When he was just six years-old, Ethan Zohn was already on a trajectory to an eventual professional career between the sticks.
"Both my older brothers played soccer," the busy Zohn recently told Timbers.com. "They would take me out into the backyard and just blast balls at my face, so I basically ended up as a goalkeeper."
That was only the beginning of a soccer journey that took Zohn from one edge of America to the other side of the world. But had it not been for one spur-of-the-moment decision, Zohn might have never become a professional athlete at all.
"I moved to Hawaii after college and I saw an advertisement in the paper for tryouts for the professional soccer team called the Hawaii Tsunami," he explained. "I went and tried out as a walk on and I made it. Then I was like, 'Alright, screw the rest of my life. I'm going to be a professional soccer player!'"
Zohn played for the Tsunami, and later the Cape Cod Crusaders of the old USISL, at a time when America's first division, MLS, was still just in its infancy.
While Zohn enjoyed his experience as a professional soccer player in America, he yearned to live in a place where soccer was embedded into the culture, where it was a part of everyday life. He dreamed of playing in front of large, passionate crowds.
For the adventurous Zohn, however, it wasn't good enough to just go to Europe. Instead, Zohn bought a plane ticket and headed for Zimbabwe.
"I went over, unsigned," he said. "I went through a trial period, but when I made the first team it was just absolutely incredible, walking into a stadium and there are 35 or 40 thousand people."
"I guess soccer just opened my eyes to a whole new world," he continued. "I knew soccer was popular. I knew it was the world's sport. But I really didn't experience that living here in the United States. Moving to Africa really showed me the power of soccer."
After retiring from the game, Zohn got the next big opportunity of his life, participating as a contestant on the third season of reality television show mega hit, Survivor.
During the game, Zohn won a reward challenge, which permitted him to go offsite and experience village life in Kenya, where the show was being filmed.
At one point, Zohn and the crew stopped at a local hospital, where Zohn started an impromptu pickup game with a group of children there. Zohn remembers laughing and having the time of his life playing with the kids, using soccer to communicate.
Confused by the crowd of kids, some of the Survivor staff asked one of the nurses why so many children were hanging out in the parking lot of a hospital.
"Well, these are kids that are HIV positive," the nurse replied.
The experience, along with those from his playing days in Zimbabwe, stuck with Zohn and he decided on the spot that he wanted to do something about HIV after the Survivor series had wrapped.
Zohn would go on to win Survivor Africa and its $1 million prize. He later used some of that money to help found an organization, Grassroot Soccer, that has since blossomed into an organization spanning 24 countries.
Soccer, Zohn believes, can be a force for tremendous good and Grassroot Soccer has proven it.
"Soccer gives you instant access into a community," he said. "It has the ability to break down cultural stereotypes. It brings people together. There's really no other sport like that. No matter where you go anywhere in the world, that's the power of soccer. It has a power to unite people in ways that little else can."
And it's not just international. Each year, Portland plays host to the Portland Barefoot 3v3, where thousands of people from across the Portland area come together to play pickup and raise money and awareness about HIV/AIDS. The Timbers and Thorns FC Stand Together community outreach platform through their Global Assists program has also provided soccer balls for Grassroot Soccer that were sent to Mozambique, Tanzania and Guyana.
Today, Zohn is astonished by the growth of the game in the U.S. and the culture that has sprung up around it. He remembers the tiny crowds that came to watch him play and can hardly believe it when he sees the crowds in places like Portland and the coverage that comes with it.
"Growing up, on Saturday afternoons I could watch the Bundesliga for half an hour on some obscure channel," he said. "Now there's FOX [Sports Network], ESPN, and NBC Sports."
He singled out Portland for its tremendous fan support.
"Portland's obviously one of the best examples in the league," he said. "You guys started as [USL] and now moved to MLS. Your fan support is probably the best in the league at this point. It's incredible."
"I think that's just a testament to the league that people can become invested in their team and know their team will be here next year and the league will be here next year," he continued."
"The teams are working together with the fans. That says a lot."
Ethan Zohn will be speaking February 22, 2015 at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center about his journey as a pro athlete, his experience on Survivor, and his battles with cancer. For more information and to buy tickets for this event, go here.
