Many soccer players dream of playing for their country. To walk out of the tunnel with your nation's colors, listen to the national anthem, and then perform for one's fellow countrymen is a unique experience most soccer players can only wish to be a part of.

Cal State San Marcos senior defender Mason Grimes is no longer one of those people. The Temecula native fulfilled a lifelong dream when he pulled on the colors for the Guam men's national team for the EAFF East Asian Cup, Nov. 13-19 in Chinese Taipei.

Mason, whose grandmother was born in Guam, had always joked about putting on the colors for the "Matao". When the opportunity finally did come, he was ready for it.

He started and wound up playing a full ninety minutes in all three matches of the Group Stage at center back. Guam won its first match, 2-1, against host Chinese Taipei, before falling 5-1 to North Korea. The Matao tied Hong Kong 0-0 in the final match, and did not advance to the Asian Cup Final after finishing second in the Group Stage.

To learn more of Mason's experience playing for the Guam men's national team, check out the interview below.

 

How did playing for Guam even come about?
When I looked up the FIFA regulations, you had to either have a parent or a grandparent from there, or you have to have lived there for at least two years to be eligible. Since my grandma was born there, I was immediately eligible. I had been looking into playing for Guam, but it was nothing very serious and then I went in and talked to {CSUSM men's soccer head coach] Ron [Pulvers] about it before I did some research on the team. I noticed a goalkeeper coach that we used to have, Johann [Noetzel], he's now the goalkeeper coach for Guam. Ron sent an email to Johann and the next night I got a call from the coach of the national team and he said he wanted to bring me in and I could potentially make the squad. A week later, I was on a flight to Taiwan with a couple other US-based players on the team.

The East Asian Cup took place the same week as conference championship for your CSUSM team. How did you decide to play in the East Asian Cup rather than head to Iowa with your teammates?
It was a really, really hard decision. It was my dream to play professionally, and I have this once in a lifetime opportunity. I didn't know that if I told the national team coach "no" if he was going to allow me back. Just knowing that I had that opportunity and not knowing if it would be there again, helped me make my decision. I sat down and wrote down all the pros and cons of each decision, and I decided to pursue my dream, because I knew if [CSUSM] won the conference tournament or received an at-large bid to the national tournament, then I'd still be able to come back and play. It wasn't an easy decision; it took a good four to five days before I settled on it after talking with Ron and [assistant coach] Ian Eggleston, my family. My CSUSM teammates were all super excited for me. They were bummed I wouldn't be at the conference tournament, but they had nothing but good things to say and they were just as excited as I was to be going.

What was training camp like?
The first day I was in Taiwan, we didn't have training, so we just took a two-hour taxi to the countryside. The following morning we had our first training session. It was super intense, it's hard to go into a brand-new team and learn their philosophy of play. I think I've only played in serious rain twice, but the first day I got there it was rainy and wet. It was a professional environment. The coach will tell you exactly how it is and he doesn't hide anything.

Everybody is really close off the field, but when it came to on the field, everyone is going for that spot. Nobody flew all the way over there just to sit on the bench. There were definitely battles going on, even on the personal level during training. The coach would say at practice, "I don't care who you are or what team you play for," he's going to put the best 11 on the field. Basically, everyone was at practice to work their tail off and prove who was the best.

When did it become apparent to you that you could play with these guys?
You don't just walk into the international level and start three games.

I was pretty bummed after my first practice – I didn't do very well. It was raining, the speed of play was faster, but as the practices went on, I got more and more comfortable and began to understand my role on the team and what they look for in a center back. The more practices I went to, the more up to their level I got. I understood that you have to be completely focused at practice – you can't switch it off for a moment.  The second you switch off is the second your guy is going to get his chance. You just have to be focused every practice, and that's what got me to their level.

When did you learn that you were going to start?
I had a feeling I was kind of in the mix towards the end of training. Before the game, he just had it up on the board, and my name was there. It was crazy. It was just like a dream come true. As I kid, I had always said I wanted to play for the Guam national team, and the opportunity came about. Practicing and traveling with the team is one thing, but to be able to start alongside a guy like [LA Galaxy defender] AJ DeLaGarza was an unreal feeling – kind of surreal. It didn't hit me until I actually heard the national anthem and saw the crowd – that's when it hit me that I was actually playing for Guam.

Playing on the national team is a lot more than just soccer; it's more than just the game. It was a lot more than a soccer rivalry. There's more behind the scenes when countries play against each other.

Your first match of the competition was against the host – Chinese Taipei. What was it like playing in that environment and how did it feel to beat the home team?
I'm not sure exactly how many people were there – it had to be five or six thousand – and it's a 20,000-person stadium. We got off to a really good start in that game and we ended up being ahead 2-0 at halftime. It didn't hit me until the second half of what home field was actually like. 10 minutes in we got scored on, and then it was 2-1. Their home crowd was just screaming at us, playing drums, singing songs, it was the most hostile environment I've ever played in. It just shows that it is a lot more meaningful when there are people there cheering for their country. It just pumped me up because I had all these people watching me.

