Teams from up and down the East-Coast will compete this weekend in the inaugural Global 5’s National Championship, held on the banks of the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey.
As the opening ceremony draws nearer, we caught up with Jason Ingargiola from Norwell United in Massachusetts to talk about his team and his Global 5’s experience.
Global 5’s - Jason, briefly tell us about Norwell United and how long you have been involved with them?
Jason – We incorporated the club (Norwell) two years ago to meet the needs of players in the ‘middle’. Our mission was to foster the development of players passionate about improving their quality of play, but that were not getting the level of individual attention they needed to advance. We are development focused, not system of play focused.
Global 5’s - How did your team do in the MA regional qualifier?
Jason - We had a great run making it to the finals. Though we lost to a strong side, ending the tournament as the BU14 New England Regional Runner’s Up was a great achievement for our players.
Global 5’s – What did you find the major difference to be between 5-a-side and full sided tournament play?
Jason - The major difference between the 5-a-sides and normal tournament play is the player intensity from the top to the bottom of the roster. With an efficient 8-man roster, every player needs to deliver max effort. Every player contributes and knows they contributed. Finally, 5-a-sides reinforces the small-ball, tiki-taka style of play. Great athletes of whatever age can standout in regular tournaments which is wonderful.
Global 5’s, however, feels more skills oriented and requires more proactive movement off the ball which makes it so much fun to play, coach and watch
Global 5’s – How do you think your team will do this weekend?
Jason - We’ll play well. We have the skills, intelligence and passion to excel. That said, there are a lot of great teams playing, so we’ll have fun executing our game to the best of our ability and will do our best. No matter what, we’ll have a brilliant time trying!
Global 5’s – What are you most looking forward to about playing in Hoboken this weekend.
Jason - The opportunity to test ourselves against the best from across the country is an experience always worth having. The fact that we get to do it in the glow of the Manhattan skyline with a special group of boys, friends and parents makes it all the more exciting. Oh yeah, for my 9 yr old daughter, the fact that Hoboken is home to Cake Boss makes following her brother again a bit more bearable.