Wings Soccer On The Hunt For a Title

You can find all kinds of characters at the Wichita Wings indoor soccer open tryouts.

Kevin Ten Eyck represents the Grizzled Veteran.

“Back for another year, huh?” I say to him.

At 36, the team captain is long in the tooth for a game that tears up your joints. But he says he feels great. And I would swear he’s the chillest I’ve ever seen him. Ten Eyck’s glare has been known to melt the plexiglass. Maybe a relaxed attitude has loosened him up on the pitch? While on offense during the scrimmage, he makes a particularly slick move.

“I think he’s buffering,” a young buck jokes.

We all laugh. But like the kids say, “Don’t get it twisted.” He’s no lame horse. Let’s not forget he led the league in blocked shots a year ago. And it wasn’t even close. Only five players in the league had more assists. He’d love it if you’d underestimate him. He’ll make you pay.

Gabe Villegas is The Kid.

At 19, he’s one of the youngest out there. I remember him as a boy watching the 2011-12 version of the Wings with his parents. But now he’s a Bethel College midfielder with legit talent.

“He’s technical and confident on the ball in small spaces,” coach Roger Downing says, “I can work with that and mold him into a solid indoor player.”

Coincidentally, when I asked Villegas (out of earshot of Downing) what he was best at, he told me, “Being comfortable on the ball.” So, they are in agreement.

Downing needs a youth movement. He’s getting it just in the nick of time.

“Half our squad are in their 30s,” he says, laughing.

Thanks to some quality signings and promising tryouts, the team anticipates more quality depth than in the past, Downing says.

“The youth is coming through now. They are all starting to see it and wanting to be involved,” he adds.

The Wings have been motivating youth to get involved in soccer ever since Roy Turner and the boys trekked to every elementary school in town in 1979. Now, the third generation is at it on the pitch.

Speaking of Liverpudlians, Kieran Laking is back and just as cheeky as ever. Will he throw another shoe at a ref this year? You’ll have to buy season tickets to find out. But throughout the tryouts, he wore a single Air pod so he could listen to the Manchester United game while jogging up and down the pitch (giving us all a running commentary on the state of the game). Being a gentleman, he left one ear unencumbered so he could hear instructions from Downing.

Several newcomers hold great promise.

“There’s four or five guys that could be massively impactful,” says owner Blake Shumaker.

At the top of the list is the former New Mexico Runners’ star, Mehrshad Ahmadi. Wings fans might remember him as the bandana-wearing stone-cold assassin that led the league in scoring last season.

“Last year he gave us fits. We’d run defenders at him, and he’d still score five on us. We’ve never had that in the recent past: a guy that can just go out and get goals,” says Downing.

Wings veteran defender Daniel Sack and Downing like to joke that assists will be a dime a dozen this season: all you have to do is make a pass out of the backfield and sit back and watch Ahmadi blow through the defense for a score. “Assist!”

If Ahmadi is a type, he’s the Natural Talent. An Erik Rasmussen, if you will. And his background intrigues. Originally from Afghanistan, he came to this country as a refugee. There’s a story there that I hope to tell.

“I want to win the whole thing this season,” Ahmadi says.

I keep hearing that same sentiment throughout the day. The players and the staff have their eyes squarely fixed on the championship on April 7. And lucky for them, it will happen right here at Hartman Arena. The Wings won the bid to host the entire playoffs, ensuring themselves an automatic bid.

“But we don’t want to take that automatic berth. We want to earn it,” says operations manager, game day master of ceremonies and bon vivant Johnny Freedom.

The biggest obstacle is the Chihuahua Savage, last year’s league winners. Defeating the talented Mexican team is a tall order, but the Wings are down for it. In fact, they’ve signed three very tall players to make it happen.

“We have some guys here with some size,” says Freedom.

A 6’4 Brazilian named Caique Trivelato-Pereira. A 6’3 Brazilian named Ygor Souza Das Neves. A 6’3 Colombian named Jorge Rodriguez. Every giant South American futboler this side of Buenos Aires is here in Wichita.

Rodriguez is also the assistant coach at Newman University. He has extensive experience playing for America de Cali’s U-20 team in Colombia as well as in the United States in the USL2. He says his job will be to stop the best offensive player on the opposing team.

“I will be tied to them all the time,” Rodriguez says.

And if they get past Rodriguez, they’ll encounter a bevy of goalkeepers. Aaron Parrott returns, along with his brother Taylor. They are joined by a newcomer: former Wichita Selection keeper Jose Ocampo. When I snuck a look at Downing’s roster, I also saw the name “Jason Dewey.” Don’t tease us with a Wichita B-52s legend, Roger!

Aaron Parrott persevered through several seasons of backup duty to earn the starting job last year after taking over from Costa Rican goalie Mauricio Vargas. His improvement in goal, and grit in sticking with it, have been noted by many Wings fans.

“I had a great keeper in front of me, Steven Hamersky, teaching me along the way, so I knew my time was coming. Being at practice, working my butt off…and Roger gave me an opportunity and I ran with it,” says Parrott.

The one guy at tryouts that definitely has no chance to make the team is Johnny Freedom. When I broached the subject, he began to speak about himself in the third person:

“His old nickname was Backpost Johnny. Johnny smokes cigarettes like Jeff Bourne did. He’ll be smoking a cigarette at the backpost and if he doesn’t put one in the back of the net, he will promptly run to the bench for an immediate sub. Because Johnny Freedom doesn’t defend,” he told me.

Thank goodness Sack, Ten Eyck, Laking, Rodriguez, and the rest of the gang will.

Players added from open tryouts: Victor Domingues, Jhovany Baltazar, Phillip Nguyen, Ygor Souza Das Neves, Tanner Prophet, Paul Gonzalez, Jorge Rodriguez, Gabriel Villegas, Carlos Vidrio and Luke Mills.

Notable offseason signings: Caique Trivelato-Pereira, Mehrshad Ahmadi and Jose Ocampo.

Wichita Wings season tickets renewals are available now at Hartman Arena. New season ticket purchases will be available Monday, Nov. 6. Individual tickets go on sale Monday, Nov. 20.