Forging Fútbol Friendships in Poet-Athlete City

Going pro with your best friend is a fantasy held by young people around the world. But for one pair of DC SCORES alumni, that dream has become a reality. 

Darwin Espinal and Josselin Possian became close friends as DC SCORES poet-athletes at Lincoln Middle School. Today, the duo are star players on the Maryland Bobcats, a professional team that plays in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) league. 

“We’ve always pushed each other,” says Espinal of the decades of playing together that first began at DC SCORES. “Now, it’s more of the same. Just a little more mature,” he adds, “a little bit, not much!”

Becoming Poet-Athletes

Espinal and Possian joined DC SCORES in 2007 as recently arrived immigrant kids. Possian immigrated to D.C. in 2006 after moving from his home country of Côte d’Ivoire, while Espinal arrived in the city in 2005 after spending a year in North Carolina, where his family first settled after leaving their native Honduras. 

The global popularity of soccer helped the boys connect with their peers in their predominantly Latino neighborhood. “Our language was Spanish mostly, so [moving] wasn’t a big shock. Then you add the element of soccer, and I felt at home,” says Espinal. 

Possian, a native French speaker, also remembers how quickly the Northwest D.C. community embraced him. “Fun fact: I learned Spanish before I learned English,” he says.

Natural talent ensured the pair gained a reputation as gifted soccer players. They brought soccer balls to school every day and took on their classmates in the yard during breaks. “We used to play 20 versus two, and it was just us sharing the ball versus everybody trying to get it away from us. That camaraderie established a solid friendship,” says Possian.

“It’s easy to be friends with someone who’s obsessed with the same thing as you,” adds Espinal, “and we were like, obsessed obsessed.”

“DC SCORES Opened Doors”

After walking home from school together one day, the friends discovered they lived just two buildings apart. Soon, they were spending most of their time together, going to classes, attending DC SCORES practice, and putting in extra training hours on the weekends. “We played soccer together every day. Like, every single day,” says Possian. 

Espinal and Possian’s talent and dedication soon caught the eye of Kenny Owens, who was DC SCORES’ director of coaching, and Katrina Owens, who currently serves as DC SCORES’ executive director but was managing the nonprofit’s middle school programming at the time. 

“They opened a lot of doors for us because they were well-connected with clubs and coaches. DC SCORES was the main path opener for what we would achieve,” says Possian. 

After stints with elite youth teams such as Bethesda Soccer Club and the D.C. United Academy, Espinal and Possian embarked on senior careers outside the DMV. Possian traveled to Europe to play professionally in France, Spain, and Germany before signing for the Bobcats, while Espinal racked up an impressive list of college soccer accolades before playing for a series of professional clubs in the South and Midwest and even earning a cap for the Honduran national team. 

In 2021, they were reunited on the soccer field on opposing NISA teams when Possian’s Bobcats played Espinal’s Detroit City. When Possian’s coach noticed the pair greeting one another after the match, he enlisted his captain’s help in luring Espinal to the Bobcats. Espinal signed his contract in 2022.

Since then, the pair have capitalized on the winning partnership that first flourished on their DC SCORES team. In 2024, their attacking partnership led to a season in which the Bobcats recorded only one loss, and Espinal was named NISA’s top goalscorer.

That kind of soccer magic is easy when you’ve played together for so long, says Possian: “I know his strengths; he knows my strengths.”

Looking to Poet-Athlete City

Espinal and Possian celebrate one another off the field, too. When Possian got married in October, Espinal was his best man at a ceremony filled with staff and alumni from DC SCORES.

Possian’s DC SCORES-heavy guest list is a testament to the strong connections the pair have maintained with the organization that first developed their passion for soccer. Possian serves as a soccer program specialist for the nonprofit, while Espinal intends to volunteer for the organization now that he is back in his hometown. 

“DC SCORES helped not just us but a lot of people, and they did that for the past 20 years since we were gone, doing our thing. It’s a good time to start giving back,” Espinal says. 

As DC SCORES celebrates its 30th anniversary, the organization is making a bold promise to the District: to expand its soccer, poetry, and service programming to every Title 1 middle and elementary school in the city. This vision — known as Poet-Athlete City — will ensure a new generation of young people can experience the same opportunities that Espinal and Possian credit with transforming their lives.

“You don’t realize when you’re young the effect things are having on you. But when you’re older, you can look back,” says Espinal. “One of the main things that DC SCORES did for me was keeping me out of trouble and off the streets. Soccer was almost a plus.”

Possian agrees, “DC SCORES shaped me into the man that I am today. It played a huge impact in what I aspired to become for the community.”