Defensive Lineman and Front-end: playing ball in the field and coding.
Behind the intimidating figure of an American Football player, all ready to play, there’s an exciting story you’re about to read. Phillipe Caixeta, one of the Front-End developers at Hotmart, has a strong connection with this sport, which, although not very common in Brazil, has been gaining ground around here and changing the lives of a lot of people, including his own.
Phillipe, a.k.a. Caixeta, has always liked practicing sports and he was a frequent figure in Volleyball, Handball, and Futsal courts when he was in school. However, when he graduated, he got away from the courts and started to really miss doing something as pleasurable as playing sports. That was when a childhood friend found out about an American Football team that was just starting out in Belo Horizonte and invited him to check it out up close.
Without really understanding the rules, positions, and even gear, he said ‘yes’ to trying it out and, right away, he assumed the Linebacker position for Minas Locomotiva.
Important explanation! Linebacker is the defense player who positions himself right behind the defensive line, being at a distance of about 4 yards from the Line of Scrimmage, whose general objective is to defend against short route passes, to tackle, especially during Running Backs from the opposite team, and sack the opponent’s Quarterback.
It was important to explain because, right in his first practice, Caixeta got a huge Tackle that granted him the “Practice Ball”, a recognition for his good performance that day. He says that was even one of the most thrilling facts of his journey while he was a part of the team.
Talking about team spirit may sound cliché when it comes to sports but it’s impossible not to mention how strong it is when we think about everything this team has gone through. At difficult times, with no sponsors, no good fields to play, and even no gear at all, which are essential to protect the players from strong collisions that happen in a game, they chose to play without helmets (one of the most expensive items in the uniform), for their mothers’ desperation. It weren’t few the times everyone had to chip in to pay for practices and even medical exams and surgeries for those who couldn’t afford all the costs. Caixeta believes that all these challenges were the main reason for Minas Locomotiva to stop being a team and becoming a family that gave him brothers he now takes for life.
He had so much passion for the sport that even with a serious injury on his left shoulder, Caixeta played the state championship in 2009, until the end. After the end of Football season, he had exams that showed multiple tendons were ruptured, a part of the bone was broken and his humerus (head of the shoulder) was smashed. Of course the injury resulted in a nice surgery, besides two titanium anchors and a whole year watching games from outside the field, which, according to him “is a part of the game”!
Victory comes. And when it does, it’s for sure!
All this effort, one day, would have to pay off. And there wasn’t just one glory day on Minas Locomotiva’s path, now called América Locomotiva, after they’ve closed a partnership with America Football Club. There were many days, worthy of a movie, those movies we see only on TV when a team faces its greatest rival, starts out losing and manages an amazing win. This has happened and not just once!
Another moment that made history for the America Locomotiva, according to Caixeta, was getting into the field, in the first game of the season 2016, at the Independência Stadium. Not bad for a team who had played on dirt fields, full of broken glass, from where many players had injured themselves, right? Of course it wasn’t impossible to hold the tears from beginning to end when, after a tough game against Get Eagles, its main opponent, they took the win home.
It was also against Get Eagles that they had a movie-like comeback win worth every drop of sweat, broken bone or weekend “lost” in practices for Caixeta and his team.
This time, at Mineirão Stadium, 5 minutes to the end of the game, the team was losing. Then, they decided to replace the Quarterback and chose a young man who came from the team’s junior team. Although extremely young, the player had lots of talent, just like the Receiver, who was of similar age and skill. In one play, the Quarterback threw the ball to the Receiver and scored a Touchdown that turned the play their way. At the same time happy and thrilled, the players filled with fire in their bellies to hold the result until the end of the match. The defense was able to intercept the opponent’s pass and, once again, they won and kept undefeated in the state and made history with a MAGICAL game.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying that our front-end developer stepped away from the fields for good. In 2016, he made an attempt to stop playing and act as a coach, since he was already recognized as a prominent player in his position by developing interesting game strategies that stuck out. But, noticing he was dedicating the same amount of time torn between practices and playing, he decided to stop ignoring what he really wanted and went back to the field more excited than ever.
But, in 2017, he noticed he could no longer attend practices with the same good spirits and couldn’t follow the team as far as strength training and resistance go. According to him, this could harm the team’s performance and increase the risk of getting injured. What had started as a hobby, became serious and required a lot more time and attention than he could give.
From Endzone to life!
Today, Caixeta follows America Locomotiva from the bleachers. His personal life and work commitments didn’t leave him enough time to throw himself at the sport as he would like. But nothing can take away the learning he got on the field, from the unforgettable “practice ball”, to learning from his injuries and, of course, great friendships.
It’s possible to bet that Caixeta’s spark by talking about these experiences is the same from when he joined the team. As a player, he learned to trust the work and experience of teammates and believe that each one is gonna do their best for the greater good. That is what he takes to his professional life and what makes him believe his own work and the delivery of his coworkers. With important projects in Hotmart’s Developer area, he knows it’s only possible to score a Touchdown when each member of the team contributes to each play, just like the in the football field.
