Blast Off

With the first game of the season against the Chicago Soul over and 25 more to go, the team as we see it has plenty of work to do.  We had a slow start in the first half but were able to create enough chances to put us in a great position at the end of the game to hold on to the win. 

We are well aware that this season will be a great challenge with many teams balanced and striving to win the championship.  Our main goal is to maintain our focus, learn from each game, continue team unity and approach each game like it is our last. Attention to detail will be a key factor in our success, it is the little things in the game that could determine an outcome from a win to a loss. 

With three more home games before we head on the road it will be important to build team cohesiveness and keep our mistakes on the field to a minimum. 

Until next time! 

David Bascome, MBE

VP Community Development Center for College & Career Readiness (USA)

Hope4Life Foundation Founder/Chairman (Bermuda)

"I eat the Indonesian Peanut Saute from Noodles & Company before every game then I go to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee after I get to the arena."

-- Mike Lookingland

"I wear one of my two lucky shirts.  I've had both lucky shirts since I was a kid and one is blue."

-- Pat Healey

"I eat a pasta and chicken meal." 

-- Lucio Gonzaga

"Spagetti."

Baltimore Blast President and General Manager Kevin Healey announced that the team has signed goalkeepers Troy Hernandez and William Vanzela, as well as forwards Lucas Roque and Jamie Darvill and midfielder Marco Mangione, pending league approval.  Hernandez and Vanzela will fill the hole left when veteran keeper Sagu relocated to Dallas and backup Akira Fitzgerald chose to pursue his options outdoor.  The Blast will kick off the 2012-13 MISL season Saturday night against the Chicago Soul at 1st Mariner Arena.

Hernandez spent the 2012 USL PRO season with the Wilmington Hammerheads who advanced to the Championship.  The 25-year-old goalkeeper saw his first game action in the Hammerheads’ 3-2 Quarterfinal win over Richmond on August 25 when the starting goalkeeper left the game with an injury.  He went on to earn a 4-3 win over Orlando City in the Semifinals to advance Wilmington into the USL PRO Championship.  He also previously played for Pocono Snow and FC Sonic of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL).  At East Stroudsburg University, Hernandez posted a career goals against average of .870 and was named NSCAA Third-Team All-Atlantic Region after his senior season. 

Vanzela, who holds dual Brazilian and Italian citizenship, was a member of Italy’s World Cup-winning National Futsal team in 2011.  He was named Best Goalkeeper in the 2011 Futsal World Cup.  Most recently he played for Athletico Arzignano in Italy.

Roque moved to the United States from Brazil in 2001 and led his Monarch High School team to a district title and a berth in the Class 3A regional semifinals with 24 goals and 15 assists en route to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Class 4A-3A-2A Player of the Year title.

Mangione, the son of former Blast player Nick Mangione, was named First-Team All-CAA after his senior season at Towson University. In 2009 he as the fourth-leading scorer in the CAA with 20 points and was named to the NSCAA/adidas University Scholar All-East Region Team and earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 Second-Team notice. Mangione played high school soccer at Calvert Hall.

Darvill, an English player who played collegiately at Loyola, was named to the MAAC All-Rookie squad after his first year, was the MAAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009 as well as an All-MAAC First-Team selection both years.  In 2008 he was named Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Year Third Team and NSCAA/adidas All-North Atlantic Region First Team.  In 73 games for the Greyhounds, he recorded 36 goals and 27 assists, while leading the team to three straight NCAA College Cup appearances.  He spent the 2010 outdoor season with the Real Maryland Monarchs (USL Second Division) and most recently played for Ebbsfleet United in England.

“I am very pleased with the recent signings of Troy, William, Lucas, Marco and Jamie,” said Blast head coach Danny Kelly.  “Troy and William are both quality goalkeepers who have come a long way in a very short time in terms of adapting to the indoor game.  I am confident both will be up to the challenge that stands in front of them.  Lucas Roque, Marco Mangione and Jamie Darville each have attacking skill sets that will help us win games this year.  It's not a question of if they are able to adapt to the indoor game, it's a question of when.  Hopefully their learning curve is a short one.”

