Down by one goal in the dwindling seconds of the semifinal game,
players on the Hollister Free Wheelers weren’t sure they would win
the chance to defend their hard-won National Power Soccer
Association title in the championship game.
Down by one goal in the dwindling seconds of the semifinal game, players on the Hollister Free Wheelers weren’t sure they would win the chance to defend their hard-won National Power Soccer Association title in the championship game.
Then, with less than a second left on the clock, the Free Wheelers scored, tying the game and forcing an overtime showdown against Indiana challenger Circle City Rollers. After a second overtime goal, the Free Wheelers advanced to face team Sudden Impact in the finals.
The Wheelers kept the ball rolling and emerged victorious again in the finals with a 4-2 victory over Sudden Impact, thus claiming a fourth championship. It was a successful end to the team’s undefeated season.
“It was really intense,” said Free Wheeler Coach Don Jones. “All the teams have stepped it up a level, so it was very competitive.”
By winning the tournament – held June 1 through 3 at the Lakeshore Paralympic Training Facility in Birmingham, Ala. – the Free Wheelers earned the right to be called the best power soccer team in the country. Power soccer, a sport specifically designed for athletes who use a power wheelchair, is similar to conventional soccer, but with slightly different rules.
The team’s 14 men and women, who range in age from 10 to 42, have been playing together for the last eight years. For Jones and his wife, Susan, who both started the team in 1997, the Free Wheeler’s success has been a dream come true.
“This is our fourth national championship,” Jones said. “And every national championship is a sweet victory.”
And this year’s championship title was especially sweet for veteran Free Wheeler Omar Solorio, who was named the 2006 Power Soccer Association MVP by tournament coaches.
“It was great,” said Solorio, who scored 10 goals during the three-day tournament. “The competition is getting better. Teams we beat last year by a lot, we only beat by one goal this year.”
But the best part of the tournament wasn’t scoring goals or winning; it was getting a chance to hang out with old power soccer friends and meet new ones, Solorio said. Later this year, Solorio plans to try out for a US national team that will compete on the international stage with the best teams from countries across the globe.
The Free Wheelers tournament success has come at a cost, said longtime netminder Robert “The Wall” Hallett.
“It’s nice to win,” he said. “But everybody doesn’t like us because we’ve won so many times.”
Susan Jones, team manager, said other teams routinely inquire about the Free Wheelers’ “secret.”
“We don’t have one; there is no magic,” she said. “But they have been playing together for a long time and they know each other well. We have some talented players, but if there is any magic, it happens when they play as a team.”
While this year’s National Tournament competition was stiff, the team is expecting an even tougher group of opponents next year, Jones said.
A host of rule changes have been proposed, some of which could drastically alter of the nature of the game. And as the sport evolves and changes, each team will have to adapt.
“The new rules will likely make it more an open game with a lot more passing,” Jones said. “It will also level the playing field so we won’t be as dominant as we have in past years.”
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com.
