Inter Miami’s Nealis brushing up on Spanish, Ulloa working on degree during time off
Dylan Nealis never realized when he took four years of Spanish at Massapequa High in New York that it would come in so handy as he begins his Major League Soccer career with Inter Miami.
His head coach, Diego Alonso, most of the assistant coaches and at least half of his new teammates are Spanish speakers. Training sessions are conducted largely in Spanish, with English-speaking coaches and players translating. The music of choice in the locker room and team bus is Latin, typically Puerto Rican stars Bad Bunny and Ozuna.
With extra time on his hands during the coronavirus stay-at-home directives, Nealis decided to brush up on his Spanish and become more fluent.
“I figured why waste all this time we have, so I downloaded the Duolingo app,” said Nealis, a rookie right back and former Georgetown University captain. “My friends told me about it, so I gave it a shot and I’m enjoying it a lot. I took Spanish all four years high school and did pretty well. I never took it in college, and now I wish I did, especially because I ended up here.”
He said he has a decent base in the language, so he is using the app to refresh what he learned and add to his vocabulary. He spends time translating sentences and pronouncing phrases into his cellphone.
“I’m trying to stick with conversational phrases that will help me most on and off the field with my teammates and coaches,” he said. “When I was playing in academy in high school, we had a few Spanish-speaking players, but the main language was English. Here, there are more guys speaking Spanish.”
Bad Bunny, Ozuna help Nealis with Spanish
Nealis can recognize and understand most Spanish soccer terms after so many years in the sport, but he struggles to ask questions and converse with coaches and teammates. Fellow rookies Julian Carranza and Christian Makoun are among the team jokesters, and Nealis is trying to get to the point where he can understand Spanish humor.
“When coaches are talking about drills in Spanish, that’s pretty easy to pick up on; but when we’re 1v1, I’d like to have more fluid conversations,” he said. “We’ve got some really funny guys on the team, so I want to understand what they’re saying so I can get the jokes.”
In addition to the language app, Nealis made a Spanish playlist that he listens to on the drive to and from practice, and also in the Fort Lauderdale apartment he shares with Dylan Castanheira, a goalkeeper for Inter Miami’s USL team, Fort Lauderdale CF.
“Listening to Latin music helps me learn more words, too, and get a feel for the language,” Nealis said. “I am trying to learn some of the slang they use. I had heard those songs before from Colombian teammates in the locker room, but now I am trying to learn the words.”
Nealis roomed with Colombian defender Andres Reyes for Inter Miami’s first two road trips, and they each worked on their new language.
“Andres [Dylan was careful to pronounce it with a rolling “r”] has been trying to learn more English, so he’ll speak in a broken English sentence, and then I’ll do the same in Spanish,” Nealis said. “We bring out Google translate to clear things up. It’s a lot of fun.”
Ulloa works on college degree
Nealis’ teammate, midfielder Victor Ulloa, is also using the off time to educate himself. In addition to helping take care of his 15-month-old son Luca, he is taking online business classes through Southern New Hampshire University, a Major League Soccer partner. Ulloa is taking Sports Marketing 208 and Finance 320.
“’I’ve been doing it for a couple of years, and usually take one class at a time, but now I have more time, so I thought maybe I could take another class,” Ulloa said. “Whenever my son’s down for a nap, I take advantage and I try to do a little bit of schoolwork. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of, to get a degree, hopefully in Sports Management, so after I’m done playing, I’ll have something to fall back on.”
Ulloa, who is Mexican-American, said he is also trying to teach Luca Spanish whenever he can.
Both Nealis and Ulloa are staying in shape by following personalized training regimens sent to them by their coaches. Nealis does his running in a 100-yard-long alleyway near his apartment, and does lateral training and other drills in a parking lot across the street. He doesn’t own weights, so he is doing strength training with a pair of filled gallon water jugs. He bought a yoga mat and has been trying to increase his flexibility.
“This is by far the longest time I’ve been away from soccer, and it’s hard with the whole uncertainty of not knowing when we’ll return,” Nealis said. “I don’t think we’ll be playing for quite a while, so it’s a challenge to stay motivated and mentally sharp. We are all working hard on that.”
Ulloa added: “Obviously, I want to go back to work, I want to play soccer and I want our fans to come watch us play, but I think it’s more important now to listen to the professionals and the CDC so we can get over this. I’m a little bit nervous, anxious and wondering what’s going on. The most important thing is for everyone to stay healthy.”