Hat Trick complex scores with OKC soccer fans

At Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas in Oklahoma City players from all walks of life are coming together to play the beautiful game.
From youth leagues to divisions restricted to players over thirty years of age, from co-ed matches to highly competitive men’s upper-division play one thing is certain: if you enjoy playing soccer, there’s a place at Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas for you.
“We have over 30 different leagues going at the moment, counting all of our men’s, women’s, and co-ed divisions,” said complex manager Rasool Faily.
Faily said that each division is structured to mimic the promotion and relegation system employed by European domestic leagues. If a team finishes near the top of its current league in any given season, they are promoted to the next division up the skill ladder. If they finish at the bottom, they are demoted.
“This helps to ensure that everybody is playing at a level near where they should be,” said Faily. “Some of our leagues get very competitive, and some are much more laid back... However seriously you wish to take the game, there are always people out there like you wanting to compete.”
Faily said he has been managing at Hat Trick for twelve years, and that in that time business has increased many times over. “We started with only ten or eleven leagues,“ he said. “Now there’s hundreds of people playing here every day year-round. It’s really been amazing to see.”
Faily said managing the three-field complex year-round can be exhausting at times, but that he is glad he gets to share his love for soccer with hundreds of fellow enthusiasts.
“Some days I simply walk around the complex and watch as many different games as I can,” he said. “I actually get paid to watch soccer some days. How cool is that?”
Brett Vinyard, goalkeeper for the Norman-based team FC Trout, said he first heard about Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas from a friend, and has been hooked since his first game.
“I have always loved playing soccer, but in my college days I discovered that I also love smoking cigarettes and drinking beer,” Vinyard Said. “Playing [at Hat Trick] lets me do both.”
Vinyard said that the size of the walled-in fields is perfect for a group of seven or eight friends to come together and field a team.
“Playing here feels like a cross between soccer and hockey,” Vinyard said. “There’s a goalie on the field all the time, along with five other players… You’re allowed to substitute a player on the bench for a player on the field at any time, a lot like hockey, and the walls around the fields keep the game moving fast... None of the guys on my team are in peak condition, so being able to run to the sidelines and take a break whenever you get winded is absolutely necessary.”
Vinyard said that his team’s name stems from Trout Street in Norman Oklahoma, where he and a few of his current teammates once shared a house. For Vinyard, being able to name your own team is just one more thing that makes playing at Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas enjoyable.
“We get our new schedule each season and just laugh sometimes,” Vinyard said. “It’s a lot of fun when you get into a rivalry with a bunch of guys whose team name is ‘Tacos Tacos Tacos‘ or ‘Team Funkybunch’”
Vinyard said he looks forward to his next game all week long, and that as long as he can he’ll compete at Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arenas.
“This place is just filled with people leading regular lives and coming together for one reason,” he said. “We all love soccer.”