A few weeks ago, one of our sister publications, North Jersey Media Group's "Our Meadowlands" magazine ran a cover story on Kearny product and everyone's favorite former national team goalkeeper/place kicker/actor/motivational speaker, Tony Meola and the indoor New Jersey Ironmen.
Unfortunately, "Our Meadowlands" does not have a Web site, so The International Fixture is the only place where you can find Jim Hague's story from the April/May 2008 issue. You can read the entire story after the jump. But for those in a hurry, here's the short version:
But down the road, Meola sees himself as a general manager or a technical director.
“My interest lies in building a team,” he states. “When I was just playing, I had no idea everything that went on behind the scenes. Now, I have an idea. I knew this was the direction I wanted to go.”
and here:
He said that he has been contacted by at least three MLS teams, with one offer being “very intriguing.”
If you'd like to find a hard copy of this story, contact "Our Meadowlands" editor Mark Bonamo at bonamo@northjersey.com
Read on...
Kearny’s soccer star son powers new local pro team
By Jim Hague
The long and winding odyssey that has been Tony Meola’s life as the most recognizable soccer goalkeeper in America has taken him to all points of the globe and even to what he thought was a permanent residence in a Kansas City suburb.
But deep down inside, Kearny is still home to Meola. He’s still Kearny’s native son. He still drops off his clothes at the neighborhood dry cleaners and visits his favorite sub shop, where he’s greeted with a warm smile and a hug and an owner who was willing to run to Newark simply to get him his favorite ice tea.
Passersby on the street honk their horns and wave. In Kearny, he’s still Tony, some two decades after he helped to put the town on the map.
“I love coming back,” Meola said while sitting in Big Stash’s Sub House, a place where his first promotional soccer poster from 1990 is autographed and still hanging on the wall. “My parents still live here. So does my mother-in-law. This is home to me. I love going back to the Kearny High School soccer games and being with the people here.”
New role for Newark’s new team
Meola turned 39 in February. A lot of other soccer players his age have decided to call it quits and move on with their lives.
But Meola still adamantly believes he can play the game and that’s why he’s manning the nets for the New Jersey Ironmen of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
The Ironmen kicked off their first season playing in the brand new Prudential Center in downtown Newark starting in October.
The opportunity to play with the Ironmen is a unique situation for Meola, who is one of only two goalkeepers in United States national soccer history with 100 caps (appearances) in net for Team USA (Kasey Keller is the other).
Not only is Meola being asked to be the new team’s most visible and recognizable player, but he’s also working in the team’s front office, doing a multitude of tasks, including public relations, promotions and administrative duties.
“It’s been a great transition for me,” said Meola, who represented the United States in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups and was the reserve keeper in 2002.
Meola spent two seasons with the MetroStars, who later became the New York Red Bulls, before being unceremoniously let go by his University of Virginia and U.S. national team coach, Bruce Arena.
After his release by the Red Bulls, Meola went back to his home in Kansas City, which had become his home away from New Jersey.
Meola was comfortable in Kansas City. He had played with the Wizards for six seasons, leading them to the Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup. He started a mortgage company there. He was comfortable raising his family in the Midwest. If his soccer career was indeed over, Meola was ready to make a lifetime of it in the Kansas City area.
Although he kept a home in the Kansas City suburbs, Meola would vacation at the Jersey shore with his family and friends.
In the summer of 2007, Meola had received a few calls from New Jersey Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek.
Vanderbeek was starting a new indoor soccer franchise to play in his new building in Newark and he wanted a viable local hero like Tony Meola to be a part of it.
“I told Jeff that I was coming to vacation at the Jersey Shore. As it turned out, he has a place just a few blocks from mine. We met on a Saturday afternoon and watched the Yankees play the Royals. After the game was over, he turned the chair around and started talking. About 10 days later, I was signed.”
For Meola, the fire still burns
Meola said that there had to be more to the deal that just playing soccer.
“I was looking for more of a front office position and I had a couple leads in the MLS,” he said. “If the deal didn’t have that element, then I wasn’t interested. But I still wanted to play. It wasn’t a necessity, but I wanted to play. I figured I could play one, maybe two more competitive seasons. Combine it with the front office work, then it made sense.”
So Meola sold the home in Kansas and came back home to Jersey. He was going to be part ambassador, part salesman, part greeter and glad hand man and part goalkeeper, all rolled into one.
Meola had a little experience playing indoor soccer, having spent one year in Buffalo in the early 1990s.
