So who are you and how did you get involved in Space United FC?

My name is Camilo Tobacia, I am the Founder & CEO of Space United. I am a former youth soccer player from professional club Millonarios FC (Bogota, Colombia), former SpaceX (Elon Musk) engineer and a current engineer at Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos). Shortly after graduating as an Aerospace Engineer from Texas A&M University, I received a job offer at SpaceX, the leading rocket company run by Elon Musk. My unique experiences within soccer and the space industry inspired me to create Space United in 2014 (originally dubbed SpaceX FC). Space United became the culmination of soccer and space in my life. Useful links:

Interesting name, who is "united" under the club?

In 2014, the team was founded as SpaceX FC, and was 100% made up of SpaceX colleagues. As we competed and got better, we started to get notoriety and exposure in the Los Angeles soccer scene which led to our participation in many soccer events and tournaments in the city. As the team's social exposure grew, so did the requests to join the squad from other space companies and space & soccer enthusiasts. In 2019 we opened the roster to allow players from these groups and thus formed Space United.

We currently run 2 teams. 1in Los Angeles and 1 in Seattle.

Our Los Angeles roster makeup is about 75% mix of SpaceX, Relativity Space, Northrop Grumman and Oracle. The remaining 25% are space/soccer enthusiasts and athletes.

Our Seattle roster makeup is mainly Blue Origin members.

What league is the club in and where does the club play matches?

Our Los Angeles team competes in the SouthBay Sports League and our Seattle team competes in the Starfire Soccer Complex.

Our next mission objective is to establish a professional soccer team that can compete at the level of NISA/NPSL league.

Do you feel like the unique nature of your club's players' backgrounds change the way you play the game?

I think it is very interesting to have such a diverse mix of players who come from different athletic and educational backgrounds. It definitely adds value to our overall camaraderie and how we play and communicate on the field. There have been a few games that coincide with rocket launch schedules, so you will find our players discussing launch parameters and broadcasting live rocket landings on the pitch --definitely a unique perspective that set our own kickoff. Having that connection beyond the pitch keeps us together at a different level.

Can you tell us about your club's players? Any we should know about specifically?

We have a very unique makeup of players, all of whom are experts in their own fields. In addition we are the only team in the league with women on our competing roster in the 11v11 Men's league. Some players highlights are:

Drew Hess, Head of Mission Management at Relativity Space
Sebastian Torres, Entrepreneur and Technical Project Lead at SpaceX
Sebastian Tobacia, Smart Automation Engineer at Northrop Grumman
Alejandro Arambula & Alex Teuffer, Engineers at SpaceX and MIT Alumni
Hayley Gonzales, Model and Sports Coach
Everyone adds their unique soccer and educational expertise.
Roster Bios for more reference

In some ways, your club reminds me of the way soccer clubs formed in the beginning, out of trade unions and specific crafts. Do you see this connection as well?

I recently watched the movie "The English Game" and got a better idea of what you are mentioning here. I think you are correct in connecting that characteristic which I think is so cool to see that the origins of the game began in a much similar way as we are going about our club. It definitely makes it feel like family to be playing alongside co-workers.

Anything else we should know about your club?

We are excited for what the future holds for our club, especially as we work toward establishing a professional team that can compete at higher levels. We want to be part of the engine that gets soccer growing in America. We are launching our website by the end of this month along with our New 2020 kit and our club shop as well.