This year’s USFF Northeast Regional was as exciting as it has been in the last several we attended giving most a glimpse of why we feel strongly that it is the best futsal tournament in the US. Though we did not achieve the results we sought the growth we witnessed in individuals as well as our teams is hard to deny.
It is refreshing to play the game in confidence and be surrounded by those of like mindedness whose effort is concerted in the focus of achieving a common goal while delivering their level best in the process. We are forever grateful to those who value the opportunity to play at the highest level of play possible and represent the Barbarian FC rather than their own self interest. Too many can lose sight of why we are there and on this stage there is no time given to selfishness.
Having witnessed firsthand the development of each of the players involved we can say unequivocally that unquestionably the greatest impact player over the weekend was Jeffrey Kelly. The experience of having attended the regional tournament as representative of the Barbarians since he first joined us as a U10 player, this was undoubtedly his greatest moment in uniform and we are thankful to have witnessed it. Another player whom we feel was on his game is Aedan Marty. We were rewarded by watching as these two were unequaled or paralleled by any of their opponents or teammates, for they played in control and under control in every match no matter the score, no matter the outcome. This is how we play, every second of every game.
It is noteworthy that even though these two players were exceptional in their efforts everyone in attendance who watched any of our teams play know that we are organized and play at a level that many cannot comprehend even among our faithful followers. There was not one game in which our teams played, where we did not come out on top, that we are certain could have gone our way. For those of you who were not in attendance I assure that our club and its teams were representative at all times of the best that futsal has to offer by anyone’s measure. They played with passion, in position, and with possession from beginning to end.
The Barbarians played 16 games in all with 7 wins, 6 losses and 3 draws. We tallied 78 times and had 58 goals against. Following are players recognized by the club as selections to our “All Tournament Team”. As you may be aware we name only the top 9-12 out the 40 or so who represented our 4 teams that participated in the USFF Northeast Regional Tournament. Listed below are a total of 8 with the ninth being unnamed at this writing.
CREAMER, DUGAN, GRATZER, HEAPS, HOOSE, KELLY, KOPKO, MARTY