TST tournament: Stars, millions in prize cash, and two Vancouver teams

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Last June, a group of rag-tag soccer buddies and strangers gathered in a Toronto parking lot, the morning sun just barely cracking the horizon, and hopped in a couple of passenger vans.

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They then embarked on a 13-hour, 1,200-kilometre drive to Cary, North Carolina, where — for a fleeting week of fame — became the darlings of Canadian soccer.

There were watch parties as far north as Nunavut. Regent Park Community centre put all their activities on hold to host their own. All across the 416, backyard BBQs centred around watching SLC FC at the TST.

The group of Canadian futsal national team and League1 players entered the inaugural tournament, and made it all the way to the final, where they lost to Newtown FC.

The prize? A cool $1 million US.

Now, the co-organizer of that team is running it back for this year’s event in Cary (June 5-10), but he’s doing it with West Coast talent, and he will have even more company.

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Mario Kovacevic is heading back to the amateur-status only TST with a new team, sponsored by FitBodega Vancouver. Joining the men’s team will be a women’s team, Streetball FC, sponsored by the North Shore soccer club of the same name.

The first year of the tournament attracted some big names in the soccer world, like Cesc Fàbregas and Landon Donovan, with massive clubs such as Borussia Dortmund, Wolverhampton, West Ham United and even Wrexham, and the U.S. women’s national team sending entries. There were soccer-loving crossover participants, including Steve Nash and Chad Ochocinco.

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It was front and centre on social media and ESPN highlights last year, and the company will be airing 27 complete matches from this year.

For the 33-year-old Kovacevic, who graduated from UBC’s medical program last year, the run to the final was nothing short of magical.

“You’re hearing these big names (involved), guys you watched on TV and you’re like, ‘If we go down there and we don’t get embarrassed, it’s a cool trip,’” he said. “We’ve been playing these money tournaments our whole life. This will kind of be like the big one that we just kind of go to and enjoy. That was kind of the approach we had.

“Then we show up for our first game and we win. And we’re like, ‘Oh, this isn’t supposed to happen.’ … And then you win the next one. And now you’re through to next round. And then the next thing you know, we’re in the round of 16,” he said, recounting how his phone wouldn’t stop chiming from the group chat notifications he was in with people back home.

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“Then when you win the in semis, we just get back to our hotel room, guys who are nobodies, (and we’re) just getting like DMs from everywhere. This person is retweeting this, (TST investor and NBA star) Chris Paul’s retweeting that, and for a moment in time, a bunch of amateur soccer players from Toronto became the focal point of Canadian soccer.

“The whole kind of country was rallying around this. Everyone in Canada believes we have good players, right? And this is one of those moments right where it was like, it was like visible to the world like and then. We weren’t the best team out of Toronto. We were like group of good players from Toronto, but you could have put together like 10, 20 teams of similar players and they would have done a similar thing. So that’s what made it cool.”

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And then there were the stars. Playing against Fàbregas. Riding past Nash in their golf cart on the way back to the athletes’ village, then ceding him their ride after taking some pictures. Or playing former Premier Leaguers they’d watched on TV.

“Usually you kind of see them in an environment where they’re competing and you’re watching, but now you’re there as one of the competitors. You’re on their level,” said Kovacevic. “So your memories of (former Man City midfielder) Stephen Ireland are you’re at home, watching him on TV. And then fast forward, now you’re 33 and you’re like huffing and puffing and swearing at this guy. You’re like competing against him.

“The best part is, the fans see them and then they see you, but they can’t actually differentiate. They think you’ve played at some high professional level you’re in the finals. Well, little do they know, as soon as this thing ends, we’re all back to real life. Guys are roofers, guys are electricians, I’m back at work and studying. … We were in an absolute high at the end of the tournament in the final, and then literally three hours later, you’re in the airport and you’re nobody knows you.”

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The stars are out this year, too. Luis Nani, Bruno Alves, Ricardinho and Mario Balotelli will be there — on one team alone. Sergio Aguero will rep Man City with his own squad — they’ll unveil and play in City’s new 2025 kits, and are rumoured to be bringing the EPL trophy — and NFL star JJ Watt will be lacing up his football cleats. Wrexham is back in both the men’s and women’s divisions; Dortmund, Villarreal, Burnley and Bayern Munich will be there. ESPN podcaster Pat McAfee has his own team, which includes former Whitecap Brek Shea; Christian Dean is another VWFC alum in the tournament.

