For most Del Ray parents, the Alexandria Soccer Association (ASA) is simply where Saturday mornings disappear. It’s the place we sign our kids up to chase a ball in a swarm, learn teamwork, and – ideally – fall in love with the beautiful game.

But linger around Witter or Limerick Field on a Sunday evening, long after the orange slices are gone, and you’ll find a different spectacle: the ASA Over-35 Men’s League. It’s a slightly less beautiful version of the beautiful game, played at half the speed with double the joint pain. Still, the players are having a ball.

Among the squads battling for glory – and the right to not limp into work on Monday – is a team called Prestige Worldwide. While team names in the league often change with the whims of managers (usually whoever can come up with the funniest moniker on registration day), this squad has steadily accumulated more Del Ray residents – and more championships – season after season.

Founded in Spring 2021 by Del Ray resident Matt Mauney, 43, the team was born out of necessity. It created an outlet for players who weren’t ready to retire to the couch but needed a format that acknowledged the realities of aging. The league plays 7-a-side on smaller fields, with 30-minute halves instead of the standard, lung-busting 45.

“I’ve played soccer most of my life and wasn’t ready to hang up the cleats quite yet,” Mauney says. “At the same time, I wasn’t interested in chasing 20-year-olds around in full 11v11, 90-minute matches. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised.”

That spongy, bruised reality defines the league. Dazzling footwork is often replaced by “veteran savvy”—a polite euphemism for knowing where to stand so you don’t have to sprint. The competitive fire still burns, fueled by memories of high school glory days, but it’s tempered by the understanding that everyone has a mortgage, a career, and a 9:00 a.m. Zoom meeting the next morning.

Pulling from a network of friends, former teammates, and even the Del Ray Dads listserv, Mauney assembled a squad whose core has stayed largely intact. That consistency has paid off. Through nine seasons – both spring and fall – Prestige Worldwide has claimed five league championships.

The most recent campaign, Fall ’25, nearly produced a sixth. The team battled its way to the championship match, only to fall to an impressive newcomer squad. In the Over-35 league, though, the final score is often secondary to what comes next.

After the game, the cooler opens and beers are shared on the sidelines. This ritual “post-game analysis” is where missed sitters are laughed off, hamstring strains are diagnosed with questionable medical expertise, and conspiracy theories about the other team sneaking in a few 25-year-olds gain traction. Parenting stresses and work deadlines fade away, replaced by laughs, camaraderie, and liberal applications of Icy-Hot.

“It’s funny – many players think their travel, high school or college teams were the last time they truly felt part of a team,” Mauney reflects. “But I’ve been playing with some of these guys for almost 20 years, starting with a team called Rampage, then Rampaged, then Grampage, before switching themes altogether. It’s a solid group of men.”

Looking ahead, Mauney hopes to strengthen the connection between the neighborhood he lives in and the team he founded. His goal is to build a stable Del Ray men’s team rooted even more deeply in the local community – one where neighbors become teammates.

The league is a reminder that you don’t age out of the game; the game adapts to you. It may be slower, and it may hurt more the next day, but the joy remains. Every once in a while, you still string together a beautiful sequence of passes, hit the perfect shot, or make a goal-saving tackle. That – and the teammates beside you – is what keeps players coming back.