Indy Eleven is a North American Soccer League team
that plays its home games at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis.
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Indy Eleven - The World's Game, Indiana's Team Indy Eleven is a North American Soccer League team that plays its home games at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis. |
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I was introduced to the sport of competitive soccer at the beginning of my sophomore year of college at Indiana Central University (now known as The University of Indianapolis). Thinking this would be good conditioning for the spring track season, I discovered a whole new world. There was an announcement and sign-up sheet in the spring of 1981 for anyone interested in trying a new sport at the university. During my summer vacation, I was contacted and given directions of where to meet.
Joseph Tugurian was our coach and mentor. Mr. Tugurian had played on the Turkish National team at World Cup level several years before. As our coach, he brought dreams and aspirations to a fledgling program that has developed into a solid NCAA Division II sport. After a few weeks of training and conditioning, and a lot of learning, we were preparing for our first game when someone on the team asked the coach, 'How do we start a soccer game?' Most of us had never watched, let alone played in, a competitive game of soccer, so this was seen as a serious question. With a few laughs and a quick explanation, we were ready to go. Our first game was a little less than competitive, but Joe Young managed to score the first goal in school history and we enjoyed the chance to give it a go. The season may not have produced a lot of wins but there were several highlights including our first victory in only the fifth game, and our international exhibition against the team from The University College of Cork, Ireland (Still the only international soccer match in our school's history).
| ROSTER Joseph Turgurian - Head Coach
| 1981 Indiana Central University Men's Soccer Team Front Row (L to R): Allan Crane, Sandy Zehr, 'Hurk' Cooper, Joe Young, Ben Arndt, Mike Blair, Kenton Brett, Phil Crawford, Anthony Ryan Back Row: Coach Tugurian, Roger Hintz, Brad Beaver, Ali El-Messousi, Todd Van Deman, Joe Oliphant, Phil Lynch, Mark Scott, Keith Ward, Haluk Bilgen Current University of Indianapolis Men's Soccer Team (2019 NCAA Div II Final Four Participants) |
*Int'l Exhibition Match |
Unfortunately, I only played college-level soccer the one year as I had to get a job to pay for college expenses. My next foray into the world of futbol came many years later in Memphis, Tennessee when I was asked if I was interested in playing Sunday morning pickup games with a bunch of guys from the office. Those guys, I found out rather quickly, were mostly from Greece, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and the US East Coast and had played since childhood. Still it was fun and it elevated my game a lot. After a few months, we had an opportunity to play in an over-30 league in Germantown, TN. Unfortunately, the league didn't have room for another team, so we had to be split up amongst the existing teams. We still played the weekend pickup games and also fielded a team for a couple of winter, indoor leagues.
After destroying my ACL in an outdoor game in 1996, I was told I would never play soccer again. I began coaching youth soccer. I started as a parent/assistant coach for my daughter Kenda's teams, and also served as head coach for a few recreational teams in the Noblesville United Soccer Club.
Noblesville United Soccer Club - local youth soccer organization in Noblesville, IN.
NCRSL Soccer - The official web page of the Noblesville traveling Recreational 2007-2008 Girls Under 14 Soccer Team.
Nickander & Assoc. Soccer - The official web page of the Nickander & Associates 2005-2006 Girls Under 12 Soccer Team.
Pebblebrook BP's Girls Under 10 Team - official web page for the girls' 2004-2005 U10 team.
Charles Howard Insurance's Boys Under 10 Team (The Blasters) - official web page for 2003-2004 Boys U10 team.
My daughter, Kenda, developed into a solid defender and mid-fielder with a booming corner kick. In addition to playing with Noblesville United, she played on her high school's soccer team while attending St. Theodore Guerin Catholic High School in Noblesville.
In 2010, I participated in an adult recreational summer league in Noblesville, but played with injuries nearly the entire season.
In 2012, I attempted a comeback with the UB-40 Avatars O-50 team in the Central Indiana Amateur Soccer Association spring league. After four games I was diagnosed with a DVT in my left leg and had to stop playing (permanently) while being treated to prevent an embolism.
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SOCCER RELATED WEB LINKS Indy Eleven (professional soccer team) FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) Hamilton County Special Olympics |  |
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Noblesville United Soccer Club 8600 East 196th Street Noblesville, IN 46062 |
