Thursday, January 12, 2005
NASHVILLE, TN -- The Nashville Metros and the U.S. Air Force Men’s Soccer Team will face off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Ezell Park in a friendly match to raise money to help armed forces families in Tennessee who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq.
There will be no admission charge for the match but the Metros are suggesting a $5 per person donation at the gate. All proceeds from the match will go to Tennessee Marine Family, a cross-service grassroots organization that supports Tennessee’s Gold Star families (those who have lost a relative in the conflicts), those who have been wounded in the conflicts and personnel still on active duty in those nations.
“We hope soccer fans in the Nashville area will take a little time that day to come out and show their support for the families of men and women who have sacrificed so much,” said Metros General Manager Ken Renner. “We think it will be an entertaining match that will allow us to showcase some longtime Metros favorites and look at some exciting young prospects while serving a great cause.”
In addition to its charitable purpose, the Air Force team will use the match and two more against lower-level amateur teams in Memphis the following day as training for the annual Armed Forces Cup Tournament. The team, which is comprised of active-duty Air Force personnel, will compete against similar groups from the Army, Navy and Marines in San Diego on Jan. 25 – Feb. 1 to determine the armed forces champion.
Traditionally the Air Force team – closely followed by the Army – have been the best squads in the annual tournament, said new Air Force Head Coach Capt. Roy Dietzman.
“Last year the Air Force came in third so we’re looking to redeem ourselves,” Dietzman said.
The Air Force team began training last week at Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, Mississippi. From a pool of 60 applicants, Dietzman winnowed the group down to 36 who were invited to camp. He hopes to trim down to his final 18-man roster, along with two alternates, by the time the team heads for Nashville.
While the Metros will not formally open training camp until April and do not have access to last year’s collegiate players for this match, the team has held a series of informal off-season workouts to look at promising area players, especially those in the rapidly growing Hispanic and international communities.
Assistant coach Jim Mechan said some of these exciting young prospects will join members of last year’s Metros squad and former Metros professional players on the team that will face Air Force.
Among those participating will be all-time Metros scoring leader Pasi Kinturi, all-time minutes-played leader and fiery fan favorite Danny “Freight Train” DeVall, 2003 league assist leader and 2004 Metros co-captain Ben Buerger, 2004 co-captain Stephen Murray, 2004 leading scorer Richard Askey and popular former pro defenders Adam “Coco” Cohen (1999-2000) and Ben “Iron Man” Fisher (1999-2001), the No. 2 man in career minutes played for the Metros.
“We expect these Air Force boys may be a little fitter than our players at this point in the year, but we expect to give a good account of ourselves,” Mechan said.
The oldest soccer franchise in North America, the Metros are members of United Soccer Leagues, the largest collection of soccer leagues on the continent. The Metros play in USL’s Premier Development League, where top U.S. and Canadian U-23 players compete during the summer months with former pros and international players without forfeiting their collegiate eligibility.
The Metros will kick off their record-breaking 16th season in early May.
