Welcome to our continuing series of Meet the USASA features where we annually profile the clubs representing the United States Adult Soccer Association in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Advancing from the four regional tournaments, these often unknown clubs have great stories to tell and each year, our goal is to allow fans to get to know them as they attempt to become this year’s Cinderella story.
The most compelling thing about the Red Force is not their impressive championships from the last two years but how Coach Gabriel Vega has managed to grow a successful and competitive team that started with his sons and their friends as a youth team. This year’s squad has a mix of veterans and promising youth. The Red Force are competing in their first Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and will open the 100th edition of the tournament against the PDL’s Ocala Stampede at Florida International University.
The Red Force were the only team that entered Open Cup qualifying from the state of Florida and therefore earned a bye into the USASA Region III tournament where they were able to secure a spot in the US Open Cup. When discussing the team’s participation in the Cup, Vega said “ fantastic feeling… The satisfaction of seeing them win was amazing. We are a like a family. We play a very nice soccer.”
Red Force cruised through the Region III tournament, winning three straight games including an Open Cup-clinching 2-0 win over the ASC New Stars, who were attempting to qualify for the third year in a row.
The Red Force began its adult incarnation in the 2008 season when they began competing as an independent team in the SSM Premier League which they have won three of the last four years.
Young stars
Life for Vega and the Red Force started much earlier than that when Vega was coaching his son as a youth. The commitment to the team is infectious as Coach Vega excitedly talks about the players that played for the Red Force in their younger days. Coach Vega quickly rattles off the names and colleges and accomplishments of many former members of the Red Force squad.
“Some of those players come to our matches and help us in training,” Vega mentions. This legacy of playing with the club as a youth continues with the team today as six players from the Under-18 team that played together are currently on the squad. At least eight former Red Force players are now or have played in the past for college soccer programs on scholarship. Vega counts this as one of his most important accomplishments as coach for the Red Force.
Growing a competitive team
From that core youth team staying together after their teammates went to college, Coach Vega has added many impressive players. These players that have joined the Red Force and made them a formidable team in Southeast Florida. With professional experience both in the United States and abroad these players understand how to play in a “big game.”
- Daniel Gomez: 2007-2009 C.A. River Plate (Puerto Rico), 2009 Fluminense of Puerto Rico.
Richard Perdomo: 2008 Carolina Railhawks, 2009 Miami FC, 2010 Platense (Honduras).
Kevin Nylen: 2003-2006 Wilmington Hammerheads, 2006-2008 Charleston Battery.
Ryan Solle: 2005 Raleigh CASL Elite, 2006 Carolina Dynamo, 2007 New England Revolution, 2008 Carolina Railhawks, 2009 Wilmington Hammerheads.
David Holguin: 2009-2011 America de Cali (1st Division Colombia)
Hernan Acosta: pro player in Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Puerto Rico until 2010.
Joan Carvajal: 2003-2005 Creighton University, 2006 North Carolina Tarheeels.
Alan Sanchez: 2007 Carolina Dynamo, 2008-2009 Cary Clarets, 2010 Real Maryland Monarchs, 2011 Charlotte Eagles.
Coach Vega also played in Argentina before coming to the United States and has been coaching since 1997. The team is also excited to be hosting the match.
“We have a great relationship with , so they are letting us use their fields.”
Despite being in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the first time, the Red Force are not unfamiliar with big matches and taking on opponents who are expected to beat them. Before attending the Region III qualifying tournament, the Red Force faced the Venezuela Under-19 World Cup team in Miami and played them to a 1-1 draw at halftime. The game was close throughout the match, and as Vega says, the Venezuelan team outlasted them because they were “basically so incredibly fit. In the last minute they scored two goals and we lost 3-1.”
Other notable Red Force accomplishments include being a semifinalist in Copa Latina 2011, a finalist in the Region III finals, champion of the Hiatian Cup in Miami and a two-time champion of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers open tournament (2011-2012).
Vega and his players are ready and excited for the challenge of competing in The Cup and plan on this being only the first appearance of many.
“We are training hard to compete. I always believe in my team always. The Red Force never give up.”