Atlanta’s Rovers Red wins The 2012 Florida Classic

Atlanta veterans Rovers Red won the 2012 Florida Classic over weekend. The Rovers Red is part of the Rover Soccer Club of Atlanta, the largest veterans soccer club in Georgia. The club is known for having a long tradition of teams winning many local, regional leagues and tournaments including 2 National Championships. The club has teams in over 30, 40, 50s and 60s
The Florida Classic is FSSA's premier international tournament. 11-a-side - New Lake Myrtle Sports Complex, Auburndale, Florida; tournament coincides with the MLK Holiday Weekend.

Rovers FC Red glided home on a cloud after taking the over fifty-five championship in the 2012 Florida Classic from the New Briton Falcons with a 3-1 final. The Falcons dealt Rovers Red a blow in the initial meeting on Friday night 4-0 and then quickly dispatched the other two competitors winning all three of their qualifying matches.

Rovers went into Sundays match trailing the Silver Strikers who had defeated SABR on Friday night but lost to the Falcons on Saturday. By all accounts this was the semi-final game and a must win for Rovers. The newly formed Rovers squad began to gel on Sunday and we went away with a 3-1 victory and a place in the finals. The team fielded for the Florida Classic included a core of our regular Rovers of Mike Atsalis, Martin Clark, Mark Collins, Terry Flanagan, George Georgiou, Edwin Hoenderdos, and Tash Tasova to which we were complimented by Ali Bashiri, Ciaran Brennan, Jerry Casteneda, Nasser Chelooee, Jerry Hudson, Bobby Ingwersen, Peter Kealy, Moe Khoshbou, Frank Loureiro, Mike Nova, Jay Poorak, Billy Robertson, and Essie Shahrezaei.

The final was a stellar performance by all. After being schooled somewhat on Friday by the same New Briton Falcons, Martin made the necessary adjustments, to which, all responded admirably and the breaks fell the Rovers way. Rovers Red faced a steady wind in the first half and a confident opponent but about twenty minutes in Martin knocked one off the post from outside the box to put us in the lead. The Falcons had not trailed in the score to this point in the tournament and were visibly shocked. They did however level the score at 1-1 just before half with a very nicely placed shot from outside the box.

The second half was a mixture of intense pressure from the Falcons and counter-attacks by the Rovers. Ten, or so, minutes into the half Martin and Ali Bashiri broke down an attack at the edge of our defending third. The ball fell to Martin who lashed a worm burner through the attacking Falcons onto Tash's foot who went in from the mid-field stripe largely unopposed and finished with a clever feint to his left and a toe poke to the keeper's right into the righthand corner of goal. The clincher came with fifteen minutes remaining as Martin drew defenders and keeper away from goal and lofted a floater over the keepers head into the back of the net to set the dagger blow, tally his fourth goal of the tournament, and secure the Golden Boot.

'Man of the Match' was Moe Khoshbou. Moe set the tone with a half dozen or more crunching tackles early in the game and never let up. He seemed to come out of nowhere to be exactly where we needed him to fend off the relentless Falcon attack.


Capain Terry Flanagan on the tournament “Thanks to everyone for making this a very enjoyable event, both on and off the field. We had the highs, the lows, joy and frustration but that is what its all about. We had our differences but the one thing we all have in common is love and passion for the beautiful game. We are truly lucky to still be playing...win or lose. But winning is always much better.A notable for me is Jerry Hudson, he was steady and consistent not just in the final but in all four games.”

“I do have a nice little memento of a stud marks bruise above my knee, but I wear that proudly after this tournament. Thanks to the goal machine Martin for not only his goals, but his passion, however loud and acerbic. Everyone played great, and it was the little things that were the glue that pieced this glorious display together, from everyone that were mentioned before, to Ali and George playing through their calf and knee problems, to Bobby smartly receiving the throw-ins during the last few minutes of the finals, continuously winning us more throw-ins and winding the clock down. We started as a misfit bunch, but gelled into a single minded collective that gave the reigning national champs a kick in the nuts. We will now have a tradition of eating curry before each final. Cheers to al”- continued Flanagan.

The Rovers Red will continue this spring in league play and prepare to defend in title for next year.

Rovers Tournament

8:21 AM

In what seems to be one of the craziest ending to a soccer tournament in recent memory, Atlanta’s Rovers White defended its title of Champions of the Jack Frost Tournament. The tournament took place this over January 14 and 15. In the 2 day tournament, the Rovers White reached the finals and won in penalty kicks. The Rovers White is an over 30s team that is part of the Rovers Soccer Club of Atlanta Georgia. The club is the largest and most successful veterans clubs in Georgia. The teams have been winning in over 30, 40, 40, 50 and 60 years competitions including the 2011 Over 60 National Championship. Rovers White is led by player/coach Mike Kinion, member of the North Atlanta Soccer Association (NASA).
 

