Florida’s IMG Academy, home to many of the world’s best teenage athletes, is this ecosystem of ego.
About a decade ago, coach John Hackworth visited with the U.S. National youth soccer program. He’d heard of some standout players who attended IMG, notably one kid with a funny first name.
“So I’m having lunch with some of the coaches in this old-school cafeteria, like, tables shoved together, everybody on top of each other,†Hackworth said. “And in walks this kid who is just the loudest, most high-energy. And it’s loud in there — you can imagine how many people are there, maybe 100, and everyone’s talking. And in walks this kid, 13 or 14 at the time, and he is the loudest one of all. And — the minute he walks in, everybody else kind of quiets down and looks over. People are like, ‘Oh, that’s Indy,’ or, ‘Indy’s here.’ And I’m like, ‘Is that Indiana Vassilev?’ And they’re like, ‘Yep, that’s Indy.’
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“And that kind of epitomizes Indy’s personality to this day.â€
Now 23, the soccer player named after the titular character in “Indiana Jones†is a midfielder for ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC. And this guy is a goofball’s goofball. Yes, he’s extremely talented — he scored in City’s most recent game — but he complements his on-field confidence with his off-field charisma. His personality is as loud as his voice. His sense of humor is clever and cutting and contagious. He’s self-assured, sure, but also self-aware and even self-deprecating.
“A lot of what Indy does is different, compared to the normal person,†teammate Tim Parker said.
This is the guy who sports a handlebar mustache. The guy who attended a Parker news conference and asked a question as if he were a journalist.
The guy who yearns to sing karaoke — “The microphone,†Vassilev said, “is not safe.†The guy who, during a sit-down interview, couldn’t think of his hometown karaoke bar, so he literally called his friend to get the name.
The guy who acknowledged a teammate’s high-and-tight haircut by saluting.
The guy who brings so much energy to everything that City coach Bradley Carnell said, “He even makes chess exciting.†The guy who talks trash in every competition possible, notably table-tennis, to get in opponents’ heads.
“Kyle Hiebert,†Vassilev admitted of his City SC teammate, “is one guy you can’t chirp. He’s very straight-faced. But I do have a very small apartment inside Kyle’s head. A small piece of real estate, maybe like a 500-square-foot apartment. In everybody else’s, I have a mansion in there.â€
Our town has its share of delightful athletes who play for the Cardinals and Blues and even the Battlehawks, but City SC’s Vassilev, I say anyway, has the best personality in ºüÀêÊÓƵ sports.
“If people are feeling down or feeling sad, three minutes with Indy and you’re happy again,†ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel said. “So he is a very important piece for our (locker room) as well because he is the good spirit. He’s this funny character. And on top of that, he’s a great player.â€
‘You have to find the light’
As we sat down at The Annex Coffee and Foods in Webster Groves, I pointed out to Vassilev that many written profiles describe the writer’s meetup with the celebrity.
“Tom Cruise,†I joked as an example, “walked in wearing a black jacket and a charcoal gray T-shirt and sipped a latte ...â€
Vassilev looked down at his plate and deadpanned: “Indiana ordered a huge brownie.â€
Vassilev’s parents — Dencho and Margarita — hail from Bulgaria but moved to America when Dencho signed to play college soccer in Mobile, Alabama. Later, the Vassilevs settled in Savannah, Georgia, where Dencho played professional indoor soccer for the now-defunct Savannah Rug Ratz (come to think of it, if Indiana could just hit a curveball, he’d fit in perfectly with the popular Savannah Bananas, who are baseball’s barnstorming answer to the Harlem Globetrotters).
As a teen, Indiana played at numerous levels for coach Hackworth and the U.S. youth national team, including a U-17 squad along with ºüÀêÊÓƵ native Josh Sargent. Vassilev then headed to England. He proceeded to play four games in the Premier League with Aston Villa and played on loan for numerous clubs, including Inter Miami of Major League Soccer.
