Major Beach Soccer Feature
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Major Beach Soccer National Championships kick off in less than a month, running for two days on December 17-18 at Clearwater Beach, Fla. With eight men’s teams and four women’s teams scheduled to compete, we now take a look at some of the teams that might compete for the respective championships when the tournament gets underway.
Men’s Teams
Team Calvary
Team Calvary consists of soccer players that meet weekly on Sundays at the Soccer Fellowship in St Petersburg, which is organized by St Petersburg Calvary Chapel. Luis Hernandez is the Director of Sports Ministries at Calvary Chapel and he organized the team to play in the Clearwater Beach qualifier where the team surprisingly almost beat Florida Beach Soccer FC in the semifinals. Leading with 10 seconds remaining, Team Calvary gave up a penalty kick, which was converted by FBSFC, taking the game into overtime. In overtime, the experience of FBSFC sealed the victory. Despite the loss in the semifinal Team Calvary is a team that should not be underestimated and always plays with a lot of heart. You can count on a lot of local support when Team Calvary is playing as the team is based near the Clearwater Beach area. For the National Championship Team Calvary was able to secure the services of US Beach Soccer Men’s National Team player Yuri Morales and former Bundesliga star Louis Gomis.
Florida Beach Soccer FC
FBSFC will enter the first USL MBS National Championship as one of the favorites to take the title, as it has proven to be a championship team in 2011. FBSFC won the Coop U.S. Open in Virginia Beach, finished third at the Beachsoccer Championships in California and qualified directly for the MBS National Championship by winning the MBS Clearwater Beach qualifier. The team is built around its captain Francis Faberoff, who is captain of the U.S. Beach Soccer national team and led the U.S. to the World Cup in 2006 and 2007, participating in seven Beach Soccer World Cups overall. Besides Faberoff, FBSFC has two additional players with National team experience: Oscar Gill (currently with the National team) and Ben Astorga (2001-07). The core of the team resides and trains in Miami, creating a professional environment for aspiring beach soccer players. This team is definitely setting the standard for beach soccer teams throughout the nation as it trains on a regular basis and plays nearly year-round.
Quick Hand Galacticos
The Quick Hand Galacticos are from Columbus, Ohio and have been participating for numerous years in Soccer in the Sand tournaments. The Galacticos have proven to be one of the strongest men’s teams in Soccer in the Sand and will be ready to spring a surprise at the National Championship on Clearwater Beach. “We are excited about the opportunity to compete at the first USL Major Beach Soccer National Championship and hope to represent Columbus, Ohio in great fashion,” team leader Jared Dombrowski said.
Sons of a Beach
Sons of a Beach is the one of the youngest teams in the competition, but despite its lack of experience (the team has only been playing beach soccer for two years) it wants to be a thorn in the side for the tournament’s favorites. While inexperienced, the SoaB compensate with a great work rate and a lot of heart. “Even though we go into this tournament with the highest ranking points, we see ourselves as underdogs in the National Championship. We will take each game at a time and will see where it leads us. Maybe we can surprise some of the big dogs like Florida Beach Soccer FC,” Chad Naiman said.
Dirty Sand
The core group of the Dirty Sand began playing beach soccer nine years ago. Four players - Greg Mackey, Nick November, Brendan Tracy, and Sean Tracy - have played in the Daytona Sand Soccer tournament seven times in the past nine years, and their team has won the event all seven times. They have won each age group category (11-12, 13-14, 15-18, and now men’s open) during that time, and have had different groups of players join them each time. This year’s edition features a group that is almost exclusively college-age, except for the player/coach, Matt Tracy, who is in his forties. The team is based out of Jacksonville, Fla., with the only exception this year being their goalie, Stuart McCrory, who is from Prattville, Al. Completing the roster from the Daytona event are Mitchell Howell (fourth beach soccer event), Brice Beckenbach (second beach soccer event), and Chris Wiggins, who played his first beach soccer event in Daytona this year.
ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes entered this year’s MBS Qualifier at Clearwater Beach as the defending champion, but stumbled during the qualifier, losing out in the group stage. With its last chance to qualify for this year’s National Championship at the MBS Qualifier in Fort Myers Beach, there was a lot at stake for ESPND, but the team proved to be a contender for the national title as it cruised through the tournament and won the final comfortably, 6-2. Most of the team plays for the Clearwater Galactics men’s soccer team, where they train and play together regularly. ESPN Deportes should be considered one of the favorites, but has to make sure it gets out of the group stage where it faces Florida Beach Soccer FC, Team Spartan and Team SLFD.
Women’s Teams
Peace Passers
The Peace Passers grew up with the game, and soccer continues to be a part of their lives. All of the players compete in the Charlotte women’s league and on co-ed teams in the area, with several also participating in the sport as referees or local youth coaches. One of the team’s members, Candace Murray, also founded a non-profit organization Peace Passers with the mission to collect and distribute new & used soccer gear to impoverished communities around the world: www.Peacepassers.org. To promote awareness for the organization the Sporting Charlotte team enters the Clearwater beach soccer tournament with the team name ‘Peace Passers.’
Daytona Beach Soccer
Daytona Beach Soccer has competed regularly in the MBS Tournaments in Daytona Beach and Clearwater Beach. This year the team managed to win the Dayton Beach Qualifier and qualify directly for the National Championship.