Op-Ed \ Michael Lewis

Revival of Metropolitan Oval a boon to soccer in New York and everywhere.

from MLSnet.com

NEW YORK (Monday, May 21, 2001) -- Where will the next United States national team star come from? Conyers, Ga.? Boise, Idaho? Or perhaps New York City?

The New York metropolitan area has produced some great soccer players through the years. The city, however, was in danger of losing a pipeline and one of the great meccas of soccer several years ago until two men with vision -- Jim Vogt and Chuck Jacob -- of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and Nike stepped in to save the Metropolitan Oval.

On Friday, they and many other players, coaches and even media celebrated the saving and renovation of the Oval.

The Met Oval was and is a sight to see.

Was and is? I'll explain.

Nestled in the middle of a neighborhood in Maspeth, Queens, you easily can drive past it if you aren't keenly looking for it. Actually, it looks like the front of a town dump unless you get view of a battered sign that proudly announces:

Metropolitan Oval
Soccer Games
Every Sunday

The Oval has been a vital part of the U.S. soccer scene since 1925 and has become the centerpiece for city youth and amateur soccer, particularly in the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League and Cosmopolitan Soccer League.

As many as eight clubs play and practice there regularly, making it a popular, yet congested field, especially on the weekends. Former U.S. World Cup captains Mike Windischmann (1990) and Tony Meola (1994) played there, as did former Cosmos captain Werner Roth and Pele's son, Edson, who went on to star for Santos in Brazil after playing for a local youth club in the city.

Vogt, the CJSL president, one time shuttered when he considered life without the Oval. It would have been devastating to city soccer. His league alone has 2,500 players, who along with their adult counterparts play as many as 500 games there a year.

"Without that field, from a league standpoint and a game standpoint, there are not too many places where you can go," he once said. "It shouldn't go the way of the Eintracht Oval.

"We can't afford to lose one field. This is the cornerstone of soccer in the city. . . To lose it would be ripping the heart out of soccer in New York City."

The Eintracht Oval, another bastion of soccer, is now home to a shopping center.

The Metropolitan Oval, if you could call it that, had seen better days. Until recently, it was completely dirt, save for a couple of blades of grass that sprouted every spring and got trampled on during the first playing weekend.

When it rained, it became a mud bath. When it was windy, it became a dust bowl.

When he played there regularly with B.W. Gottschee, CSL president Frank Lackner's typical Oval goalkeeping uniform included knee pads, elbow pads, long sleeve shirts and long pants.

"If you touch my knees, they'll bleed dirt because I play on the Metropolitan Oval," he said.

If dirt could talk, what a tale the Oval could weave. Back in the fifties and sixties, Germany first and second Division teams played local club teams as thousands of spectactors packed the stadium. The Colombian national team, as recently as six years ago, performed there. So did Ed Souza for the German-Hungarians, the same Souza who played for the U.S. in that unforgettable upset over England in the 1950 World Cup.

So did MetroStars midfielder and captain Tab Ramos, who played there for the Brooklyn Italians many, many years ago.

"If I went fast enough down the right side and I had to get a cross off, I would have to try to avoid the rail right next to the field," Ramos said. "The whole place was kind of neat."

So did forward John Wolyniec, who has played for the MetroStars, Chicago Fire and New England Revolution after playing for Silver Lake Soccer Club at the Oval.

"If there ever there was a home-field advantage, that was it," he said. "It was tough to play on the field. It made it unique and made for some great stories. It's a place that you can't believe you can play on. Yet, there was a lot of quality soccer being played there."

And so did Alfonso Mondelo, who coached the N.Y. Hota/Bavarians there years before he took on the reigns of the Tampa Bay Mutiny.

"It's one of the meccas of soccer in the New York area," he said. "It's a place where so many great things happened when there was no other soccer around. The Metropolitan Oval would fill up with fans on a weekend and they would go out and watch some of the best local talent and local leagues at the time."

The Oval was in disarray and threatened with a $372,000 tax foreclosure by the city and being turned into a shopping center or an apartment building. Realizing what was at stake for the youth of the city, Vogt went into action three years ago.

Along with Chuck Jacobs, who owns the Long Island Lady Riders and Brooklyn Knights, Vogt became a force of nature, forming the Metropolitan Oval Foundation and making sure nothing got in their way.

The foundation was awarded a $250,000 grant by the U.S. Soccer Foundation and a matching grant by Nike for a total of $500,000 to renovate the facility.

The key to the renovation was FieldTurf, an artificial turf that has the feel of real grass.

"It's an incredible product," Vogt said. "I really see it becoming the field surface for urban sports."

Several college football teams use FieldTurf. "There's no sliding on it, no turf toe," Vogt said. "It's a state of the art playing surface."

On Friday, Vogt, former players, local and national soccer officials, including former U.S. Soccer Federation secretary general Hank Steinbrecher, the emcee of the festivities and who played at the Oval, stood on that green grass at a special dedication ceremony. Instead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, balloons were released to celebrate the Oval's rebirth.

"It's like winning the World Cup," said Vogt, who assumed the role of Oval Foundation president. "It's an emotional day. It's great to do way with the old and bring in the new.

"New York City is the hardest place in the world to do anything, but we were able to do it. The history of soccer is in our blood. Three years of fighting has ended. We are taking the torch to the next level. The place cannot be sold. It has to stay a soccer field."

There are several levels, including new lights, new stands, a clubhouse and Met Oval teams from under-8 to under-19 that are slated to start play in September, supervised by Windischmann.

"I don't care if a kid comes with a dollar or 75 cents in his pocket," Vogt said. "He's going to play. . . Our goal is to turn out players for the national team. It's a matter of time."

Knowing Jim Vogt's force of personality, it would be wise not to bet against him.

Michael Lewis is a columnist for MLSnet.com and also writes for the New York Daily News..

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