Palm Trees

Beach Soccer Helped Zak Ibsen Beat Crystal Meth Addiction

Zak Ibsen played soccer in Germany, for the United States national team, and in Major League Soccer. He represented the United States as it attempted to qualify for this year’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai. But his life was nearly ruined by his addicted to crystal meth.

In a New York Times blog, Jack Bell tells the story of Ibsen, who explained that crystal meth helped end his Major League Soccer career in 2002, then left him homeless and living out of his van. He managed to stay clean long enough to play soccer for the United States in the 2006 and 2007 beach championships in Rio de Janeiro, but went back to the drugs that sent him into a downward spiral.

“I was not a good guy to have around,” Ibsen told Bell in a telephone interview from his home in San Francisco, where he lives now with his girlfriend and 2-year-old son. “I guess it’s kind of weird, because I have a part-time job at a brewery. But there’s no drinking and no drugs for me.”

The 37-year-old Santa Cruz native played on UCLA’s national championship team in 1990 and then went to Germany, playing for FC Saarbrücken and Bochum in 1993 and 1994. He participated in Major League Soccer since its inception in 1996, playing for New England, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Jose, and won championships with the Fire in 1998 and the Earthquakes in 2001.

Ibsen explained that he started “crossing the line” after 2001, and that San Jose coach Frank Yallop stuck with him in 2002 when he could have cut him loose. “There was a lot of drama and by the end of the season if was obvious that soccer was no longer a top priority for me,” he said. “In ’03 and ’04, I was out to lunch. I’d been gone for six months, I mean really gone.”

It was around this time that he succumbed to a “massive drug addiction” that left him basically homeless and living in his minivan. Crystal meth is very easy to become addicted to but very hard to quit.

After spending 60 days in rehab, he slowly started playing soccer on the beach with friends and people he played with in the past. As the game gained popularity around the world, FIFA took the tournament under its wing in 2005. Last year, for the first time, the finals were held outside of Brazil, in Marseille, France. This year it will be held in November in Dubai, but the US didn’t qualify.

“It was disappointing not to qualify,” Ibsen said. “I thought that us and Mexico were the two powerhouses, but on that day, we were upset. It would have been great to qualify because we could have gotten out the word about about beach soccer.”

Ibsen said he wanted to remain involved in the game as a player, coach, or both. “I came to realize that after all these years, all I ever wanted to do was play soccer,” he said. “It’s the only job, the only life skill I have. I really don’t know how to live life beyond soccer. It’s still the centerpiece, still the thing I’m most passionate about. I love to compete and I have unmistakable determination. I feel the most comfortable on any soccer field in the world.”

He continued, “There’s this connection with other players, an unspoken language. The game is such a joy and I’m so grateful to be able to play, because for years I didn’t. I couldn’t. Every time I step on the field—where I can express myself—it’s a blessing.”