The tournament started for the Rovers with an 8am match against a stubborn Japanese team ANA in 25 degree weather. In a frozen pitch at Webb Bridge, the match ended in a 0-0 tie. The next match was against Thrusters, a team that had thrashed fellow club team Rover Green 6-0 earlier in the day. Rovers White prevailed 6-2. The third match was against Los Diablos on Sunday morning in a hotly contested match that had Rovers prevail 3-2.

The win propelled the Rovers to the Finals against a powerful Brazilian team, Cruzeiro, that had overwhelmed their opponents with 11 goals for and only 2 against. Rovers White opened the scoring with a nicely placed header by Pope High School coach Rich Groeneveld in the first 10 minutes. Five minutes later, goal keeper Ian Wheeler was handed a straight red card for handling the ball outside the box. Mark Stevens aka Markaroni stepped in to play keeper. Rovers had to play the rest of the game with 10 men. Soon thereafter, Cruzeiro equalized. To make matters worse for Rovers, their main playmaker Jorge Redmond pulled a hamstring and had to be replaced. 

The game continued to a 1-1 stalemate with Markaroni being forced to make many fine saves. The overtime period continued with Cruzeiro desperately attacking. Rovers striker Weo Lopez was carted off in the early part of the overtime with severe leg cramps. It was looking like it was going to be heading in penalties when injured veteran striker and last year’s golden boot, QuiQue Lopez go up from the cold bench and informed skipper Mike Kinion that he would guarantee a victory if he would be put in at the last minute. Lopez was heard telling the crowd that there was “Something magical is about to happen. I will show you magic.” With 2 minutes left in the game, Kinion made the bold move of putting in Lopez. It was a bold move because Lopez had been injured for 2 months and had not played competitively. Two minutes later, the game ended and the teams headed to penalties.

This is where the crazy ending began. Kinion, Markaroni and Lopez met and hatched out a plan to psychologically turn the tables. It was decided that Markaroni would switch goal keeping duties with Lopez after the third kicker. Then, Lopez would take the final fifth kick. The aim was to shock the Brazilians. Team captain Franklin Young informed the referees of the plan and confirmed its legality. 

The penalties began with the Bralizians going up 2-1 with the Rovers missing 2 out of three PKs. After the Rovers missing the third PK, Cruzeiro striker Paolo Rochi and skipper Fernando Chaltein began consoling the Rovers and congratulating them for a good effort in the tournament. At that time, Lopez informed them that they would be switching goalies after the third penalty and that the Rovers would win it in the fifth. The confident Brazilians laughed and returned to their team. 

When the third Brazilian stepped up to take the kick, Markaroni made a spectacular save. The score was still 2-1 after a Mesac Celeste conversion. The fourth penalty was taken by Captain Franklin Young in a perfectly placed spotkick to the right of the goalie. The score was now tied 2-2.

The Brazilians were expecting to see Markaroni back in goal after his fine save. This is where the plan began. The Cruzeiro team began to jeer when the referee indicated to Lopez to begin to put on the goalie shirt and gloves as requested. The Cruzeiro players, at first, did not understand but when Lopez reminded Rochi and Chaltein of the earlier conversation with a smile and a nod, they understood. The fourth Cruzeiro kicker was very eager to take the kick but had to wait for the goalie and referees to be ready to commence the kicks. The kick hit the post to the left.

The score was still 2-2. It was now the fifth and final kick for the Rovers. Lopez stepped up, glanced to the left and calmly placed the ball low, right corner. Rovers were now up 3-2 with the final Cruzeiro kick left. Lopez retrieved the ball out of the net and handed it over to the Cruzerio player while maintaining eye contact with the kicker. Lopez returned to the goal and waited for the referee to blow his whistle. As soon as the referee blew his whistle, Lopez pointed to the Cruzeiro squad and deflected a powerful kick into the crossbar. Game over, Rovers won the 2012 Jack Frost Tournament. 

The Rovers supporters rushed the field as the team celebrated along with a large crowd of on-lookers and other teams. This was the crazy ending to the 2012 Jack Frost Tournament in Alpharetta Georgia.

“When asked about the ending, Captain Frankin Young explained, “Every credit should be given to Mike Kinion for his ability to get us in a position to win. His skills in strategy and man management were the deciding factors. After a disappointing draw in the first game, he was able to make the adjustments needed to get up the victory.”

The Annual Jack Frost Soccer Fest is organized and sponsored by Atlanta Metro Soccer League. The tournament is in support of THE SENTINELS of FREEDOM, Duluth Chapter, Duluth, GA

Sentinels Of Freedom provides four year “life scholarships” to help vets become self- sufficient. Vets are finding that once they’re released from the hospital, they face the everyday hardships of finding a home, continuing their education, or going to work to support their families. The Sentinels are there to help.

