This has been a year of challenges. The pandemic has upended so many aspects of our lives. Social issues took center stage, particularly the cases of police brutality that took the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and too many others. Making the decision to suspend soccer operations for the year was a small matter compared to what was going on in our city, our state, and the world at large. While we deeply missed the excitement of seeing our returning players, the new members of the AFCAA Family that would have joined them on the field, and most of all our beloved fans, we know that the pandemic will pass, and we will get to enjoy these pleasures in due time. Challenges breed opportunity, and we were able to take the time away from the pitch to refocus and expand our reach.
Community engagement has been a mainstay of our mission since the beginning, and we’ve redoubled our efforts in absence of a season. The Community Kicks initiative, as part of our non-profit The Mighty Oak Youth Project, worked with the Michigan Dairy Farmers to provide 30,000 meals to those families impacted by food scarcity which has been exacerbated by the school closures. The generosity of our fanbase and other donors in our community led to a massive increase in donations to TMOYP which enabled this program. Additionally, TMOYP is working on new initiatives that address literacy and access to soccer in underserved populations in our county. We also honored those food heroes that have stepped up since March to make sure children around the state don’t go hungry.
Our first youth board representative, AFCAA standout Emily Eitzman, became a full board member. Emily has been spending this year flexing her creative side by painting and writing. She even donated one of her paintings to our friends at Bishop Elementary. I’d also love to thank Nick Lacy, TMOYP Board President, as well as the other Board members for their commitment to these amazing programs.
While the national election was a constant in the news cycle this year, I would like to take a moment to focus locally, and congratulate Main Street Hooligan and AFCAA superfan Travis Radina, formerly the director of the Jim Toy Center, for his election to the Ann Arbor City Council. Few people in our community are as committed to the rights of all people as Travis, and he’ll be an incredible servant to our community. I’m proud to count him among the AFCAA Family.
In November, the Collegiate Soccer Society at Michigan held a virtual conference. One of the most talked about panels focused on Building Anti Racist Soccer Clubs. Our club Chair, Bilal Saeed, sat in on the panel. Our club has always valued diversity and representation within our board and our coaching staff. In 2021, we will be introducing a program to further our efforts in building anti racist culture. Our board executive members have been developing the plan, led by Bilal, and with counsel from Knox Cameron. We’ll need the support of our exceptional fanbase to make these efforts meaningful.
Looking back to the pitch, this year was to mark the first season for our men’s team in USL League 2. This was a move that would have brought even more intense competition on the field. The roster that Eric Rudland was bringing in had my mouth watering and my mind thinking about championships. Though none of that was to be in 2020, I have the utmost confidence in what we’ll accomplish when we are back on the field. Our conference has added some new members since last offseason, and it looks like travel will be very manageable for away games for team and fans alike.
For the women’s team, we welcomed Boyzzz Khumalo as the new head coach. Of course Boyzzz has been here as a member of Eric’s staff since 2016, but I was excited to see what his special brand of energy would have brought to an exciting roster ready to take the next step. The UWS has continued to grow in our area, adding to our list of rivals within easy travel distance. I look forward to watching our women play again soon.
While our club did not take the field this year, many other leagues played out their seasons. This meant that many Mighty Oak alumni were on the pitch, and were often available to see on TV or via livestream. Stanley Okumu, playing for IF Elfsborg in the Swedish Allsvenskan first division, has continued to gather accolades. Stanley’s future, as we could see in his 2018 season with our club, is very, very bright. Many other fan favorites, like Jake Rufe (Birmingham Legion), “Super” Dario Suarez (FC Tulsa), Azaad “AZ” Liadi (FC Tucson in 2020, South Georgia Tormenta in 2021), Mike Novotny (Hartford Athletic), “Captain” Jack Cawley (Wealdstone FC), and Hector Morales (Miami FC), have had big seasons in the higher divisions of soccer here and abroad. That list is nowhere near exhaustive, and every year gets larger as more talent, discovered and nurtured by our excellent coaching staff, comes in.
I want to send a special thank you to the Main Street Hooligans. Always more than just a group of passionate fans, we have entrusted their counsel for many of our efforts. Their awareness and intense commitment to our club did not wane in a season without soccer. In fact, they’ve been deeply involved and provided unbelievable support in this complicated year. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to be the core of the AFCAA Family.
Despite the difficulties of this year, the bright spots are there to be found. While we missed cheering on our women and men, we will come out of this a stronger club, ready to hit the ground running on and off the pitch. I absolutely cannot wait to roam the stands and see you, our fans, friends, and family, on a sunny spring game day, cheering “Come On You Mighty Oak!”
