February 6, 2008

The two-time USASA Donnelly Cup champions is more than a squad performing on the field. Their victory in 2007 was the first time in its 90-year history, to duplicate the same episode at the 2008 national championship. The Illinois State Select Team is certainly one of the top devoted adult teams out there.

“It’s a great feeling to repeat at  USASA National Select Team Champions, especially since two-thirds of the team and all of the staff was returning from last year’s triumph in Tampa, Florida” said Illinois State Select Team Head Coach, Minos Vlamakis.

Vlamakis, who is a recipient of the USASA Coach of the Year Award himself, explains that a remark of his coaching style is to deliver a positive attitude, and that there is one word to define success.

“Chemistry” he said. “Especially this time around, because Mother Nature was not so kind to us in the lead up to this year’s Donnelly Cup as opposed to last year’s one;” explaining that they had some challenges when outdoor practices were on a field covered in snow with an average temperature of 15 degrees.

“We have loads of talent and depth on this group, but the best thing about our team is that a lot of the boys play together at the collegiate or club level and have a great respect for one another, so our team chemistry really showed. Combine that with the right balance of youth, experience, game-breakers, and hard workers, and success will naturally follow,” said the proud coach.

Approximately 90% of the team plays in the National Soccer League of Chicago for various clubs affiliated within USASA. Nearly half of the players are from the former Yugoslavia, with the other half being a mix of U.S. born players who are first generation from Africa, Venezuela, Mexico, Greece, and Poland. “To call our group diverse is an understatement” said Vlamakis joking about his team.

Meet the MVP

Jovan Bubonja was named the Men’s Most Valuable Player of the 2008 George F. Donnelly Cup.

“When a goalkeeper finishes a tournament with two shut-outs, two assists, several tournament-clinching saves and even a goal scored, it’s hard to not give him the MVP award!” 

So far, Bubonja has played two years at the collegiate level, and is already among the top goalkeepers in the country both statistically and in reputation. That success has carried over to the USASA level as he has won two National Championships, and a Regional Championship with the Illinois State Select Team.

He was also a captain of the U16 Serbian National Team back home, and today he is an integral part of the USASA Men’s National Team, which went undefeated in Ireland last summer.

Minos, an avid coach, is ecstatic to have Bubonja in his team, “I really feel like he has a good 15-20 years of professional soccer in him once he is done with school. In the meantime though, Illinois State Soccer Association and the USASA are proud to call him one of our own!”

Since 2003, Minos Vlamakis has coached three teams (Illinois State Select Team, Assyrian Winged Bull, and RWB Adria) that have won a combined of 5 State Championships, 7 Regional Championships and 3 National Championships within the USASA.

The devoted head coach also mentioned that the Elite Player Program, originally known as the Select Teams Program, is a great measuring stick of soccer in the United States, “it showed because it was easily the best competition in the four years in a row I’ve been a part of the Donnelly Cup. Keeping that in mind, to come out undefeated is a great achievement and I’m extremely proud of everyone involved!” he added.
      MVP Jovan Bubonja (left) with Men’s 
National Head Coach Aleks Mihailovic (right)