Snowligan

So, at least for Fusion, the season is over. For men and women. No repeat of the Robbins era NPSL playoff run. No Hartley era winless WPSL season. As it happens, Fire and Ice are repping the Central region in WPSL and Minneapolis will play Detroit in the Midwest regional semis (The other side is a farce between Rochester and Ann Arbor) Is it wrong to feel relieved that the season is over? The league seasons are a launching pad of emotion crammed into a couple of months. We tried our best but we couldn't get a consistent streaming offering when it comes to announcing. The highlight was two energetic (but unknown to me) kids doing that role up in the press box - but only for one game.  My aim is to get that more often but people need to be geeks enough that they don't mind being unpaid. On the field highlights include a first win and a first home win in WPSL and a 4-4 game in Sioux Falls in NPSL. Fun was also to be had reporting on Fusion for E Pluribus Loonum, a self-consciously

As infamously captured by an interview by last season's Fusion women's coach saying he was more focussed on building a legacy than on wins and losses (He's not with the club any more, no clue if those two things are connected), success is a hard thing to define and even harder to capture. In practice, it IS to do with wins and losses and after a winless first season under Jack Hartley, Fusion have two wins already this season under Marco Campoverde. In essence, wins are the manifestation of success more than they are the sole benchmark of success. Especially in a league when draws are possible and only the division winners make the playoffs. Again, Fusion have two wins (at least). In many ways, tonight's win was a bigger victory. It was at home. It was against a team that was not an expansion franchise. Home wins build momentum as a club in a way that road wins don't. Local fans get the chance to watch local players win. Even if those local fans tonight were only

A season to lose (a few times) A season to win (for the first time in your club's history) A season to go up * A season to go down ** * (Not in the US, unless you have a few million dollars spare) ** Not in the US, unless you count dying Yes, I'm in a philosophical mood. Fusion men have had a rollercoaster season but more downs than ups and as I type this no chance of playoff footy. The women have been in a whole different conference, every club has at least one win - thus Fusion have broken their duck after a season plus of WPSL footy. The win came against a brand new club. I'm also recovering from major surgery so I've been missing live games and just watching them via Cujoo. Neither season is over for another month but again, there's little to cheer so concentration turns to match by match victories (actual or moral) Maplebrook and Salvo have retooled and taken a chunk out of their local rival Fire SC to be in the pole position for the one spot in the W

There are seven local men in the 30 man roster: Matthew Janke, Mohammed Osman, Garrett Johnson, Jacques Ncengetere, Hartrick Tarr, Austin Shafer and Leo Dunor. There are 11 men who went to either high school or college locally. There are 12 local women in the 30 woman roster: Emily Soukup, Jenna Schroeder, Brooke Bergen, Chloe Sollum, Brookelyn Dew, Lauren Hodny, Jensen Odegaard, Lauren Zanotti, Lauren Tschider, Maria Zanotti and Chloe Strom. 17 of the 30 went to either high school or college locally.

Fusion aren't announcing players but someone has posted them on the NPSL site. Returnees: Mohammed "Billy" Bangura, the Beljulji brothers, Lewis Grant, Jacques "Jackie" Ncengetere, Jade Johnson, Isaac Kehson,  Osman "Ozzie" Mwerba, Fiaz Musa, Hartrick Tarr, Saye "Archie" Suah, Nuukele "Nuke" Gboe By my count that's 13 guys but notably no Steve Harris - the first choice goalie so far for the whole history of FC Fargo and then Fusion. Presumably an opportunity for Habib Beljulji. New guys: Brandon Beyer - West Fargo High, Bismarck State Leonard Dunor - West Fargo Sheyenne Rex Dweh - Utah Matthew Janke - New Ulm, MN Garrett Johnson Eduardo Melo The club's WPSL page mentions five players. I only recognize one, as Moorhead Spud Lauren Hodny continues to wear Fusion colors as she moves on to life at Bemidji State (D2, Northern Sun - a league with a tonne of Fusion talent last year) The other four are Megan Philips, Elle

Covering amateur soccer requires a) knowledge of the high school and college rosters and coaches and b) knowledge of a myriad of small towns and/or suburbs and c) some knowledge of international geography. Ideally, clubs pick up some of the slack and provide biographical details for players but often it is the colleges, local papers and research that fill in the blanks and as a new season approaches I apologise for any lack in bios as part of my club role and ask for forgiveness for player name mispronounciation when I haven't had the chance to get a definitive version. I hope to be able to chase those down, in particular. At least for my club and primary beat, Fusion. I'm looking forward to tracking those guys from country A via college B into home town C but also those guys like Jade Johnson who are synonymous with a particular town. See you guys later. Tim

As far as I know, there are three Fargo kids currently in pro sides. Part of me wishes they were in the Founders Cup but thanks to the pipeline of Schaecter Sports, they are playing in Northern Europe. West Fargo High's Akeem Prince Smith has moved on to IF Älgarna in Sweden's fifth tier from Fusion. Fargo South's Jacob Weiler and Fargo Davies's Austin Peterson (via Concordia Moorhead - NCAA D3) are playing for SC Hauenstein.

The era of Jack Hartley has come to an end after one season. I'm not sure what the decision to move on says about the intent of the Fusion owner with regard to the womens side. Taking over at the helm for WPSL is Marco Campoverde. With all respect to Coach Hartley, Campoverde has deeper local bonafides. He's from Grand Forks. He works with East Grand Forks High and Tri City Storm. In soccer rep terms, it's more of an interesting comparison. Hartley went through Jamestown and Fusion as a player. Campoverde played in the Ecuadorian Andes as a pro. I believe this is where his family are from. I'm not gonna offer an opinion on how the change might change the play style. I hope that stylistically, we just see a fine tuned version of the counter attacking style that Fusion tried last year. See you later.

Walking into the wind during this dank Winter means that when I use my scarf in Snowligan fashion, it seals my mouth so thoroughly that there is nowhere for the warm breath to go but up onto my glasses so that I cannot see. During my rare trips down the cycle/walking path between 31st Avenue and 24th in Moorhead, I had to basically look over my glasses to see where the hell I was going. Fuck this Winter.

In a previous life I posted a sequence of photos of a soccer ball against the steadily cooling weather. This winter has been, and continues, to be brutal. If I'm using my Fusion scarf (by far the warmest scarf I've ever owned) as Snowligan gear, I can't see through the misted lenses of my prescription shades or glasses. The path has also been inconsistently shovelled by the City of Moorhead. I would use the Paratransit but you have to pre-schedule that AND it's only a couple of bucks cheaper than an Uber. (Fun fact, my phone keeps wanting to type Über.  Sehr toll!) Thankfully, Uber drivers are on the roads, however crappy they are and with Tryouts in the schedule for Fusion and professional leagues in preseason, soccer season is genuinely coming closer in the North. In the off-season I have added website posting to my social media duties with DFFC so I know that Fusion is running a Tryout for men on March 30th and 31st and one for women, but only those not attendin

Snowligan - noun: Portmanteau of snow and hooligan Definition: A person who uses a soccer scarf to stop their face from freezing