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Langley's Amato 'knows his football'
Bo Amato, the Langley boys soccer team's first-year coach, has quite the situation on his hands – or more appropriately, feet – this season.
Despite his team's relocation to a rickety and ragged practice pitch on Monday afternoon, a smiling Amato stood proudly, greeting his prized Division I prospect as Graham Oxley (Duke) walked toward him.
Amato then followed by greeting his second prized Division I prospect -- UCLA-bound Daren Flitcroft.
To finish, the London-born Amato chided his third Division I prospect, James Madison's Rahul Chaudry, for sporting a mustard-colored jersey to practice.
“Langley is going to be a beast,” said Sean Burke, head coach of the district-rival Jefferson Colonials. “Look at the schools they're going to, it's like, 'You have three of those kids on one team ... you've got to be kidding me.'”
Added Flitcroft, convincingly, “He's a 'Brit.' He knows his football.”
But this story isn't about American football; it's instead centered around Amato's experience with the international game, even though Amato is cognizant of the divide between the two, joking, “Maybe if one goal was equal to 10 points, it'd be more exciting.”
Although he's still able to command his players' respect and attention, Amato exudes an immediate likability that is palpable throughout his team.
“I think adults need to remember what it was like when they were kids,” said Amato, whose team finished 6-10-1 without him last season. “Some people put a new hat on, and they forget what they were like when they were a kid.”
Langley's new coach immediately installed a kid-friendly system. Between Oxley, Flitcroft and Chaudry, the Saxons have the offensive firepower to score a ton of goals, even if they occasionally let a few slide through.
“I'm not a big fan of defensive sports, period.” Amato said. “You can have some great nil-nil games that are exciting, but in America, people don't like the game because they said there's not enough goals.
“In order to win a game, we're probably going to have to score at least three [goals]. We're not going to shut anyone out; we're going to have to score some goals, and I think we have the talent to do that.”
Langley's talented trio won't have to look far to find a hard-to-beat goalkeeper, as Jefferson senior Ariel Brown posted 10 shutouts last season for the Virginia AAA state champion Colonials (15-1-5 in 2007).
“[Brown] is just a great shot stopper,” said Jefferson coach Sean Burke, whose team should challenge Stone Bridge and Langley for the Liberty District title. “He gets from post to post and covers a lot of ground. We just have to find a way to get some scoring and hopefully that's where [senior forward] Ayman Abunimer will step in.”
Marshall senior Gregory Goldbach will look to put the final exclamation point on his successful career. Goldbach, who has notched more than 20 goals and 15 assists in his career, will play collegiately next year at Kentucky. But this year, Goldbach will look to beef up Marshall's 4-8-1 record from a year ago.
Madison coach Ryan Douds has stressed the idea of defense during his first year on the job. “We've gone to more of a defensive philosophy,” said Douds, who'll lead a Warhawks team that finished 2007 at 6-6-1. “We're looking for a solid effort with every game, regardless of the outcome.”
McLean is another school that'll have a name on its sideline. Mike Anderson will hope to have his Highlanders back in the district final – a game they lost, 1-0, to Jefferson last spring. Pat Meagher is a senior captain that “has a tremendous amount of technical ability on the ball,” according to Anderson.
Senior Ed Barr will try and resurrect an Oakton team that finished 3-10-1 last spring. Barr will be helped by hard-working juniors Jacob Merlin and Omar Ismail, as the Cougars will take the pitch in a treacherous Concorde District.
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