UBC’s Chris Lee, who played for the Whitecaps academy and NextPro team, as well as CPL side Pacific FC, watched last year’s event on TV, but will be playing in it for FitBodega this year.

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“It’s a crazy atmosphere. It’s different from the 11-a-side, but it’s exciting,” he said. “Yeah, it’ll be surreal walking onto the field seeing (the stars), but I feel like we’re all experienced players, and once you step onto the field, you lock in and don’t worry about all the outside noise.

“But once that final whistle goes, I’m going for a picture with them, for sure,” he added, laughing.

The women’s side is packed with former pros as well, including the USWNT, which infamously called out Wrexham before their game last year. This year there’s a full women’s division, which they’re favoured to win.

But the Canadian entry, also stacked with players from the national champion UBC, is a deep, young squad. They also boast players with international experience — Melissa Dagenais, Lauren Sesselman (both Canada) and Jaclyn Sawicki and Sarina Bolden (Philippines). Bolden scored the first World Cup goal in her country’s history to down New Zealand at the World Cup last year.

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Sesselman, now 40 and a former long-team member of the Canadian national team, played in last year’s edition with a men’s team, Zala. She’s been training in Los Angeles with many former U.S. national team members and pros who will be playing in North Carolina this week.

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“It was absolutely incredible,” said Sesselman, who does a ton of media work and recently branched out into sports agency.

“I think a lot of people we went in not knowing what it was going to be like. Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, we’re all retired. We’re just gonna have fun,’ and we show up and like, it was a lot more serious than we anticipated. But we had so much fun, we met so many incredible people and it’s gonna be even bigger and better this year. The stakes are higher.

“I think it’s gonna be a pretty even playing field, but I think a lot of people don’t underestimate our team. Our team doesn’t even mentioned when they were doing the interview on TV was the other three teams. Obviously, the US women are favourites, but … you’ve got so many incredible people playing in this tournament. I Love being the underdog. So bring it.”

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Last year, the entry fee for the winner-takes-all tournament was $15,000 USD. This year, it’s $40,000. Alejandro Arce of FitBodega supplements ponied up the cash for the men’s team, with Streetball FC doing the same for the women. Randy Celebrini, who’ll be assistant coach to Jesse Symons and trainer with the women’s team and helped found Streetballers, said the tournament fits the same ethos as his youth club: it’s about the experience and the opportunity for growth.

“It’s a phenomenal thing. We’re really excited. It’s just the second year, so imagine that in 10 years. And I think the world needs these things,” he said. “There’s a lot of ballers out there. There’s a lot of ballers — like just right here we see the talent and in Canada, that’s not necessarily an environment. All these little pieces they all are part of that.

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“You know,” he said, watching the team train on Thursday night, “we can all talk about what’s wrong with Canada soccer, this is what’s right about Canada soccer.”

PRIMER

Games are four nine-minute quarters, with a 10-minute halftime.

There is an untimed final period, the soccer version of the Elam Ending. A target score will be set of the leading team’s total, plus one. Or, if tied after regulation, first to score wins. For example, a Target Score of 5 would be set for a team leading 3-1. In this case, the trailing team would have to score three unanswered to win the game. Last year’s TST saw this happen twice with Zala, who came back from three and four goals down to win.

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“That’s what makes it unique. You’re watching these games and every game ends on a celebration,” said Kovacevic. “It’s like recess, right? Like when that elementary school bell rings and it’s like ‘next goal wins,’ and then the ball goes in and you go crazy.”

Games are usually high-scoring, high-octane affairs. The tactics were a work-in-progress last year, but Kovacevic and his team have been hard at work this year working out exactly how they’re going to play, from zoom sessions to evening practice sessions all this week at UBC.

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“Last year, you go into these games and you could see everyone, including ourselves, was just super tactically naive. No one plays seven aside. You play 11 aside, you play five aside, you play four aside,” he said. “It’s not a big part of like soccer culture. “The first two games, everyone was lost. And then you saw as we got to the final, teams had their tactics dialed. Last year there was a lot of easy games, just taking advantage of the fact that teams were disorganized tactically. This year, I think that piece is going to be out the window and everyone’s gonna be organized.

