Personally, I have found futsal a lot better than indoor soccer because one very fundamental thing is lost when you use those walls to keep the ball in play: the skill to control and play the wing rather than just kicking a ball against the wall, the skill to score by making a good shot rather than just scoring from a bounce off the wall. People can still enjoy a non-stop action game in futsal when this is play indoors anyway. Another important factor is the type of ball. The one is used in indoor soccer is more bouncy than the one used in futsal, which makes the skill, the technique, and the play flow to show more in the latter.
The first experience was a short tournament organized by our secondary school (Lázaro Garza Ayala School), where our team, Atlético Perrero, lost the final in a very exciting match.
During my sophomore year at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), Chendo, one my best friends, invited me to play for his team, Restos, in the Facultad de Ciencias Físico-Matemáticas (FCFM) annual futsal tournament. Our team was very good, but there were also other excellent players and teams in the league. Another highlight was the rivalries that were fired up all the time. We played together for four seasons (changing the team's name to Emanuelos, Tacos Chava, and Último Suspiro, and trading a few players). We grabbed one title, and lost two finals in those great years.
I also played on the 1985 Nogalar League, a tournament held in the Summer with team from around my neighborhood. Our squad, Nacional, had a tremendous season, but fall just short of taking the title.
Then, it came the historical moment. We decided to take our futsal joy to a higher level. We formed a team with the best players of the FCFM league, and joined the UDA Futsal League, played on weeknights. We were very excited about that since it was the first time to try ourselves out against top-notch futsal teams. The UDA league was very competitive with such power houses like Neurodiagnóstico, Sucho, Linda Vista, FOD, and later, Econopartes, Atlante, Italia, and so on. Even some ex-professional players used to play there.
With a great deal of thrill, we made our debut in August 1985. Since the very first moment, that would change our lives forever. Our participation exceeded all our expectations, perhaps not in achievements at the beginning, but the excitement, the crowds attending the games, the great teams, the drama, the glory, the atmosphere, everything was in there.
The first season we were partially supported by the FCFM (registration costs were expensive and, after all, we were just miserable students without a job), so our team name was FCFM. The third season we use the name Papelería Anáhuac, thanks to the financial support of such business. I guess that brought us some luck since we got our first trophy by winning the Third Place match against arch-rival Linda Vista. Thereafter, Dínamo was the name that would become a trademark in the futsal community at UDA.
It took us about two and a half years (and perhaps that made it even more special), but we finally reached the apotheotic moment of a league championship, in January 1988. At that time, we were no longer all FCFM graduates, we had in our team some of our friends from our Sunday futbol teams. In the ensuing three years we would grab a league-record, 3 league titles and 1 cup title. The last one coming in December 1990, just before I left the team because of the start of my graduate studies at UT-Austin. It was an unbelievable season. However, I would come back the following May (after I finished my first semester at UT-Austin), to play the final regular season match and the playoffs in our way to our fifth title. That was, by the way, the end of Dínamo. Injuries, people going abroad to do graduate work, and other circumstances marked the end of an era. After almost six years, and 13 seasons Dínamo's farewell was as nostalgic as breath-taking.I have no words to describe what those years meant to me. Perhaps the fact that we had to suffer and go the extra mile to achieve our success made those years something very unique and appreciated by all of us. My best friends, the people who used to support us and cheer us up in the stands, the great matches against the great teams, the glorious moments, the tearful ones, all the memories are deep down in my heart. Time will say if we will be able to reunite, some day.
At the time of my departure it was hard to say if we would be able to reunite some day. However, the milacre happened. After an eight-and-a-half-year stint at Texas that included graduate and postdoc work, a marriage, and two kids, Roger returned, and so did Dínamo. If we had those tears nine years back, we also had them at the very special reunion in a magic night in November 1999. Same old folks, nine years older, but perhaps nine years wiser. This night was very exciting to all of us.
| Team | Dates | Highlights |
| Dínamo | Jl/2007 - Oc/2011 Nv/1999 - Jl/2005 Ag/1985 - My/1991 |
|
| Nacional | Jl/1985 - Ag/1985 | |
| Restos | Sp/1984 - Mr/1987 | |
| Atlético Perrero | Jn/1981 |
And of course I enjoyed it too. I got to meet some of my best friends this way. In April 1992, Dínamo TORSO, mostly formed by folks from my graduate program (Texas Operations Research Student Organization), we played in the 1st Indoor Soccer Tournament. It was a double elimination one-weekend tournament. We played well, but were kicked out in four games.
Before the 1993 tournament, I met Alfredo Díaz and Germán Gómez, who later would become great pals of mine. Later, there would come René Mariscal, Juan Solís, and some others from our futbol team. We would played together ever since until graduation in all of the UT-Austin tournaments, except for the 1994 season when Germán played in another team. Dínamo made the playoffs three out of three, but went as far as the quarter-finals. We had a very good team and unforgettable moments as well.
The last two years, the indoor soccer tournament was cancelled because of facility remodeling. Instead there was an informal (no referees) one-night single elimination tournament. We played those tournaments under the name of Inter and Cruz Azul, respectively.
While in Houston, I got to play for SP United, in the Coed Division. We grabbed all the honors including the league title, but found not much of a challenge so I left the team after one season.
| Team | Dates | Highlights |
| SP United | Ap/1998 - Jn/1998 | |
| Dínamo | My/1992 - My/1995 |