soccer community, the players he’s played with. He’s all over the place at this point, loose and owning the moment at the table.
Just two months ago, he was bossing the UPSL Final for Foro SC in Mesa, Arizona. The weekend couldn’t have gone much better for Foro SC. Having travelled from Dallas, which was in the grip of an ice storm, the Texas club faced LAFC Academy in the semifinal on Saturday. Miles would score the opening goal in that match, a barn-burner that ended 4-3 with a last minute goal by Foro to advance. The next day, they would face Chicago Nation in the Final.
That Championship match was an absolute battle between two clubs set on winning. After multiple chances, with the game locked in a 0-0 tie, Miles put an unlikely header over the keeper’s head and into the net. It was the kind of shot you wouldn’t expect would go in, but Byass always finds a way (6:35 in the Youtube video above). The goal was enough for the Texas side to finish off the match. Miles Byass was a National Champion.
Another beer in, Miles responds to why he keeps playing amateur soccer.
“My goal right now is on the coaching side. Whatever is going to help me in my coaching career, even if it is a year or two out…I’m past the playing part, I want to give back to the game. I’m not trying to get back to MLS or whatever…I’m realistic.”
“Are you worried your race might hold you back from coaching opportunities? There’s not a lot of black representation in coaching.”
“There’s none, right?” Then he begins to discuss the struggle Patrick Vieira faced to find coaching chances, while white ex-players were offered jobs quickly. “The game makes it easy for us [black players] to give up on coaching and do something else. That’s why you don’t see many. No one wants to take the steps…we don’t have enough black coaches who have the qualifications.”
It gets quiet for a moment. His beer glass makes a sharp sound that cuts through the rock music as he sets it back on the table. “That’s a deep conversation there. We can go hours and hours on the problems with the system…I’m just a soccer player.”
I begin to list off the places Byass has played and he shrugs slightly.
“I’m not upset about it. I get to carry these stories of all the places I’ve been…I’ve been everywhere for this game. It’s a blessing.”
I ask if him if it ever feels beneath him to play amateur.
“I play for the love of the game. This last season I missed a bunch of games because I didn’t feel like playing. I just felt like soccer wasn’t my thing right now, I’d rather go out.” He chuckles and sips his beer. In a slightly quieter voice he finished the thought, “then something clicked, I missed the game.”
The recorded conversation ends after one more round. Miles’ teammates leave for the field to get ready for warmups. Miles jokes that I was sent to get him drunk before the match, but then immediately clarifies that he’s fine.
“I’ve got a goal and an assist in these feet, trust me”
When I laugh at his confidence, he gets serious. Looks me straight in the eye, “We’re going to win, 3-1.”
A couple minutes later, he stands up, we shake hands, and he walks out of the bar. At the time, I wasn’t sure what to think, if I’m honest. I watched the man drink four beers on an empty stomach. And now he was off to play in the First Round of the US Open Cup against the NPSL Champion Denton Diablos. Redemption seemed unlikely.
At the UNT soccer field, a beautiful facility in Denton, the wind whipped mercilessly across the cold field. It was in the high 40s and the players looked miserable on the field, trying to warm up for the match. From the stands, I could see Miles, going through his pregame routine, passing the ball with his teammates. It was like a switch had been thrown and the guy who had drank with just hours before was suddenly a prime athlete who would put his stamp on this match.
After going down early, D’Feeters Kicks would battle back even at the 25’ mark. Miles assisted on the goal. Miles played, minimizing movement, timing his runs for optimal chances. He wasn’t the fastest player on the field, but he was easily the smartest, most experienced. In the 34’, Miles scored his goal. He knew what he had in him and he headed in the goal. He delivered. In the second half, he would sub out for a defender after a red card made attacking impractical. Miles had done what he always does, he scores goals. This time, in an Open Cup match. Redemption.
After the match, Byass tweeted one of the greatest troll tweets I’ve ever seen.
Tonight, Miles Byass and D’Feeters Kicks will face off against San Antonio FC of the USLC in Round 2 of the US Open Cup.
- Dan Vaughn