1. Non-stop, fast-paced, end-to-end action.

2. Affordable fun for the whole family.

3. Great night out for the family, youth groups, school groups - ANY group!

4. Post-game autographs on the field after every game.

5. The players will call you by name.

6. World-class athletes.

7. Celebrate your birthday with the Blast!

8. Good-looking boys.

9. We support great causes.

Baltimore Blast President and General Manager Kevin Healey announced today that the team has signed midfielder Tony Donatelli and forward Tino Nunez, pending league approval.  The Blast opened training camp earlier this week and will kick off the 2012-13 MISL season on November 3 against the Chicago Soul at 1st Mariner Arena.

Donatelli, who spent two seasons with the Philadelphia KiXX, most recently played for the 2012 USL PRO Champion Charleston Battery.  He recorded three goals and four assists (10 points) in the USL PRO regular season en route to the Championship win over the Wilmington Hammerheads.  Donatelli previously also played for the Rochester Rhinos (2011), Montreal Impact (2009-10) and Vancouver Whitecaps (2006-08), winning championships with Vancouver in 2006 and Montreal in 2009.  He played for the KiXX from 2006 to 2008, recorded 37 goals and 22 assists for 100 points and won a championship in 2007.  Donatelli finished his four-year collegiate career at Temple University tied for first in career assists (20) and eighth in Owls history with 64 points.  After his senior season, he was named to the All-Atlantic 10 First Team, the All Mid-Atlantic Region First Team and also earned the Philadelphia Soccer Seven Player of the Year award.

Nunez, who is new to indoor soccer, played for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer in 2008 and 2009.  Drafted by RSL in the Second Round (17th Overall) of the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft, Nunez went on to play for the Rochester Rhinos (USSF D-2 Pro League) in 2010, the NSC Minnesota Stars (NASL) in 2011 and for the USL PRO’s Pittsburgh Riverhounds this summer.  He recorded two goals and one assist in 19 games with Pittsburgh.  Nunez started his collegiate career at Compton Community College before transferring to the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2004.  AT UCSB he played on the Gauchos team that lost on penalties to Indiana University in the ‘04 Division I Men's College Cup and was a member of the school’s  first-ever NCAA Championship team in 2006. 

“Tony has had an outstanding career, winning championships both indoor and outdoor, and is still very much in the prime of his career, ” said Blast head coach Danny Kelly.  “He's a player that can both create and score goals, and he is very smart off the ball with his movement.  We are a much better team with Tony Donatelli on the squad.  Tino Nunez has had a very successful outdoor career, having played in MLS as well as the USL.  Although he hasn't played indoor before, I think his skill set will translate well to the indoor game.  He can hold guys off and play with his back to the goal, as well as distribute and score goals.  Once he becomes comfortable with the game, he will have an immediate impact on our offense.”

My favorite time of year is here. Crisp fall nights, warm sunshiney days, leaves turning, pumpkin spice latte in my favorite coffee houses and - best of all - Blast soccer talk again! All the dates of the games, both home and away, are written in my datebook and the Blast Fan Club is super busy planning all of the upcoming events. 

Our new website has a new address:

http://www.baltimoreblastfanclub.com/ - and we hope to have it totally done before the beginning of the season. 

We already have over 80 members for the upcoming season who have either renewed their membership or joined for the first time even though the season officially doesn't start until November 3rd.

A television raffle is planned for opening night where someone will take a TV home that very night - a new flat screen tv!

On opening night, tickets will also be on sale for the Fan Club members-only Holiday Party in December.

Just a few more weeks! Hope to see you all at the games and Let's go Blast!

Join the Blast Fan Club!

Contact the Blast Fan Club

"Fan"atically yours, 

  Katherine L Reynolds

The Baltimore Blast will host a soccer festival tomorrow (October 13) at Honeygo Regional Park as part of the team’s “Goals for Daniel” program.   The program, initiated last month in conjunction with the Borowy family, will raise money for medical costs for Daniel Borowy, the 17-year-old victim of the Perry Hall High School shooting.  Daniel, who underwent three surgeries after the shooting, will attend the event along with his family from 2:30-4 p.m.

The soccer festival will take place tomorrow from 2-6 p.m. at Honeygo Regional Park.  Soccer players, students and members of the Perry Hall community and the surrounding areas will raise money for their participation in small-sided 6 vs. 6 soccer games. All proceeds from the soccer marathon will go directly to the Borowy family.  The soccer marathon will also feature a small-sided game between Blast players and participants from the Allied Sports Program. 

