Meet Jesus Arambula

Hi Jesus, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story like any other Mexican American child started with a ball! It all started when I would go abroad to Mexico with my father which was a Catholic missionary, he would take me with him from the moment I was able to walk until I was around 12 or so then my frequent visit stopped because I had a kidney transplant and I was in Los Angeles more after that, however, in Mexico is where I can Truly say my “street soccer” journey started because over there from a young age all the kids are playing in the streets with rubber balls, plastic bottles, bottle caps, well anything that resembled a ball would be used to play “picas” or “retas” meaning pick up.

Since an early age, I was attracted to the competition and the freedom soccer gave me and the friends I made using the ball, I was in Mexico so frequently that I had to learn English in school but relied on the ball to make friends and to break the ice with my classmates during recess. Anyway, with this journey came a lot of opportunities as I grew older. I had several interests in school, friends, etc. but the ball always seemed to be next to me through elementary where we won a couple of titles in high school, we also won important things and I feel at the time one of the most important titles which was CIF Championship in 2004 when I was a junior and well for me my official journey with street soccer started during my high school day and was greatly inspired by Ronaldinho and the campaigns he was doing with Nike with “the Cage” 3v3 matches “joga bonito” and the numerous commercials and activations that really caught my attention and pretty much inspired me to “follow the ball “ where ever it took me.

As I attended college, I was taking what I had learned in the streets and tried to translate it into the pitch, I can tell I played different and things that seemed hard to other were fairly easy for me, I really took into heart what Ronaldinho said once in a commercial “I would skip school to find a pickup game and play football” I believe that’s how it went and well after getting injured in college that was my escape from it all a ball and my friends. As I went deeper and deeper into the street soccer rabbit hole, I kept meeting people and started becoming friends with what you now call influencers of the game like the Nike Squad! To me, they were what I wanted to be when I grew up, I met Tim Donnelly, Adriano de Lima, JT and Lawrence Smalls, I started playing with them Sunday afternoons it was like our little club street players from around Los Angeles would meet up and play for around 3 or 4 hours until we were tired, I learned a lot but what really got me was the sense of community I had there and of course the way we played! It was free and we were free to express ourselves with the ball.

Some years passed, I finished some college I had left and really went deep into what is now my lifestyle, I became a full-time street player and of course practiced some freestyle back then, we were “hybrids” we would mix both sports and it was our way of playing beautiful. Furthermore, I started realizing this way of playing had an actual culture with pioneers and creators, I started learning about Edward Van Gils, Issy Hitman, and touzani and his infamous YouTube video that help also start a revolution for many now influencers of the game, as time passed I started seeing how people kept coming in and out of the scene street soccer and freestylers started creating their own communities and at one point some couldn’t see each other but to be they were all my friend’s brands started to do activations here and there but mainly during the world cups! I think that’s what I looked for mainly during the world cups I looked for the many street soccer activations they would host mainly Nike again would host these and some of the guys I looked up to would help create them so I always felt at home, but it wasn’t enough! I needed more I wanted for this to be really a culture and lifestyle kinda like skateboarding but I knew it wasn’t going to build itself so that’s when I decided I needed to take that step back from being a player to being what I kind of wish I had growing up and that’s a platform and identity I could look up to and would guide me. So that’s when bola was created and I named it bola because during this time in the “streets” freestylers and street players wouldn’t get along because of certain characters in our sport that came after and tried to make money off talented teenager who just wanted to ball!

So I gathered both worlds and put them into one and that’s how bola was created and it was a snowball effect after that brands started to really start pushing the sport and again the one leading the way was Nike, they gathered some of the local LA influencers and had a meeting in their LA headquarters lead by Ro Vega, we were all really excited to be there specially the ones that had seen the sport grow and well that’s when the magic really started to happen our sport in our eyes was about to BLOW UP and well that came with negative and positive experiences but in my eyes it had to happen I think it’s part of the growing pains, we have had all kinds of people around us now people that wanted to grow the sport and people that just wanted to grow themselves both in a selfish way and a positive way but you would always know who was a genuine person and who wasn’t and again same thing happened with facilities and other “football clubs” that we brought to meetings with Nike and started connecting them with our circle and our scene because to us it was a way to growing what we love but never knew some people were just here for their own interest. As the culture started to grow so did our opportunities and well I want to add a big part of it was because of Edward Van Gils, I had met him back in 2009 or so and now had reconnected, if you don’t know who Edward can gils is, google him haha just kidding well in a short summary he is the “Godfather” of street soccer he has been one of the biggest wand earliest pioneers, influencers whatever you want to call it of the sport and now one of my closest friends.

Since 2014/5, we have worked with numerous brands doing commercials played in several international competitions and represented the US Street soccer scene in several occasions. I have spoken in front of the whole Nike department consulted for brands facilities and also help start programs that teach the way we play and well have travels the globe spreading the game, recently I also became aware me and my guys helped influence two movements one in Barcelona and in Australia which is mad! We knew what we were doing was cool and all but to help influence an scene was unheard of, me and friends I believe have started something that will change soccer in the US a culture we were missing I feel that we will see what we have started translate onto the big field soon enough but always with the same mentality “we started of with nothing, everything else is extra” now some of the guys have been in Videos games again numerous commercials music videos and the list goes on, however I feel we are just getting started! We are now working with one of my all-time idols in a drama series which will be the first of its kind, also through Edward we have had the chance to meet him and recently and well that’s Ronaldinho!

In conclusion, through the ups and downs, I feel the most rewarding thing that has happened or is happening is creating a platform for the next generation, continue to go out and spreading the game we love whether through coaching, social media, clinics, commercials you name it we just want to give back and give kids with a dreams a platform or a safe place to come play in the streets because like Edward said once, there’s a lot of negative things happening in the streets but street football is one of the few positive things we have in the streets, and well I think our story continues to grow as we get more opportunities and the more eyes we have on us but the mission stays the same and well I think when you follow the ball it can take you places you never dreamed of and meet and work with people that in your eyes were unreachable to a kid from East Los Angeles coming from an immigrant family that all he had to communicate with his friends was a ball. This is my story with the beautiful game I hope it inspires many to follow their dreams and to never give up on what they really want to do with their lives.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I think the biggest struggle is doing something nobody has done and I guess the people that came in and out of our scene. But in a personal level, the struggle has been giving up a lot to do what I love which may not be much but it was worth it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I personally coach and manage talent I am also a pioneer of the sport street soccer.

What are your plans for the future?
My future plan is to grow street soccer as big or bigger than skateboarding and to help our community and family along the way.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @bola.inittowinit / @ninho10