It was definitely a good feeling to win in a game like that. Every team and player is good, everyone is technical and strong, and so it is more about mental toughness. To win a game like that takes a lot of energy and focus. I could not have had a better experience, especially in my first game, winning and beating the home country. That helped my confidence a lot and showed me I'm capable of playing at this level. We didn't get embarrassed or blown out. We actually took it to them.
 

Your second match was against North Korea, often considered to be one of the best teams in East Asia along with the likes of Japan, China and South Korea. Talk about that match.
Most teams they sit back against North Korea. North Korea is the third-most represented team in East Asia, I think, in the World Cup, so they're a high caliber team. We had a pretty good game plan going in. We missed a PK and then they scored right after. But we were down by just one at the break.

Our coach told us that we have nothing to lose – North Korea is a country with over a 20 million people, there's just 200,000 on our island. For us to even be in a game with them is an accomplishment by itself. Our captain had the experience of scoring the tying goal against a World-Cup quality team, man that was awesome. I mean, we had just tied North Korea 1-1 in the 60^th minute or something like that! That was just an unreal feeling, not just because they were a good team. To score against them, it was probably the best feeling of the tournament. Living up to the expectation that we can get to that level and get over the hump was one of the best parts of the experience.

What sort of feedback did you receive from your coaches during the tournament?
After every single game, we'd watch film of the game that we played and study films of the other teams. The coach would give us feedback based on breaking down the film. The players would also give me feedback, since their average age is a little older than me. The players are self-coaching each other the entire time. Everyone was letting me know what I could work on and do better as things were going on. They laid out a couple things – my left foot, my weaker foot, is not good enough. They gave me some pointers, what they thought of me, and they just want everyone to get better. We're all a team so everyone's invested in each other getting better.

Soccer-wise, what perspective has this experience given you?
After this tournament and after getting feedback from other professionals, they just told me that I'm good enough to play pro and it has opened up some doors. My goal is to play professionally. Just playing for this team has opened up the door for me to get looks and to have the Guam national team on my resume.

Is playing professionally something you had thought about before you played in this tournament?
Seeing myself play with high caliber players and knowing that I can hold my own really raised my belief. Before I had always thought about it and talked about it with our coaching staff. They told me how hard it was to get an opportunity. Now that I've been there and seen it, I might not be ready right at this exact moment, but I'm confident that I'll be able to play professionally in the future if I keep it up.

Does this experience help you identify with Guam a bit more?
Do you feel closer to your Guamanian bloodline?

The main language in Guam is English, but they also speak Chamorro, and hanging and interacting with the guys who live there and are from there helped me get a closer tie to the island. I definitely want to go there now. I've always wanted to go, but now I want to go more than ever. Just being with those guys and being with people – not the whole team is blood related – I just feel a brotherhood with the guys on the team and island. Playing soccer with them has made the experience that much better.

Did you ever think your heritage would help you on your path to becoming a professional soccer player?
I never really thought about my heritage. I never thought that I was good enough to play for Guam until I did research on the team and made the most of my opportunity.

How has your perspective changed after your experience in Asia?
It was really nice, I couldn't complain about the country. But there's nothing like California. It was definitely a good experience, I tried a lot of seafood and new things. I didn't go over there with the mindset that I'm going to like this, not going to like that. That was a good way to go about it. I'm glad to be back over here though.

What was your favorite experience outside of the soccer field?
I think just how close everyone on the team is and doing team activities together. Being around each other is the best part. The guys may not be able to see each other that much, or for that long, but it's a life-long brotherhood. Being with the team and hanging around the guys was just the best part.
 

What's the next step with Guam national team?
I'm hoping to make appearances for Guam during the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers beginning next year. I expect to be invited back to the training camp. They told me that they were pleased with me. To my knowledge, I'll be invited back and be able to compete for a spot in that tournament.

Let's talk about your soccer career to this point. You've played in high school, college, club, and now, internationally. When you think about it, are you satisfied where your soccer career has taken you?
I'm proud of where I am and how I've evolved as a player here. But I think I've only scratched the surface on where I can go. Seeing the next level makes me want to work that much harder. The main difference is that everyone is technical and fast, and it's just having a professional attitude that every little thing matters. There's not time to slack off. There's no room for error. It's not easy to be a professional, or else everyone would do it: knowing you have to go to films everyday, meetings about what practice is going to be about, you have tactical strategies for each game and every game is different. It's hard work to not only play in the games and go to all the practices, but all the things that people don't see: where you're taking care of your body, preparing for each game and studying the other teams. That's what I got most out of it. What it is going to take, and the mentality that you need to be a professional athlete.

What's it like representing a country?
It's a crazy feeling going on the field and knowing that you're not just playing for yourself. I just wanted to give everything I could just because I knew the whole country was watching me. I was grateful for the opportunity and I just wanted to showcase Guam as well as I could. I think I did that, I did my best in all the games, and I don't think I could have worked harder.