The guys involved with MAN v FAT Soccer at West Palm Beach in Florida might only be coming toward the end of their first season, but they’re all in on the MAN v FAT experience.
They’ve already shifted over 150lbs in the first nine weeks of being on the program and have formed a strong community under the tutelage of their coach Leah Mraz.
One of the players leading the way is John Gerken, whose hard work has seen him lose 23lbs at the time of writing this article.
58-year-old John told us: “I started playing soccer a little later than most, at the age of 10. That first season I played goalkeeper, and somehow I ended up there for the rest of my career! At 6’4”, who would have thought I’d be a good goalkeeper! That said, I’ve always considered myself a disgruntled forward!
“I played goalkeeper in college and was a four-year starter. After college, around 1995, I met a group of Brits in Miami and played with them for about eight years. They introduced me to Manchester United, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
“I started coaching when I was 25 years old and have coached players from age four all the way up to the college level—and everything in between. Coaching has always brought me a tremendous amount of enjoyment. I love giving back to the game that has given me so much.”
Father of two John – who has two children (Jack, 21 and Leah, 19) had found himself struggling with his weight and passed 350lbs before discovering MAN v FAT.
However, the combination of soccer and community has been a crucial factor in him rediscovering his sporting mojo and he’s all set to build on his early successes on the program.
He added: “I got married in 2002 and moved to Pennsylvania. I divorced in 2018 and my weight was one of the issues that contributed to that. I’ve struggled with depression at times throughout my life, and when things aren’t going well, I tend to be a stress eater.
“At my heaviest a few years ago, I weighed 355 pounds. I wasn’t exercising, I wasn’t socially active, and I had lost a lot of my confidence. But through all of that, I still had soccer. Soccer has always been the love of my life, yet at that point I didn’t feel like I could play anymore because of my weight and my age.
“Then one day I saw an ad on Instagram for MAN v FAT. I immediately thought, this league is for me, and I signed up right away. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time.
“I’ve always had a hard time making new friends, but the league has introduced me to people just like me – people who understand the journey and can relate to what I’m going through. I’m making friends, and we even meet up outside of the weekly sessions just to play and spend time together.”
For anyone who has followed MAN v FAT’s story for a while, the peer to peer accountability and camaraderie is key to the program’s success and John has found that to be really important for his own buy-in to what takes place each week.
“One of the things I love most about MANvFAT is the accountability,” he continued. “In the past, I struggled to hold myself accountable for my weight—not for myself, not for my wife, not even for my kids or family. But now I find myself making better choices because of my teammates – guys I had never met before joining the league. I don’t want to let them down.
“I’m also a competitive person by nature. The structure of the league, and the way your off-the-field weight loss helps your team on the field, fits my personality perfectly.
“So yeah – I love the league and everything it stands for!”
Want to join John in action?
You can sign up for the West Palm Beach league on our MAN v FAT Soccer website. There are new leagues being added all of the time, so take a look around!
