Barnstormers Lance Goularte, Jose Rodriguez will play for Team
USA next week
HOLLISTER
Two members of the Central Coast Barnstormers will head to Mesquite, Nev., on Sunday to compete for Team USA, and will get the chance to relive Double Days one last time.
Hollister’s Lance Goularte and Jose Rodriguez will be practicing twice-a-day for five days next week as part of Team USA’s semi-pro football team. The nationally-selected squad plays about four games a year, and they will host Great Britain on Saturday, Dec. 6.
It will mark the second game both Goularte and Rodriguez have dressed for Team USA, which is coming off a 35-17 loss to Team Austria in April.
“Not only is it an honor to be asked to play for Team USA, but it is also a good way to keep in shape,” said Goularte, who played for Team USA last year when they took on Team Canada.
Goularte, who plays strong safety for the Barnstormers, will have plenty of competition next week in Nevada as he’ll be jockeying for the position with another player who was recently cut from the Seattle Seahawks practice squad.
“We just started practice for the Barnstormers, so we’re out running around,” Goularte said. The Hollister resident noted that although he’s in the best shape of his life, he is eyeing retirement from the game after this season, and he wants to be sure his last year is memorable.
“I just want to make sure I’m not gonna have any regrets,” he said. “[Team USA] is gonna be an advantage because I’ll be in gear before anyone else, I’ll get a game in before anyone else. If anything, it’ll help me.”
Team USA is an invite-only team, and its coaching staff travels around the country, pinpointing certain needs, certain positions. Goularte and Rodriguez were spotted at an All-Star game while playing for the Barnstormers.
“It was a long time, since college, that I practiced twice-a-day,” said Rodriguez, 32, who previously played for Team USA in March down in Mexico City. “It gets you back into the mix … It takes its toll, but it’s fun. It’s worth it.”
Rodriguez, standing at 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, said he can still hold his own on the offensive line. He’s entering his 10th year on the Barnstormers, and although he’s excited with the new coaching staff the team has, he too is considering retirement.
“It’s tough to leave this game,” Rodriguez said. “It’s something that is a passion of mine.”
If it is their last year, though, both Goularte and Rodriguez would like to go out with a bang.
“I just want to look back and say I did my best,” Rodriguez said. “That I never quit and gave my best, whether it was high school, college or semi-pro.”