Squad: Mike Kinion, Franklin Young, Jorge Redmond, Weo Lopez, Rich Groeneveld, Mark Stevens, Orlando Castaneda, Jacob Jordan, Manuel Arellano from Los Arcos , Austin McDonald, Matt Donovan, Mesac Celeste, Ian Wheeler, Joe Mozie, Yasser Dahmani, Geddis Alexander, Chris Fernandes, Jeff Huberty, QuiQue Lopez.

Rovers Tournament

4:06 PM

 This last week capped of an incredible run by Rover White in Marietta Georgia as it defeated the perennial division 1 champions of Cobb Adult Soccer League (CASL), Los Gringos by a score of 3-2. Rover White is a veterans team competing in the CASL first division. The Rover Soccer Club is the premier veterans soccer club in the Atlanta area having several national champions including the Rover65 teams that won the 2010 National Veterans Cup in 2010.

The run began in 2005 when Rovers White was created by Mike Kinion Rovers as an overflow for the Rover Red over 40 team that competes in CASL. At the last minute before the 2005-2006 season, Mike Kinion was given seven “cast offs” and instructed to form a team. The task was near impossible but he was able to field a team. That first year saw many ups and downs but ended in a remarkable third place. Kinion focused in creating an environment where he could instill a philosophy of excellence and camaraderie. This meant having to recruit players who were willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. Many times it meant weeding out many talented players in preference of players who understood his philosophy and were willing to work hard to practice it. He also wanted a culturally diverse team that brought out the best qualities of the many cultures in Atlanta. “Over the years, I have recruited a variety of high level American players including former college players from UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Ashville, Eastern Illinois, Lafayette, Lee, Buffalo, DeSales, Mohawk,  St.Andrews, Georgia Southern and Augusta State among others.  I also recruited players from diverse countries including Nigeria, Colombia, Jamaica, China, Brazil, Chile, England, Haiti, Russia, Denmark, and Mexico.” The vision was to have a cosmopolitan team that could call upon individual cultural assets to rescue a tough situation of finish off a stubborn team.

The second year (2007-2008), the team reached the finals of the over 40 division but came short of winning. The next year (2008-2009) the team competed in the over 35 division and won the league in an undefeated season. The following year (2009-2010) the team competed in the over 30 division in another undefeated season but this time in such an overwhelming manner that in most games the game was over in the first 20 minutes. The 2010-2011 season began in the O-30 Division with 8 wins and 0 losses (scoring 48 goals to 6). This began to create a sense of apathy on the team. The team was in jeopardy because most players needed to have better competition to stay around and Kinion reasoned that we needed a drastic change.
At the winter break the team petitioned the league to be moved up to the Open Division.  The team played the spring season in the Open Division (D3) finishing 7 wins and 0 losses (23 goals to 2).   To win the Championship, Rovers White won 4 playoff games beating 3 of the top 4 teams for the second time in a few weeks. In winning the tournament, the team was promoted to D2.
For the 2011-2012 season the league combined Division 1 and Division 2 to created a larger Division1. This meant that Rovers White made the jump from O-30 to D1 in less than 12 months.

With an average age of 43 the team and a 54 year old anchoring the defense, Rovers White is now 4-0 and has beaten both last years’ Division 1 finalists on consecutive weeks with an overall goal count of 15 goals for and 4 against. This amazing feat features a 3 year long winning streak with a group of veterans.

Team captain Franklin Young gives most of the credit to Kinion, “Without Mike’s leadership and tactical decisions, we would not have reached this level of excellence. Many times he has been able to change the complexity of a game by making critical, midgame adjustments that identify the other teams’ weaknesses while eliminating ours. All this could not have been done without a great attention to detail and having the keen ability to make each individual play and sacrifice for the team. I have never seen someone motive a team with such a low key demeanor. He really does speak softly and carry a big stick…his intellect.”
Rich Groeneveld and head coach of Pope High School explains “ Mike has a great ability to get the most out his players. His players are always willing to go the extra mile for him even in times of uncertainty because they all trust his ability to dissect a game and adjust his approach based on the particulars of the moment.”

When asked how he feels the season will unravel, Kinion conservatively answers,” Im very concerned about the upcoming games. Teams no longer look at us and judge us as a bunch of old guys. I expect these teams to be gunning for us. Whether we continue our streak or not we will give everybody a good run for their money and most of all we will continue to play our brand of unselfish, tactical football.”

How will the team end the season? Nobody knows for sure but an old bunch of geezers called Rovers White will at least be there proving that you’re never too old to compete with younger teams.

Rovers

4:10 PM