“But this was a new team, a new coach,” Meola said. “I was learning new players and learning about the game. The indoor game is so fast paced that you have to forget about your mistakes quickly. In the outdoor game, if you let up a goal, you tend to dwell on the mistakes because you have enough time to think about it. The indoor game doesn’t allow you to dwell on mistakes. It’s been a challenge, but it’s been fun. I just love competing. I can live without training five days a week, but the challenge of getting ready to play is still great to me.”
Meola has never once played the part of a future soccer Hall of Famer. He didn’t enter the realm of the Ironmen with that attitude.
“I would just rather be one of the guys all the time,” Meola said. “I know that the only way to win is as a group. There are no individuals on a team that is successful.”
Ironmen build team on strong foundation
Ironmen head coach Omid Namazi knew Meola from his playing days with the MetroStars, so he knew that Meola would be able to handle playing for the Ironmen.
“His attitude has been very good from the beginning,” Namazi says. “He wants to be involved and wants to be a part of the team. He’s still learning the indoor game and it’s a pressure situation, but he’s handling it.”
Namazi also knew that Meola would be a good fit for the new franchise.
“He’s a recognizable name in an area where he grew up,” Namazi says. “He’s also helping with the maturity of the team. It means a great deal to have someone of his experience. He has the composure to keep the team together. From a coach’s standpoint, he’s been great.”
Meola has been in goal for 16 of the Ironmen’s games and has been the winning keeper seven times, surrendering a little more than 11 goals per game, which is huge compared to his outdoor statistics.
“I don’t care about that,” Meola said. “As long as we’re winning.”
The Ironmen did well for an expansion team in its first season. They won 10 of their first 19 games and remained in the hunt for a playoff berth.
“The games are exciting and no team is ever out of a game,” Meola said. “Everyone has a great time and the kids love it. We certainly have to continue to grow our fan base. Indoor soccer can fill the void for avid soccer fans in the winter months. We just have to continue to build on what is a good soccer area. It’s a pretty good accomplishment for the first year. I think we’ve done a pretty good job in getting the name out and the word out. We just have to convince people to come back.”
Yes, you can go home again
Meola said that his hometown has been very supportive.
“Gerald Munro has taken over the Thistle Football Club and I grew up with him and played with him in high school,” Meola says. “They bought 600 tickets for our Opening Night and they’ve been to every event we’ve had. Kearny kids are playing on our field all the time.”
Meola doesn’t know where the future may take him. He’s starting his own line of soccer goalkeeper wear and attire, called GK1Soccer. Having taken nearly three years to develop, it will be launched in June.
“We just had our first order, 10,000 pairs of goalie gloves,” Meola said. “We needed the product to be just right. I’m excited about getting that up and running.”
Meola is also working with his best friend, fellow Kearny product Sal Rosamilia, on an instructional video for goalkeepers. Rosamilia played keeper while Meola was a forward on the 1984 Kearny High School state champions.
“I’m still a goal scorer at heart,” Meola laughed. “Somehow I got stuck in goal. I have to find a way still to score a goal in this league.”
But down the road, Meola sees himself as a general manager or a technical director.
“My interest lies in building a team,” he states. “When I was just playing, I had no idea everything that went on behind the scenes. Now, I have an idea. I knew this was the direction I wanted to go.”
Leaving it all on the field
But there’s the athlete in Tony Meola that won’t go away just yet. He still wants to play at least one more season of outdoor soccer. He said that he has been contacted by at least three MLS teams, with one offer being “very intriguing.”
Meola said that if he gets an offer, the Ironmen would let him go play that last season of outdoor soccer, because the two seasons don’t conflict with each other.
“Everything has to fall into place, but I know I can do it,” Meola said. “If I don’t get the chance, it’s not the end-all for me. I think every athlete should be able to go out on their own terms. When the Good Lord tells me it’s enough and slaps me in the face, then it’s over; I’ll walk away.”
Meola stopped and pondered for a second.
“I just want to go out spending every last ounce of energy I had to compete. I don’t want to be sitting in my living room 10 years from now wondering if I gave it my all.”
For now, Meola will put off that induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, a place where his childhood buddies and U.S. National teammates John Harkes and Tab Ramos are currently enshrined.
It was this trio, all members of the breakthrough 1990 national team, which helped Kearny earn the name “Soccertown, USA.” Back at Big Stash's, Meola glances up at the poster from that year, showing him displaying the prototypical 1990's mullet. Perhaps some things have changed in the last 20 years, but one thing remains: “This is where I belong,” Meola concludes.
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COTE D'IVORIE.
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Posted by: miss suzan.okuku | April 30, 2009 at 12:31 PM