Soccer Brothers Jorge, left, and Fernando Martinez held an impromptu juggling act after playing with their club team Sunday at the Spartan gas station in Redwood City. Calif. Immediately, his eyes and feet tell him nothing has changed since he started playing soccer here 14 years ago. The playing area, covered with worn, greenish-yellow patches of crab grass is still as hard as a rock.
Soccer balls take high bounces off the ground and players fall hard on it.
If you play on it too long, your feet will start to hurt, Martinez said. Hoover Park has been like that since I ve remembered it. But the concrete-like surface never stopped Jorge Martinez from playing on the softball field turned soccer field. A handful of vendors clutter the field, selling anything from ice cream to bags filled with fresh fruit and topped with lime juice. On Sunday, soccer teams cover Hoover Park s iron surface.