FC Offutt to make another run at Defender's Cup

  • Published
  • By Ryan Hansen
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  With one year of experience under their belt, Football Club Offutt will once again head to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, over Labor Day weekend to compete in the Defender's Cup, an annual military soccer tournament.

Last year the team went 0-3-1 in its inaugural campaign against military teams from across the world, so the club's expectations are much higher for their return trip.

"Our hopes are to win, of course," said Cristobal Ibarra, FC Offutt head coach and a U.S. Air Force senior airman with the 55th Comptroller Squadron. "But with our experience from last year and knowing what to expect down there, our goal is to at least finish in the top 10."

Ibarra is in his first year coaching the team but has had the good fortune of being able to lean on last year's coach, Jose Rodriguez, a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant with the 55th Aerospace Medicine Squadron, who is also a member of this year's squad.

"He's my right hand man," Ibarra said. "He's the father of the team, respected by all and truthfully I don't know if the team would still be together without him."

FC Offutt has 13 new players on their roster this year. Ibarra said the team has great ability from top to bottom and he's very confident they'll play well.

"We have a lot of talented players with great passion for the game," he said. "We have some exceptional players that have vision, can read the game and everyone on the team gives all they have and more."

While talent is obviously important, Ibarra said leadership is also a key ingredient to a team's success and FC Offutt has that across the board. Two of those leaders are team captains Dave Looby, a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant with the 55th Wing Safety office, and Michael Hatch, a U.S. Navy petty officer 3rd class with the 55th Security Forces Squadron.

"Everyone respects Looby," Ibarra said. "He's amazing on the ball and reads the game like a book. When he is open or free, everyone gives him the ball because his foresight is amazing."

"And Hatch is a player everyone looks up to," Ibarra added. "He is a phenomenal forward with a lot of ability."

"Leadership is the ability to use and combine all the resources to yield great results," Looby said. "Providing the team with structure that they can trust is one of our focuses right now."

"With everyone having a military background on this team it makes being a captain very easy," said Hatch, who also played on last year's squad. "Everyone is super responsive and easy to give direction to."

Other key players on this year's team include Francisco Marin, a U.S. Air Force senior airman with the 55th SFS, and Dustin Wilson, a U.S. Air Force Airman 1st class who is also with the 55th SFS.

"As it stands right now, the honor to wear the number 10 is being competed for by those two," Ibarra said.

"I am the quarterback of the team," Marin said. "I can control the center of the pitch and provide for my strikers and wingers."

"My role in the squad is to use my creative abilities to find the open man or put the ball in the net if I have the chance," Wilson said.

Ibarra said the team's style of play is similar to that of the Spanish national team or of FC Barcelona.

"It is called tiki-taka, which originated from the Holland national team's 'total football' style," he said. "It focuses on possession -- if we have the ball the other team can't score -- and the basics, like playing simple."

The coach said tiki-taka takes a lot of practice, but the team is really coming around and will be something to watch in San Antonio.

"I am proud of where we are,' Ibarra said. "I know we have a lot more work to do, but it is inspiring just seeing how far we have come."

FC Offutt will also feature a unique 2-3-3-2 formation during the Defender's Cup. Ibarra said he picked it up while playing in Europe and it allows the team to move the ball easier.

"It also allows us to close down quicker and stop the other team in their tracks," he said. "And if we have a skilled player that breaks through, the formation is full of safety nets."

With the tournament quickly approaching the team is practicing more and more and had competed in quite a few exhibition games. The club departs on Aug. 28, and hopes to bring back some hardware.

"We are making huge strides from when we first started practicing together," Wilson said. "We are going to be a real threat in Texas."

"Our team will do great," Marin said. "My hope for the team is to come back to Offutt with the title."