Hartford Athletic will play their final home game of the season on Saturday. It’ll mark the end of year four for the club. Four years of up and downs: four different head coaches, losing seasons, a trip to the playoffs, a pandemic. But one constant through it all has been team captain, Danny Barrera.
“It wasn't what I expected when I came in. I came in on a tryout. You know, 28 years old and now I’m 32,” Barrera said. “Once I got here, it just felt like home.”
When Barrera takes the field for Saturday’s final match, it will be his 100th in the Green and Blue - a first for anyone on the team.
“It wasn't going to be a four or five-year thing, we weren't sure what it was," Barrera said. “I've never been with a club that long.”
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He’s had his fair share of memorable moments. There’s his assist on the club’s first-ever goal, or his goal which as come to be known as the “Immaculate Deflection."
But ask Barrera and his favorite memory is Hartford’s first home match.
“The first game at Dillon Stadium was incredible,” Barrera said. “I saw the fans, the sports fans here are amazing. This state is a soccer state.”
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The fans had him hooked, but he had four other reasons to make this move stick. Barrera and his wife have four children who quickly took to life in Connecticut.
“They kind of made it their home so fast, I didn't really even have time to adjust,” Barrera said.
Of course, he did adjust. Not just on the field, but the California native leaned in to all the things that any New Englander knows is just a part of life.
“Wrapping myself up in every layer I had and borrowing my neighbor's snow blower and snow blowing my driveway,” said Barrera, who added that he had never seen a snow blower in his life before then. “Now I have my own snow blower.”
He said that’s when he knew he was “all in." But just to make sure, he started coaching his son’s sixth grade basketball team, too.
“They didn't have a coach and I said ‘I’ll do it, I’ll coach the team.' It was fun, I’m probably going to do it again," he said.
They say home is where the heart is and for Barrera, now, that’s Hartford.
“Hartford is my family. Hartford Athletic is my family,” Barrera said. “I think for me it's just been a massive growing experience. To be somewhere that long and to see all the changes and help Hartford just do the best that we can.”
Barrera said he’s planning to be back with Athletic for a fifth season next year. He’s also working on getting his coaching license with the hopes he’ll be able to contribute on a pro soccer staff.
