Whether it’s the virtual pitch, or the real pitch, Marvin Mosquera is plenty familiar with it. The 23-year-old features on the pitch for New Orleans Jesters as a midfielder, but since the start of the eNPSL he has featured as the player/coach for the Jesters in the competition.
When first told about the competition, Mosquera leapt at the chance to partake and noted how he pushed for the Jesters to play a role. However, the competition itself was more than he had first bargained for. Noting that he initially though it would be a 1v1 competition, Mosquera quickly found himself recruiting players and serving as a leader for the Jesters.
“It was like, ‘Whoa, now I have to manage people’s morale and people playing and not playing,’” he told ISN. Even virtually, Mosquera noted that it becomes essentially in any form of soccer, virtual or otherwise, to manage team chemistry and deal with different attitudes of players.
Describing it as a “good challenge,” Mosquera has embraced the role fully. “Now I have a whole bunch of quality players with different attributes,” he noted about his current squad.
Mosquera’s experiences with the sport go all the way back to his home nation of Colombia. Talking about his love of the sport, he said, “It came from my dad.” His father, Yezid Mosquera, spent significant time playing in Colombia, ultimately playing for Millonarios by the time Marvin was born.
Despite his young age, he has plenty of great memories of that time. “I would always go to his team’s training sessions,” he said, noting how there are plenty of pictures of him in his dad’s oversized jersey. “I even have pictures of me in my first day’s walking at the same field they train at. I look back at those days and can’t even imagine I was doing that at the time.”
In talking about lessons from his father, he noted, “He gives me all his experiences of playing and it only makes me hungrier to do more in the sport itself.” That hunger eventually helped to drive him to pursuing his career further in the U.S.
Mosquera moved around the time he was six to the United States. From here, even before he started playing club soccer as a youth, he jumped into the world of FIFA.
“I used to play heavily, especially before I started playing [real-life soccer],” he said. “I was only training like two or three times a week and some of those days I would get home from school and I would play a lot.” Mosquera’s love for the video game blossomed in his high school years. While he has played editions as far back as FIFA 98, the first one he remembers getting is FIFA 04 featuring the likes of Ronaldinho on the cover.
These experiences helped to propel him high up the ranks in the world of FIFA. Around this time, he would end up in the top 100 players for FIFA in the United States. Mosquera highlighted that there are only so many hours in the day that you can exert yourself practicing the sport. For those days where there was rest from physical training, he was able to continue training the mental aspect of the sport.
“It really does help you, the tactical aspect, and especially in the newer games…you can make the players do exactly what you want them to do,” he said. “To some extent, it’s a game, it’s going to have its glitches, but at the end of the day it’s as close as you can get.”
Highlighting the upcoming release of new gaming consoles like the PS5, Mosquera acknowledged that the graphics and the gameplay quality will only continue to get better and even more realistic.
Since playing from the beginning, he has seen the growth of the franchise. “The people that don’t play the game as much don’t understand the changes from year-to-year.” Accuracy of passing, shooting, turning on the ball, are all things that Mosquera has seen huge changes in from year-to-year.
One key aspect of his experiences that Mosquera is confident will help him once getting back onto the pitch is his leadership. “Keeping people in check and making sure people are mentally focused” are two things that Mosquera noted are key in managing the team, but surely sound like things that would need to be done on the pitch just as much in the world of helming an eNPSL team.
Mosquera has been thrilled to lead a team like the New Orleans Jesters in this endeavor. “It was a huge blessing to have been there,” he said. “I think that in the NPSL it’s one of the most professionally handled clubs.”
Just as thrilled as Mosquera is to be a part of the Jesters community, so, too, is the organization itself.
Kenny Farrell, head coach of the New Orleans Jesters, said on Mosquera, “Marvin has applied the same attributes to the eNPSL team that he brought to the NPSL team as a New Orleans Jesters player.” He added, “He was always extremely dedicated and professional in addition to being very disciplined in his approach to the game, and he has carried that through to the Jesters eNPSL project.”
Mosquera also noted his appreciation for the city and community of New Orleans. With the Jesters receiving all the focus of the local soccer community, Mosquera said that the atmosphere within the city was top-notch and he has felt a strong connection to the city and the club’s supporters.
Despite disappointment in the NPSL summer season’s cancellation, the eNPSL has offered an outstanding opportunity for Mosquera to show his skills on the virtual pitch as well as his leadership qualities.
