Former Arizona Western Matadors Men's Soccer player Henry Ramirez is grateful, grateful to be in a position he was in last week, in the position to sign a new three-year contract with the Kansas City Comets of the Major Arena Soccer League.

This past season, Ramirez set career highs in games played with 17 and goals with five, helping the Comets qualify for the MASL playoffs, scoring a goal in the series-clinching win over Utica City FC in the conference finals. The Comets reached the Ron Neuman Cup Finals, before falling in two games to the Chihuahua Savage.

Outside of a hamstring issue that sidelined Ramirez for eight games, Henry played in a total of 23 games between the regular season and playoffs, the most of his professional career.

It wasn't always like this, Ramirez has battled injuries for most of the early portions of his professional career, stemming back from his time playing semi-pro outdoor soccer with AFC Ann Arbor.

"Unfortunately, I've been struck with injuries that have made me miss the last two seasons," said Ramirez. "So, this past year was the first year I got to contribute and experience a full season."

Following the hamstring injury that put Ramirez on the shelf for most of March, Henry began putting in extra work outside of practice and doing extra work in the gym. That work paid off, giving Ramirez a chance to experience a playoff run at the professional level, falling just short of the ultimate goal, a Ron Neuman Cup, the trophy given to the final team standing in the MASL playoffs.

It was amazing to experience, participate in, and, most importantly, learn from. The team had such a strong mindset heading into those games that it was radiant," Ramirez reminisced. "We learned a lot about ourselves and about the kind of team we are. That feeling of losing in the final was tough, but it only made us hungrier to come back better and stronger than before." 

Much of what Ramirez knows now about the game and life can be traced back to what he learned in his time at Arizona Western, playing for Kenny Dale. Ramirez played for Arizona Western from 2014-2015, twice being named an All-ACCAC performer.

"I arrived at AWC as an 18-year-old boy and left with experiences, challenges, triumphs, glory, and, most importantly, core memories," said Ramirez. "My soccer knowledge grew immensely thanks to coach Kenny Dale; he opened my eyes and my philosophy on soccer."

Ramirez can still hear Dale shouting "How many touches did you take?" or "Too many touches" phrases that had a key part in the growth of Ramirez's game.

"I'm sure he can elaborate more on why, but because of his constant remarks, I learned so much about the game as I started to analyze it on my own from those remarks."

Following his time at Arizona Western, Ramirez moved on to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, playing two seasons at the NCAA Division One level.

Ramirez has made Kansas City, Mo. a second home for the last six years, staying in town after finishing his collegiate career at the University of Missouri-Kansas City to begin his professional career with the Comets. Kansas City is a soccer town, home of three professional teams in both the indoor and outdoor game as well as a division one university where Ramirez capped off his collegiate playing career by playing in 28 matches for the 'Roos.

It was at UMKC where Ramirez met Alan Mayer, the goalkeeper coach for both UMKC and the Kansas City Comets, as well as a 2019 Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame inductee thanks to an illustrious playing career that saw him play 122 of his 422 career games with the Kansas City Comets in the old Major Indoor Soccer League. Mayer, along with other former UMKC players who turned professional with the hometown club were instrumental in Ramirez joining the Comets. 

"I played with the current players in local soccer tournaments," said Ramirez. "They reached out to come and train with the team, and from there, it transitioned into playing with the team."

Indoor soccer gained its popularity in the United States in the 1980s thanks to the success of leagues such as the MISL, where the Kansas City Comets played in 12 of the 14 seasons the league operated, missing just the first and last years of the league's existence before joining the National Professional Soccer League (Indoor), eventually winning a pair of NPSL championships under the Kansas City Attack moniker.

"The fans are amazing. Kansas City is a soccer town," said Ramirez. "We have three professional soccer teams here, and we have the best attendance at games in the whole league."

The Comets averaged 4,829 fans per game in the 2023-24 MASL season, over 1,000 more fans per game than the second and third-highest attendances in the league, owned by Utica City FC and the Milwaukee Wave. The Comets play at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Mo., sharing the state-of-the-art sports and concert venue with the Kansas City Mavericks, the Seattle Kraken's affiliate in the East Coast Hockey League.  

The indoor game took on quickly in the United States, known for its fast pace and high scoring, the game is played in the confines of a hockey rink, using dasher boards and plexiglass as boundaries while playing on synthetic turf. Leagues over the years have played with different rules and performed experiments such as using a three-point line. The MASL is a 6v6 league, with six players, including the goalkeeper, on each side, using unlimited substitutions.  The indoor game, just like the sport they share plexiglass with, uses "power plays" which give a team a man advantage while a two-minute penalty is served by the offending team in the penalty box.

For Ramirez, adjusting the indoor game took some time. Playing primarily outdoors for the entirety of his career, Henry had to learn the professional indoor game quickly.

Adjusting was difficult; indoor games are different from outdoor," said Ramirez. "However, I've loved the experience. Luckily, I've had great teammates and coaches who have helped me adapt quickly."

Adapting quickly is exactly what Ramirez did, scoring a pair of goals in the opening game of the Central Cup against the Dallas Sidekicks, before the opening of the shortened 2021 MASL season. Ramirez played in nine games in the 2021 MASL season, scoring a goal in the regular season in an 8-7 loss to the Florida Tropics.

Over the next two seasons, Ramirez dealt with injuries that sidelined him, playing in only five games from 2021-2023. For the first time in his professional career, Ramirez entered preseason camp healthy in the fall of 2023, looking to prove to Comets' head coach Stefan Stokic that he was ready to contribute.

"My rookie year was COVID year and not a "complete" season," explained Ramirez. "The key was coming in healthy and going through coach Stokic's pre-season camp; if you can get through preseason fitness and training, you will come in well-prepared for the season, and for me, it showed."

Ramirez is looking forward to another full season, a season with a new contract in hand and a heightened sense of confidence.

On winter nights in arenas across the country, Ramirez still thinks back to what he learned in Yuma, Ariz., about the game and life.

"I was challenged in ways I would have never imagined and met amazing people who all played a huge role in my growth," said Ramirez. "Ana English is someone I am so blessed to have met; she helped me so much, and I am eternally grateful. Coach Kenny also taught me so much about the game and life. Due to my experience at Arizona Western College, I always tell athletes to go the JUCO route; it will help you."