Junior Franco Barba has found his home at Eastern as the backbone of the men’s soccer team: the goalkeeper. 

Barba grew up in a small city in Uruguay. When he was 12 years old, he got a call from Peñarol, the largest professional team in Uruguay. Peñarol wanted Barba to join its academy in the capital city of Montevideo where Barba would train to become a professional level soccer player. 

“I started to travel three hours to the capital by bus,” Barba said. “I practiced there, would come back, go to school, then sleep and repeat everything again.” 

While with Peñarol, Barba became a national champion with the team when he was 15 years old, getting a taste of victory at a young age. 

Barba would join a new team in Uruguay at 16 before hearing about opportunities in the United States to go to school and play soccer. 

“Me and my family always thought that academics are really important,” Barba said. “Soccer is unpredictable because one day you are at the top but the next day, you never know.” 

Barba most recently played for San Joaquin Delta Community College in California. 

“It was amazing,” Barba said. “I fell in love with the place.” 

In California, Barba shined as the starting goalkeeper. Individually, he was named to the All-Region squad and led the team to becoming conference champions while recording seven saves in the final match. 

However, it wasn’t all successful for Barba. Sometime after he became a champion with Peñarol, he started racking up several injuries that would hurt his confidence in his ability to perform at a high level. 

“Many times, I was saying, ‘This is the end,’” Barba said. “‘I give up.’” 

Injuries are a heavy burden on anyone, but for athletes, their livelihood depends on their body being in pristine shape. Injuries jeopardize that perfect condition and are physically taxing on the body as it works to heal itself. 

What is often overlooked is the mental burden that injuries produce. 

Barba was one of those athletes plagued with the fear that he would never execute the same moves as he could pre-injury without hurting himself again.  

“I was thinking about all the years ago, many times waking up at 5 in the morning to travel to the capital, then come back and study. I didn’t want to throw away everything,” Barba explained. “So, I kept going and worked with my sports psychologist to make it work.” 

After his season in California, Barba got a call from the EIU men’s soccer program offering him a scholarship to be the starting goalkeeper.  

The men’s team has seen a lot of changes throughout the last offseason. Barba is one of the 25 new players that new head coach Ruy Vaz has brought to the program. 

Many of the new players, including Barba, are international players. This includes eight players from Japan and six players from Brazil. Barba said he has had little trouble getting along with his new teammates. 

“I think I feel really comfortable with my teammates,” Barba said. “Of course, there is a lot of Latin Americans, and I feel comfortable with them.” 

There has been lots of talk among the players and coaches about changing the culture of the men’s soccer program, a program that has struggled in recent years to consistently win.  

Barba is taking an approach of positivity to help uplift his fellow teammates and elevate their play. 

“I know that some players need that tough love approach, but I know that for a lot of players, it doesn’t work,” Barba said. 

Barba isn’t only there for his teammates during games. He tries to bring a positive presence to the team to keep morale up and keep his teammates confident in their abilities. 

“Everyone is the same here,” Barba said. “I’m always talking with [the players] and saying, ‘Don’t give up, you are a good player,’ because they need it.” 

Despite being strangers to him before this season, Barba holds his team in high regard. 

“I truly believe in the team,” Barba said. “I think we have talented players, we just have to keep working hard because everyone is new.” 

That confidence goes both ways between Barba and his teammates. Senior midfielder Casey Welage, one of the only returning players for the Panthers, spoke about the faith he and the team have in Barba. 

Welage admitted that having someone other than Chad Smith, who was Eastern’s starter the last few years, has been different. Welage has been playing with Smith since he was an 11-year-old, he said, but his confidence in Barba has grown as the season progresses. 

“Having a new face back there behind me was strange at first,” Welage said. “But, knowing that when they breach our final third, it’s more secure, I’m very confident with him back there.” 

The coaching staff also holds Barba to a high standard and has a large amount of trust in his performance. 

“He’s been amazing, one of the leadership guys,” Vaz said. “In the moments we are struggling, he is always there. I feel safe with him as our goalkeeper.” 

 Jacksen Adkins can be reached at 581-2812 or jdadkins2@eiu.edu.