Celebrating our Roots is a short series aiming to tell the stories of our players during Black History Month. It’s a chance for our supporters to know more about our newcomers before formally meeting them later in the year at an event or Isotopes Park on March 9.
Our Juan Aguerrevere opened a dialogue with left-back Avionne Flanagan about his upbringing, hometown and interpretation of Black History Month:
Juan Aguerrevere: “The man who’s always smiling! Can you introduce yourself to La Familia?”
Avionne Flanagan: “Yeah, my name’s Avionne Flanagan. Some people call me ‘Ayo’. I play left-back. A little bit of a winger, and I’m wearing number 27 this season.”
JA: “A straight-forward intro as expected after a long training session. Where is home?”
AF: “Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Been there all the way through high school. Didn’t really move around much. Both my parents are from Baltimore, so it’s kind of home for me.”
JA: “Tell me about growing up in Baltimore. First, tell me about your come up, with family and friends. What was it like?”
AF: “Yeah, I have two younger brothers and an older sister. I grew up close to all my family. I have a stepdad who came to my life when I was younger. He’s the one that actually introduced me to soccer, so I’m very appreciative of that. Coming up in Baltimore, I mean, it has its stigmas, its negatives. But honestly, I loved growing up in Baltimore. I experienced a lot of different things, a lot of different cultures in Baltimore. But like I said, soccer culture there is also really good. A lot of good players are coming out of the Maryland DMV area. But growing up in Baltimore, like I said, I have no regrets. I do love it, I call it home.”
JA: “Nothing like home! I bet you have plenty of good memories. How was your experience growing soccer-wise in Baltimore?”
AF: “Yeah. Just the teams, the organizations that I grew up playing for. It was Baltimore Bays, then the Baltimore Celtic, and then those led me to Baltimore Armour. Just a really good club, a soccer club that I was a part of and provided me with a lot of opportunities. They connected me to the next level, which was college soccer. We ended up winning a national championship at Baltimore Celtic. And like I said about the diversity, I was able to play with a lot of different races and ethnicities. So, it was a great experience. It allowed me to kind of gel and mesh with a bunch of different cultures, and call all those people my friends.”
JA: “A come-up like that is always a good story. Let’s go back to talking about your home. What’s life in Baltimore like? I know about the Ravens, but apart from that, what’s the vibe like in the area?”
AF: It’s really just the Ravens. The Orioles haven’t been too good recently, wait… They actually had a good season last year… Maybe I’ll pick up baseball again! It’s hard to support them when they’re doing so bad. Anyway, I Got a lot of pride in Baltimore. A lot of people have come from not so friendly, not so well brought up environments. But it’s one of those things where a lot of people from Baltimore, you’ll learn quickly that they’re just hardworking, determined and driven to either get out or elevate the area as much as possible.”
JA: “What about the food and music?”
AF: “So music. I mean, me personally, I grew up listening to a lot of R&B. As I got older, I guess I’ve formed into a little of hip hop and rap. But back in the day, my mom, all she played was R&B. It was Chris Brown, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, say, Ne-Yo, Usher, all those things. I have a whole playlist with all those songs. Supposedly when we go to Tucson, I’m going to have to sing, and I mean, I want a whole performance! I’m going to put on a show out there, but, music wise, that’s really what I grew up on. And food wise, I honestly think about a cookout; baked mac and cheese, green beans, collard greens, fried chicken. We also do burgers and hot dogs. That’s for the people who are picky with eating. But Baltimore is really known for its seafood, actually. Chesapeake Bay has the best blue crab in the world. i tried to eat blue crabs elsewhere, but it’s just not the same. But seafood wise, I grew up on seafood a lot.”
JA: “Now that we have a good picture of who ‘Ayo’ is and his roots, how did your upbringing help you grow into the person you are today?”
AF: “Yeah. Growing up, I liked a quote. I don’t know it word by word. I can’t remember the word for word quote that J Cole said, but it basically just derives from “loving yours and loving what you have in this life”. Not everything is guaranteed. So every day I wake up with a smile on my face. Every day I look to tackle the day because I know people, I know family members that aren’t blessed to be in this position that I’m in right now. As I’m out here smiling, enjoying my time, doing what I love, I know back home I’m doing it for other people. I’m trying to become that role model, that figure for people who are born and raised in Baltimore to look up to. I want them to know that there’s many different obstacles that are in your way. But if you if you stick to it, and you take every day with a grain of salt, and you smile through the day, and you just try to enjoy it, there’s endless possibilities.”
JA: That’s what it’s all about! Now we head into our last question. This one is tailored around Black History Month. What’s your interpretation of Black History Month?”
AF: “First I want to talk about the environment here in New Mexico, especially with the team. I just came in this season. Everyone was very welcoming, no matter what my race is. Everyone’s welcoming. It’s a good environment. Everyone’s accepting. Growing up in Baltimore, it was the same thing. Being a part of a soccer organization is the same thing. That kind of goes back into Black History Month. Everyone knows back then we, it wasn’t that easy. It simply wasn’t. When I think of Black History Month, I’m just very appreciative of the people that came before myself. The people that allowed me to be in this environment here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, playing with a lot of people of different races and just enjoying each other’s presence no matter where their background comes from. So it’s more just appreciation of the people that came before me, and the ability to continue to spread love and enjoy.”
JA: Ayo, it’s been a pleasure. We’re really happy as a club to have you here. We look forward to getting to know you better and seeing you give it all out in Black and Yellow in front of La Familia!”
AF: It’s a pleasure and I can’t wait to play in front of you all. Thank you!”