A 17-year-old special-needs student at Perry Hall Senior High School, Daniel has a love of sports including soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, bowling, swimming, horseback riding, tennis, gymnastics, hiking and climbing.  He has been an active participant in the Allied Sports Program through PHHS, Harford County's Discovery League for individuals with disabilities, the Parkville Recreation Conquerors Program and Kingsville Recreation. Daniel also loves to dance, especially to the music of his favorite singer, Lady Gaga.

In addition to the soccer marathon, the Blast will also host Goals for Daniel night at 1st Mariner Arena on November 3.  Students from all over Baltimore County will be invited to attend the Blast’s opening night game and the team will donate a portion of ticket sales to Borowy’s family. 

Additionally, the Blast players will continue to visit local Elementary, Middle and High Schools, urging students to learn from this incident and others like it.  The Blast diversity and respect school program, which highlights the diversity among the Blast teammates, features a soccer volleyball game between Blast players and school teachers along with the message that people who come from different backgrounds with vastly diverse experiences and beliefs can successfully work together as a team to reach a common goal.  Additional information on the Blast School Program is available at www.baltimoreblast.com.

“The Blast is happy to be able to help Daniel and his family,” said Blast President and General Manager Kevin Healey.  “We always are looking for ways to make a positive impact on our community.  This event will be a fun way to help Daniel and raise money for his medical bills.  We encourage everyone to participate.”

We are at the time when many players will be preparing for tryouts with the team so I want to break down for you what we expect of players trying out for the first time and of experienced players who are trying out from other professional teams.

Players trying out:

We expect players trying out for the first time to be a little uneasy with the unknown.  We are well aware that because this is their first time trying out that they will try to do too much on the field. When we as coaches approach these types of players we have to talk with them all and explain our expectations of them, we have to make them comfortable so we can see their full talent. We will set the training session around their comfort levels as well as give them the best possible tryout. We know we will come across players that feel they know it all but we just focus on evaluating them for our needs and not our emotions. If any players are looking to tryout for us, or any sports team, my advice is to be consistent, work hard, stay focused and start off by keeping things simple until they gain confidence.

Experiences players coming in from other professional teams:

We are expecting a number of players at tryouts to come from other professional teams.  These players come in with a lot of confidence and experience. We are really hard on them because we expect far fewer mistakes base things on their age and growth of their game. We know experienced indoor players are hard to come by, which makes it that much harder for players trying out for the first time to make the team. 

Whichever way the tryouts go for players, good or bad, if we see talent and do not sign them due to inexperience or positions already being filled, we try very hard to guide them in the right direction. We will do our best to make sure other coaches, indoor or outdoor, get to see that player.

Until next time! 

David Bascome, MBE

CEO and founder of The Hope4Life Foundation

"I have to workout with my iPod to get used to the noise I'm going to hear in the arena when we're playing our home games!"

It's Time - Imagine Dragons

Too Close - Alex Clare

Good Life - One Republic

Trinity - Paper Tongues

My Body - Young the Giant

Taking On the World - OAR

Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon

On My Way - Boyce Avenue

Rolling in the Deep - Adele

Good nutrition.  It is so important for the Blast players to be very aware of, in season and off season. Nutrition for professional athletes is a huge part of their performance, bad nutrition will effect not only their game but their health. As a professional player it is important to maintain a good balance with your diet, there will be no room for a bad diet.

In-season diet: Players need to eat three meals a day which should be well-balanced with snacks in between. These meals will consist of 400-600 calories. Snacks may consist of 400 calories. Players will be training very hard through the season and if they do not maintain their weight and proper diet they will lose energy and strength in the games and in their workouts. They will also be drinking plenty water and trying to stay away from the sugar juices and drinks. 

Off season: Players' diet in the off season has to also be focused on and maintained well. During the offseason some players will not be training as hard as they would during the season so it is very important they do not overeat or undereat - they still have to keep a good diet and exercise each week. in the offseason players will put on some weight knowing that it will drop in preseason training. 

Please Note: Each player will have a different diet plan that works for them, some players have higher metabolisms then others so their diet will differ. If you're an athlete, please make sure to ask for advice on the right foods, protein, carbs and balancing meals before you start doing heavy workouts. Do not get caught up in and relying on energy drinks to keep you going, you will be able to find a great source of energy by eating the right foods in your diet.  

Until next time! 

David Bascome, MBE

CEO and founder of The Hope4Life Foundation