Real San Jose came back to earn a 1-1 draw versus San Leandro to set up a massive road game next weekend at Oakland. If Real San Jose wins that game they will be the 8th seed in the UPSL Wild West Division. Last week RSJ defeated San Leandro in a regularly scheduled match and this week was a makeup game from week one which was a rain out.
RSJ saw the services of Benji Joya and Albert Munante, and that sparked an excellent performance that San Jose could easily have won. Joya was a constant threat, and Munante scored the goal. Unfortunately, star midfielder Borja Moya was not in the RSJ line up. Below is a story written by Chris Arellano explaining the plight of Moya, who was a mainstay for RSJ the last three years.
SAN JOSE – Sometimes fans see a soccer player score a goal or make a dramatic tackle and think they know the player.
But whatever emotion Real San Jose midfielder Borja Moya has shown on the field this season does not tell the dramatic off-the-field struggle he has waged to protect his career and life.
Moya probably has played his last game for RSJ as his visa is on the verge of expiring. Barring a dramatic last-minute job offer, one of the team’s mainstays will have to return to his native Spain by June 15.
It is a blow for the 31-year-old player who has worked as a marketing manager for a public relations and communication firm. He paid taxes, maintained a romantic relationship and been a community asset. He wants to stay and keep working for his firm and play for Real San Jose.
“You can imagine how the last month and a half has been for me,” Moya said, referring to the painful preparations he has had to make to brace himself for his departure.
Now, Maya who once played youth football against current La Liga stars such as Adrian Gonzalez, of Malaga, and “Coke” Andujar Moreno, of Levante, while growing up in Madrid, is braced for a return home.
It has been a race against the calendar ever since the government extended his trainee visa for six months in December.
Moya said the only way he can avoid leaving the country is if a different employer hires him.
“The important point is that my company, where I am working now, would like to hire me. But they can’t since the law says that the same host company which hosted a J1 trainee employee cannot apply for an H-1 (work visa) for that person after the end of the program,” Moya said.
The trainee visa program, which Mayo is currently part of, is designed for foreign professionals to come to the United States to sample American culture and learn how to acquire practical American experience in their chosen occupational field, according to the State Department’s Exchange Visitor Program’s web page.
If he leaves, it is possible Moya could return to work in the United States again. But he said he would have to wait two years before applying to do so.
In another era, things might not have gotten to this point.
Historically, people in Moya’s situation might have obtained a H-1 visa. But the Trump administration has tightened the requirements for people like him to receive a H-1 visa. The newer requirements, Moya said, favor tech workers.
Faced with leaving the country, Moya said the “most frustrating thing” has been to find how powerless he has been in the struggle to remain in California.
Moya does not hold himself out as a special target of political abuse, simply as a pawn in the larger changes that have affected the federal government’s visa policy in the post-September 11 era.
Moya said he has enjoyed playing for Real San Jose.
He said he was very impressed by the 3,000 fans who turned out for an away game in Arizona in his third game for the club. As impressive as that turnout was, Moya said that road trip underlined the difference in the Spanish and American soccer culture. He said it would not have been necessary to travel to play a game in Spain.
Now, he reluctantly faces another road trip back home.