RedHatSoccer/History - spevack.org

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History

First, we lost all the time.

Then, we lost most of the time.

Then, we started to win.

Late 2005 and early 2006 we were having trouble fielding a team.
Some people had been scrimmaging outdoors, sometimes under the name "Geeks with Cleats".
Basically it was a group of friends who had desk jobs and wanted a fun way to get some exercise.
One of those friends was Adrian Likins, who works for Red Hat.
Adrian mentioned often that his indoor team needed some help getting numbers.
And so Robert Burns, Reinhard Hopperger, Betsy Scholl started to play.

Then, we won the championship back to back.

The March - May 2007 championship roster included:
- Reinhard, Kevin, Bolaji, Brodsky, Bill, Ken, Colin, Dori, Rick, Betsy, Burns, Landry, Max, (Brian? Adrian? Jonathan Opp? Misha? Mihai? Todd Warner? Brent? Kiat?).
- The top goal scorer this season was Reinhard, with 12 goals in 10 games.
- Our record this season was an UNBELIEVABLE 8 wins, and 1 loss. We lost the first game of the season to My Bad, and then won 8 STRAIGHT GAMES.
The May - July 2007 championship roster included:
- Reinhard, Kevin, Bolaji, Brodsky, Bill, Ken, Colin, Dori, Rick, Betsy, Burns, Landry, Max, Brent, Kiat, (Brian? Adrian? Jonathan Opp? Misha? Mihai? Todd Warner?).
- The top goal scorers this season were Reinhard and Bolaji, both with 7 goals in 10 games.
- Our record this season was a solid 6 wins, 1 loss, 2 ties.

Then, we were pretty good for a long stretch.

January 2007 - July 2008 were the glory years.
8 straight seasons of at least getting to the semi-finals (top 4).
- 4 semi-final finishes, 2 finals finishes, and 2 championship finishes.
- A combined record during that period of 40 wins (61%), 16 losses (24%), 10 ties (15%)
- Brodsky was named "Bend it like Beckham", for scoring the overtime goal that won the championship in both seasons.
- We had an AMAZING Red Hat intern named Kevin. Shockingly blond hair, wicked foot skills, and a shot that was like Thor's Hammer. Kevin's face would turn beet red, whether on the field, showing off his Brazilian foot skills, or on the sidelines, yelling for someone to sub out. Once, a team scored on us. Kevin, in particular, was beaten on the goal. Angry, Kevin brought the ball up to the half-line. Placed the ball. Stepped back. And shot a MISSILE OF A SHOT, from the half-line, DIRECTLY INTO THEIR GOAL!!!!!!! Unfortunately, you can't shoot a direct shot on a kick-off. So it didn't count. But still. Mad skills.

Then, we suffered a bit of a drop-off.

Now, we're trying to rebuild our strength and return to past glory.

In July 2009, we instituted the Red Hat Soccer Team Vanity Awards because we're vain. And, we'd like to recognize what makes this team tick.

1. Best jokes / one-liners of the season: Bolaji

2. Loudest player ever in life: Bolaji

3. Most tardy: Ken

4. Most team spirit: Colin & Reinhard

5. Most contributed to my enjoying playing on this team, this season: Betsy

6. Most improved player: Betsy

7. As cool as the other side of the pillow:

Betsy, Bill, Brodsky, Burns, Candice, Landry, Reinhard & Rick (Half the darn team! Each got 1 vote.)

8. Best defense of the season: Ken

9. Best strategery: Brodsky, Burns & Bolaji

10. Most heroic performance: Colin

The goalkeeping position is one of leadership. One of guts and glory.

Max put his stamp on the position, by anchoring the team through "the glory years".
But then Red Hat sent Max to Amsterdam for 18 months. The team was all a-tizzy. Who's going to replace the great Maximus?!?!
Many attempted to fill his shoes. Grudgingly.
- Brodsky did a stint.
- So did Burns.
- And Rick.
- And GDK (who was really quite good.)
Colin ended up being the one that stuck. A tenacious competitor and athlete, Colin stood filled the gap. Despite having no goalkeeping experience, he very quickly developed into the best option we had outside of Max. Stability at the goalkeeping position gave the team a chance to start rebuilding again. Colin made the "Kamikaze Goalkeeper Run" famous... by running the ball, himself, down the field. Often past midfield... sometimes coast-to-coast! (very frightening...)
Max returned from Amsterdam just in time to relieve Colin who was eager to get back on to the field, opening up a new world of options for team dynamics and chemistry.