It began as a superstitious move to help his own recovery from a torn ACL. Fifteen years later, Marcelo Balboa closes a chapter in his distinctive hair era when he lets his iconic locks fall Monday in an effort to help children in cancer treatment with a personal donation to the cause.
"I am getting a haircut, yes, sir!" Balboa said before he goes on Univision's Despierta America ["Wakeup America"] Monday morning for a nationally broadcast live haircut of some 10 inches of his hair.
Originally set for Friday morning, weather delays postponed Balboa's arrival into Miami, where the show is broadcast from Univision's studios. The haircut and appearance will now take place Monday morning.
It will be the first significant haircut he's had, other than an annual trim, since he played in the 1994 World Cup, the second of three World Cup appearances for the National Soccer Hall of Fame member. Balboa credits a couple of younger children he knows for opening his eyes to the Locks of Love program, a charitable organization that takes donations of hair and turns them into hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children suffering from medical hair loss for any diagnosis.
"Quite a while ago I had a buddy of mine who had a little kid who had cancer," Balboa said. "And going through that whole thing and seeing what he went through and all that stuff - now he's in remission, he's good. Then about a year ago, my hair was already long, and one of my buddy's kids was growing his hair long. I'm looking at him, and I'm like, that was kind of weird, 'what are you growing your hair for?' He said, 'A friend of ours' son had cancer. So I'm growing my hair to make a wig for Locks of Love. I'm donating it so they can make a wig for him.'
"When I heard that, I said, you know what? I'm going to do the same thing. I just thought to myself, what a cool idea. I thought, what a better way, instead of just cutting it off and doing nothing with it, just to donate it and have it cut."
He's had other encouragement along the way. Some of it has been gentle and friendly, like when Ohio State women's soccer coach Laurie Walker was preparing to work with Balboa on Olympic television broadcast coverage and pushed him to consider a donation to Locks of Love.
Others have been less flattering. Goggle Balboa and "haircut" and you'll find countless postings of people citing the MLS All-Time Best XI defender as someone who needs one.
"One day I was sitting at home and somebody sent me an e-mail," Balboa admits. "I think it was 'uglysoccerplayers.com.' And it had me and Lexie (Alexi Lalas) on there. I just looked at it, and I'm like, man, I guess I need a haircut too."
Balboa's own preference was not initially for long hair. He began growing his for superstition more than anything, after the '94 World Cup.
"I tore my ACL, and I told myself I wasn't cutting my hair 'til - you know how players do the whole, 'I'm not shaving my beard 'til we get knocked out of the playoffs' in hockey and baseball? I just told myself that I wasn't cutting my hair until I made it back onto the field," Balboa said. "That's the reason that the long hair started, because I tore the ACL, and I thought, well, this is it. I'm going to let it grow. I didn't like long hair, so that kind of motivated me to get back as fast as I could. Once it got past that ugly stage, when it gets past your eyes, I just said, 'eh, let's keep it, let it grow for a while.'"
Fifteen years later, he'll lose a substantial amount of that hair on live TV as he heads to Miami this weekend to help kickoff the MLS Futbolito program. Given the amount of time Balboa dedicates to youth, working with them in his own soccer camp in Superior, Colo. and through programs like Futbolito, it's a natural move for one of U.S. soccer's all-time greats to support a program aimed at restoring confidence and normalcy to children going through medical challenges.
The live broadcast is destined for the category of "must-see TV," but when the 6- to 16-year-old participants in his soccer camp asked if they could skip their morning session to watch it, he told them to "TiVo" it.
Hopefully, his appearance on Univision will help raise awareness about the opportunity for those with hair to spare who'd like to help out young people in need.
"They said, 'would you consider cutting it on our show?' Balboa recalls of the Despierta America event. "And you know what? I said, 'Sure. Why not?' So they're going to set it up ... and we're going to do it. It's a great cause for these kids that have cancer that they make wigs for. That's why I decided to do it."
Balboa figures he's got 12 inches or so of hair - his wife measured it to be sure he had enough but withheld the details at his request. Knowing they'll be taking 10 inches, he prefers not to know what to expect when he walks out of the studio following the only real haircut he's had in his own children's lifetime.
"I'm a little nervous," he admitted. "I haven't had it cut since '94. I've had pretty long hair since then. So, I'm a little nervous. I don't have to worry about that whole cutting your hair you lose strength, because I retired. People say when you cut your hair you lose your mojo. If you're playing soccer, you lose your strength.
"My kids are excited about it. They've never seen dad with short hair. The wife is looking at me, like, 'OK, go for it.' I could have just cut it like everybody else. You just cut it and keep cutting it, or let it grow. This is a good cause. For me, not a big deal. It's just hair."
Balboa has rarely done anything "like everybody else," from his performance on the field to his charismatic status as one of game's best ambassadors in the U.S. But don't let him downplay the meaningfulness of the gesture. While the loss of his locks - and the launch of an unknown new look - might be relatively insignificant from his own personal perspective, there is no question the charitable donation will have enormous meaning to the children whose challenges may be a little easier to bear thanks to the thoughtfulness of donors like Balboa.
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
