This fall, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School senior Jason Lages helped lead the Island soccer team to the Division 3 state semifinals. In the process he broke the school record for goals scored in a single season — 35 goals, with 17 assists.
Quiet and modest, Jason, who expects to graduate this spring, would like to move forward with his dreams of a professional soccer career, but he is realistic enough to know that a college education will prepare him for life on and off the athletic field.
In a recent conversation with The Times, part of which was conducted in Portuguese, Jason and his mom, Wanderlânia “Lâninha” Lages, a native of Brazil, spoke about soccer, their lives in the United States and Brazil, and what the future might hold.
Jason inherited his passion for soccer and his skills from his mother, who played soccer at a time when few Brazilian women played the sport, viewed as a sport for men, especially in her small hometown.
“I was born with the gift of knowing how to play soccer,” Ms. Lages said. “My father wasn’t aware of my desire to play nor my talent, and I had to hide it from him when I played. I always wanted to have a son who would become a great soccer player, and when I was pregnant with Jason, I could sense that he would be one.”
–Photo by Sam Moore
Wanderlânia and her husband Almir moved to Martha’s Vineyard in the late ’80s to take advantage of work opportunities on the Island, where Jason was born. By the time he was 2 years old, he was kicking a ball under the watchful eye of his mother.
He and his mother, returned to Brazil when he was eight-years-old because she wanted him to learn to read and write in Portuguese. Following a stay of one year, they returned to the Island.
They returned to Brazil again when he was 14, to be with family and purchase a home. That stay provided Jason with an opportunity to play for the soccer club Clube Atlético Bragantino, in Bragança Paulista, a small town in the state of São Paulo.
“Even though I knew how to play before I began training, playing for this team, I got better,” Jason said. “The training was very intense and rigid.”
Fifty boys tried out for the team. Ultimately only 18 made the cut, including Jason. “There were days that we didn’t even touch the ball; it was just physical exercise,” he said.
Mother and son also received an introduction to the hard reality of the Brazilian sports machine, where money can be used to secure a spot on a club roster, even for talented players.
“In Brazil, if you come from poverty, being a talented soccer player can be one of the ways in which these boys can break the cycle of poverty,” said Lâninha. “The sad reality is that some businessmen who know how much money is generated from soccer will take advantage of these boys and their families.”
When Jason was playing for the team in São Paulo, a businessman offered to secure Jason a position at a recognized professional Brazilian team for a sum of money. “I declined, as I know and I will always bet on my son’s talent, and fortunately, although it is his dream, that is not his only opportunity in life,” Lâninha said.
Laninha said money has affected and corrupted Brazilian soccer programs.
“Nonetheless,” Jason said, “I love soccer, and I will always support Brazil, because watching them play was what made me fall in love with the game, and without that love I would not know who I would be today.”
Like many Brazilians, Jason has “o time do meu coração,” a favorite team. Jason’s soccer team is Santos, a football club from São Paulo. His idols are the Brazilian soccer players Robinho and Ronaldinho Gaúcho, who, he said, “play with their hearts,” and have played as part of the Brazilian team in World Cup competition.
At 15, Jason moved with his mother to Florida, where a trainer from Brazil introduced him to a trainer for Florida’s Navarre United Futbol Club. If he had remained in Brazil, Jason would have faced a choice about whether to be a soccer player or attend school. Home in the United States, he said, he can do both.
Jason’s father, Almir Lages, was always a source of support and encouragement. In Jason’s sophomore year, he was playing in a tournament with the Gulf Coast Texans when his father died of a heart attack on Martha’s Vineyard. Jason and his mother returned to the Island.
“My life on the Island has been very good,” Jason said. “I love it here; it’s the place that I feel at home and a place where I feel welcome. I’ve had a lot of support from various people because of soccer. It’s always good to hear someone say they love watching you play or that they’re going to miss watching you.”
Throughout his high school playing career, Ms. Lages could usually be seen shouting advice from the sidelines. She recalled one time when a referee wanted to remove her from the soccer field.
“It was a summer game in Vineyard Haven, and the referee told me that if I didn’t contain my excitement, I would be asked to leave,” Ms. Lages said. “But now everyone has gotten used to how passionate I get at the games.”
Jason also found he did not have to leave the Island to find good coaches. He said MVRHS soccer Coach Esteban Aranzabe “brought out the best in me and guided me through everything, even through the college process.”
“My most unforgettable memory is when we won the semifinals last year,” Jason said. “We had lost to Medway the previous year, and we were undefeated for 18 games and then lost to them, and were out of the tournament. The next year they had been undefeated, and then we won.”
Coach Esteban Aranzabe has equally high regard for his player. “I’ve coached Jason since he was 9 years old,” Coach Aranzabe said. “I wish him the best. I love him like my son.”
Jason said that no matter what the future holds, his heart will have a special place for Martha’s Vineyard.
“I’ve made lifelong friendships and learned a lot from living here, and that to be successful depends only on you,” he said. “In five years, I see myself with my degree in something that is still unknown, with great achievements in not only my collegiate soccer career but also with academics. I’ve recently committed to Assumption College, and I hope to leave my mark there and represent the Island to the best of my ability.”
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