As many people know, George Taliadouros, a physics teacher at HB, was born in Greece. However, many people don’t know that Mr. T (as he is frequently called) was a professional soccer player while living in his home country. Taliadouros who was, “given a ball ever since [he] could stand”, played for a team called Ethnikos Football Club. As a player with a lot of endurance, Taliadouros plied his trade at the right wing, center forward, and sweeper positions.  As a professional athlete, Taliadouros was able to travel the world, competing in what was called the Balkans Cup, a multi-country soccer tournament consisting of club teams from Turkey, Albania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Romania.

After playing in Greece, he moved to America and played for four years on the soccer team at American International University. Later, he attended Simon Fraser University for graduate school and starred on the school’s water polo squad. Taliadouros, was no newcomer to water polo however. While in Greece he also played for Ethnikos as a professional water polo player.

He had always been a serious athlete. When Taliadouros was in high school he  placed seventh nationally for the 10k race, while also swimming in the 100m freestyle and breaststroke event.  Taliadouros has just recently stopped playing soccer within the last six years after playing in adult leagues in northern Massachusetts. When asked if he enjoyed his experience as a professional soccer player in Greece, Taliadouros said,“I had a great time, it was very challenging”. Looking back on his time in Greece, he’s realized how much things have changed. Taliadouros explained how back when they’d play soccer, they used wooden cleats with nails for spikes, a leather ball held together by shoelaces, and played on a completely dirt field sprinkled with pebbles. He’s lived an extremely entertaining life, and hopes to spread some of his wisdom, experience, and intellect to the students of HB.