“Now I think a lot of teams can look at the footage online, take a look at the teams that have been the most successful, which is what we’re doing, and trying to see like what tactics they were employing.”

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ROSTERS

FitBodega Vancouver (Men)

Albert Kang, M, Hofstra University, Loyola University Maryland, Vancouver Whitecaps MLS Academy

Andreas Vaikla, GK, Estonian Men’s National Team, IFK Norrköping, Kristiansund BK, IFK Mariehamn, Toronto FC, FC Edmonton, Scrosoppi FC

Chris Lee, M, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Pacific FC, UBC

Daniel Kaiser, D, Burnaby FC, Cavalry FC, UBC

Duran Lee, D, Halifax Wanderers, Edmonton FC, Pacific FC

Henri Kim Godbout, M, UBC, Crossfire Academy

Logan Chung, M, Whitecaps Academy, UBC

Maksym Kowal, F, Carlton Town, Widzew Łódź, Raków Częstochowa, Olimpia Zambrów, ŁKS Łódź, Tasman United, North Wellington AFC, Canterbury United FC, Vaughan Azzurri, FC Ukraine United, Atlético Ottawa, Germania Halberstadt, Greifswalder FC

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Mario Kovacevic, F, Vaughan Soccer Club, University of Toronto

Mihai Hodut, M, SLC FC

Nick Fussell, M, Whitecaps Residency, Whitecaps U-23, UBC Soccer

Noah Hrdlicka, D, SBC Traunstein, Victoria Highlanders, British Columbia, University of British Columbia, Varsity FC, Nautsa’mawt FC, Foothills FC

Roko Vukic, GK, UBC, Vancouver FC

Sven Arapovic, D, York University, Toronto Croatia, U20 Canada Men’s National Team

Thomas Gardner, M, Whitecaps FC 2, FC Edmonton

Victory Shumbusho, M, UBC

Yigal Bruk, F, Ukraine U18 National Team, FC Schalke 04 U19, FC Schalke 04 Reserves

Mike Mosher, Head Coach

Casper Kleczek, Asst Coach

Stefan Colbow, Asst Coach

Streetball FC (Women)

Aaliyah McDiarmid, M, Coquitlam Metroford BCSPL

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Bailey Doerksen, M, Langley FC, Surrey United BCSPL, UBC Women’s Soccer, Nawtsumaut FC,

Ella Sunde, D, UBC

Emily Moore, GK, Lewes FC, West Ham United, Vancouver Island FC, Vancouver Island Wave, UBC

Grace Stordy, D, Calgary Foothills SC, University of Memphis

Holly Whelan, UBC, Alliance United,

Jaclyn Sawicki, M, Philippine Women’s National Team, U20 Canadian Women’s National Team, Vancouver Whitecaps, Chifure AS Elfen Saitama, ASSI IF, Western United FC, University of Victoria

Jacqueline Tyrer, D, Surrey United, British Columbia Women’s Soccer Team, Varsity FC, Nautsa’mawt FC

Jayda Thompson, F, Woodbridge Soccer Club, UBC

Katalin Tolnai, F, UBC

Lauren Sesselmann, D, Steel City Sparks, F.C. Indiana, Sky Blue FC, Atlanta Beat, FC Kansas City, Houston Dash, Santa Clarita Blue Heat

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Madeline Norman, F, Surrey United Soccer Club, B.C. Soccer, South West United Soccer Club

Melissa Dagenais, GK, Canadian Women’s National Team, SF Damaiense, University of Miami, Champlain College

Momo Nakao, M, University of Memphis

Nicola Golen, D, Harvard Women’s Soccer, Olympique Lyonnais, North Toronto S.C

Sarah Rollins, D, North Toronto, UBC

Sarina Bolden, F, Philippines Women’s National Team, Newcastle Jets FC, Chifure AS Elfen Saitama, Loyola Marymount University

Sirena Celebrini, F, Burnaby FC BCSPL, Streetball FC

Sophia Ferreira, D, Coquitlam Metro Ford, UBC Women’s Varsity Team, Lank Vilaverdense

Taiya Dennehy, M, Woodbridge Soccer Club

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