In the fall of 2022, Vassilev was back home down South. He was shopping at Bass Pro Shops — Indy has many passionate pastimes, from golf to the iPad game Parchisi STAR to fishing.
He was shopping for shrimp lures.
There, he received a call from Hackworth. The coach and player, forever friendly, texted occasionally over the years. But never a call.
“So I’m like, ‘Yo, what’s up, Coach Hack! I’m at Bass Pro Shops!’†Vassilev recalled. “Just super-casual. And he’s like, “Hi, um, I’ve got you on speakerphone. I’m with the new ºüÀêÊÓƵ City head coach Bradley Carnell, and he wants to talk with you. And I’m like, ‘Ohhhhh. Hello coach, how are you doing?’â€
Sure enough, Hackworth was on the staff of the new ºüÀêÊÓƵ club, which wanted to select Vassilev in the MLS expansion draft.
The coaches got themselves a good one. Vassilev has since started most games and, with his plucky 5-foot-8 frame, is a pest defensively and a force offensively.
He’s fit in since the first day, when he sat down at a meeting right next to 6-foot-6 goalkeeper Ben Lundt. Asked by a coach why he was sitting there, Vassilev said to laughs: “I have to be friends with the tallest guy on the team.â€
“For me, one of the biggest things is: I love the camaraderie between teammates,†Vassilev said between bites of his huge brownie. “Everyone’s involved and you can have a laugh. Sure, I’m going to be serious. We are serious most of the time. ... But in a 10-month season, you have to enjoy it, right? You have to find the light. Find fun in the small things. And that’s what I try to contribute. ...
“I love being in a position to lift people up. I love the team aspect. I love playing jokes. I love, like, can I cuss here? I love giving (expletive). I love taking (expletive). I love that environment — it makes it so much healthier than when people are stepping on eggshells around each other.â€
‘He would do anything for you’
At The Annex, Vassilev got out his phone to share a photo of his nephew.
It was his sister’s dog.
Earlier, he had described his sister, Vanessa, as “awesome.â€
“And that’s my nephew right here. His name is Hugo,†he said. “He’s a mini schnauzer. He’s also awesome.â€
Vanessa lives in L.A. She works in fashion. He calls her every single day to talk. And on game day, he makes a FaceTime call so she can see — and critique — the outfit he plans on wearing to the stadium.
She loathes his Birkenstocks, which he wears often, and dislikes his mustache, which he said he grew “as a spite ’stache.â€
Indiana might be a free spirit, but he is also a grounded family guy. He refers to his sister as his best friend. And he gushes about his parents, who encourage him and challenge him. He said his dad is “still my coach†to this day.
“And Mom?†Vassilev said. “Very harsh critic. When I play bad, I call her and I’m like — I got to hunker down for this one. But she’s awesome. I’m very glad that I’m in a position where they can be brutally honest with me — and they know I can take it and just try and get better.â€
Hackworth, who’s now City's technical director, made sure to hammer home the point that Vassilev is compassionate. He genuinely cares about everybody in that building. In fact, when Vassilev arrives in the morning, he often gives out friendly hugs to players and staffers alike.
“He made a super impression on me with his relationship with his dad,†Hackworth said. “There’s a respect and a love there that is amazing. It’s kind of cheesy, when you’re talking about somebody that’s constantly loud and boisterous and cutting up. But from afar, I noticed he has such a good relationship with his family. And the people around him, whether you’re a friend, teammate or family, he would do anything for you. ...
“But the guy walks through life having fun. He is energy — and it’s contagious. Everywhere he’s ever been — I was getting reports about him in England that were like, ‘Hey, you know, this crazy American is the loudest guy in the country.’ And one of the other national team (youth coaches), they’re like, ‘Hey, we didn’t know that this guy was this boisterous.’ Yep, same kid I saw the first time when I was in that cafeteria — and it hasn’t ended to this day.â€