February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Organized by Niall Swan, a former Shamrock first team standout now plying his skills with the reserves, the event runs through Sunday and has attracted 13 teams from New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Florida and the Caribbean.
The competition is divided into men’s and co-ed sections and will feature round-robin 8-a-side and 5-a-side coed games.
In addition to Billy Henderson’s Shamrock side, other Irish clubs involved include Tough Turks from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, Piper Celtics of Fort Lauderdale, New York’s Beadling, and the Teaneck, N.J.-based Cottage Pub side.
Striker Barry Farrell, from the Rocks’ second team, said at the weekend that the club had put together a mix of reserve and first-team players under coach Henderson’s charge for the Florida jaunt.
“We’ve got a good side going down, but we don’t know what the standards will be like,” he said. “However, we should do well.”
At any rate, the tournament should afford the participating Shamrock players a great opportunity to stay sharp during the CSL winter break. The Rocks are second in the First Division standings.
For Fergal O’Barrett of Piper Celtic, the tournament will be a reunion of sorts. The transplanted Dubliner spent three seasons with the Rocks before returning to Fort Lauderdale two years ago.
A center-forward who will start for Celtic, O’Barrett said that he has a hodge-podge side that includes Irish, English, and Scottish players, as well as a couple of ex-Italian professionals once on the books of defunct Italian Serie “A” side Fiorentina.
Celtic are an Over-30 team that plays in the Gold Coast Soccer League. They are sponsored by the Harp and Piper, a Pompano Beach pub formerly owned by O’Barrett’s mother and now under the ownership of Welshman Calvin Davies.
Beadling, from the Metropolitan Soccer League, have registered a 14-man squad for the tournament and are not short on confidence, co-captain Paul Agnew pointed out.
“We’ll kick the side out of everyone there. We’re genuinely brilliantly,” he boasted. “It should be good fun.”
One Beadling player of note is Gordon Taylor, a midfielder who had a stint with the Chelsea reserves in England in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
The Cottage Bar, meanwhile, will line up three Gaelic football players with a passion for soccer. They are Seamus Burke, Aidan Kelly and Brian Moloney.
Said John Dillon, player/manager of the wholly Irish club: “We’ll see what happens. It will be a good tournament and hopefully we’ll do well.”
The Cottage are in their first season in the North Bergen League’s East Division.
And despite the club’s name, Tough Turks comprises entirely of Irish players from the sun-drenched twin Islands. The team will be led by Adrian Corr.
Swan, who came up with the idea for the event last March, expects a fun weekend.
“Essentially, the idea is to mix a nice long weekend sun soccer vacation with Miami’s nightlife — as well as the beach, sailing or some golf on the side,” said.
“It will be a fairly classy affair, with some excellent hotels provided.”
According to Swan, the tentative schedule is for participants to arrive in Miami tomorrow and spend most of the day on Friday playing soccer.
Saturday will begin with time set aside for golf, relaxing on the beach, sailing in the ocean, and some tennis before the action resumes with the final phase of the tournament late in the afternoon. Trophies and awards will be handed out at a party that evening.
On Sunday participants will have the option of returning home or enjoying the sights of Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
“We are offering a bit more than a tournament. It’s a vacation kind of soccer-in-the-sun-type deal with hotels, airfare, two-day tournament as well as transportation to and from the games,” Swan said.
For last entries and upcoming tournament information, visit the Soccer Resort web site at: www.soccerresort.com, or call the official Soccer Resort travel agent, Grafton Travel, at (800) 874-9334.