1998 Azzurri | Girls | Teams | Tennessee Futbol Club

WELCOME

2012 Tennessee State Champions!

2012 Region 3 Central Premier League Champions!

2011 Tennessee State Champions!

2010 Tennessee State Champions!

2010 US Club Regional Super Group Champions!

TNFC 98 Azzurri Wins Third Straight State Championship!

TNFC 98 Azzurri Fall & Spring Review

The Azzurri wrapped up the fall season winning the Mead Cup top division, and making the finals in the top division of the GIT, only to go down on PK's to the OK state champs.

The team wrapped up the spring season by winning the Region Premier League Central title scoring over 50 goals and allowing 2, then winning their THIRD straight Tennessee State Soccer Championship! Way to go Azzurri!

2011 Mead Cup Five Star Champs!

CALENDAR

Sun 6/3	Mon 6/4	Tue 6/5	Wed 6/6	Thu 6/7
State Cup 12:00am CDT	no events	no events	no events	TN Soccer Club Tryouts 12:00am CDT

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NEWS

TNFC & TUSC to host Border Wars 6 Oct 1-2

09/15/2011, 7:20am (CDT)

By jcw

Top teams in TN & KY to play in a round robin friendly Oct 1-2

OPERATION: GO ABBIE!
09/13/2011, 6:00pm (CDT) , By jcw
Azzurri Cheering on Teammate
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Border Wars V
02/18/2011, 6:25am (CST) , By jcw
The Azzurri will travel to Georgia this spring to compete in Border Wars V.
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Border Wars IV
08/06/2010, 6:34am (CDT) , By jcw
98 Azzurri Hosted Top Southern Teams at Border Wars IV
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The Azzurri win US Club Soccer Regional!
06/24/2010, 7:12am (CDT) , By jcw
Read More

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STAFF

Laban Defriese

Head Coach TNFC 98's

Phone: 615-503-5290

Chris Williams

Manager

Phone: 615-419-1785

Danny Paschall

Treasurer

Phone: 615-948-5930

The 98 Azzurri Played in the R3 College Showcase in the Mud! The girls went 2-1 playing up a year vs. some of the best teams in the eastern US.

The Azzurri girls on the way home from Tulsa, Oklahoma

2X Champions at the Adidas Women's Invitational 2011

Top 10 Soccer Quotes

#1 The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when no one else is watching.– Anson Dorrance

#2 Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.– Pele

#3 All good athletes make mistakes; the great ones learn to make that mistake only once.– Raul Lopez

#4 Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.– Mia Hamm

#5 Every disadvantage has got it's advantage.– Johan Cruijff

#6 Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. – Roy Keane

#7 The person that said winning isn't everything, never won anything.– Mia Hamm

#8 The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible. It's the biggest sin in football to make him do any work. – George Graham

#9 I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion. – Mia Hamm

#10 The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn't move, kick it until it does. – Phil Woosnam

Tournament Pictures

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Tennessee State Soccer Champions 2012 (3x)

2012 Region 3 Premier League Champions

(GIT) Germantown Invitational Finalists 2011
Mead Cup U14 Five Star Champions 2011
Tennessee State Soccer Champions 2011 (2x)
Adidas Women’s Invitational Champions (2x) 2011
(GIT) Germantown Invitational Champions (5x) 2010
HFC Music City Invitational Champions 2010
Battleground Tournament of Champions U14 Finalists (as U13)
2010 National Cup IX Regional Champions (Columbus, Ohio)
Tennessee State Soccer State Champions 2010
BWSC Adidas Women’s Invitational 11v11 Champions 2010
Vulcan Cup Gold Champions 2010
Germantown Invitational 11v11 Gold Champions 2009
WAGS (Washington DC) Cup Flight Finalists 2009
Mead Cup Five Star 11v11 Champions 2009
Border Stars International (Michigan) Champions 2009
Stones River Champions U13 11v11 (as U12’s)
Vulcan Cup Gold Champions 2009
Germantown Invitational 8v8 Gold Champions 2008
Stones River Shootout U12 Gold Champions (as U11’s)
Whitehouse Tournament U11 Champions (as U10’s)
Metro United U10 Premier Champions
Germantown Invitational 8v8 Gold Champions 2007
TNFC Fall Classic Champions 2007
Whitehouse Gold BOYS Champions 2007
Impact Invitational (Knoxville) U10 Champions (as U9’s)
TN United Adidas Cup of Champions U10 Finalists (as U9’s)
TNFC Amsouth Classic U9 Champions 2006
Kaos Invitational U10 Champions (as U9’s) 2006
Germantown Invitational 8v8 Gold Champions 2006
Memphis GRRRRL’s Elite u10 Champions (as U9’s) 2006
Stones River Tournament U10 Champions (as U9’s) 2006
Memphis GRRRRL’s Elite U9 Champions (as U8’s) 2006
Stones River U9 Champions (as U8’s) 2006

ROAD TRIP

View ROAD TRIP! in a larger map

LABAN'ISMS

"We had an incredible year. Overall, special weekend, special season, special team, good looking coach. Just that simple."

"Laban traded his BMW in for a Kia just so he could ride the ferris wheel at the dealership" – E.H.

"He is only out there because he us cold" (upon seeing Laban out jogging around and clapping with the team) – C.M.

"I would be fine if you would call something" – Carson to referee at the Region 3 Invitational March 5th, 2011 after receiving an elbow to the mouth.

"Two touches please! One for me and one for you!" - Laban to the team at the Music City Invitational Fall 2010

"I guess if you have Titans season tickets, that would be the team to play for, they are never busy Sunday afternoon." - Laban on another local team

"We have been talking, and we prefer Chad coaching us, you are fired." - Karlie, Cameron, and Sam to ex-coach Chris at the Clarksville Futsal Tournament in January 2010

"This goal box is your front yard, the six yard box is your front porch, and Jess is your mom. Don't let anybody shoot at your mom." - Gary and Jack Daniels giving Summer a pep talk at the WAGS tournament

"I would feed them and take care of them." - Summer to Gary when he asked, "Now, what are you gonna do if a stray dog comes in YOUR yard?"

"No offense taken, because I wasn't paying attention." - Laban at a TNFC board meeting when someone said "no offense"

"The reality is our team isnt 5 goals better than the Michigan Hawks(NSR #3 national). They are a great team and well coached. Nonetheless, we certainly can be very, very explosive offensively. 6 goals from 4 diferent players is impressive. Real proud of the girls." -Laban commenting to parents after TNFC beat the Michigan Hawks 6-1 in the championship of the Borders International Tournament.

"I have been game planning for three years." - Laban when asked about our opponents meeting with their coach and game planning while our girls relaxed in the stands

"If you would have headed that, you would be fine right now." - Laban to Morgan after she got the breath knocked out of her when the ball hit her in the chest

"I feel fine!" - Kyle to Ed at the hotel bar after Ed asked "how are the fields?"

"You should probably check your zipper if you are going to stand at the top of the bleachers." - Lisa to Brandon at the indoor tournament

"Raise your hand if you can't hear me." - Coach Nicole at practice

"It is hard to close the gap from exit 87." - John Harvey

"They look like the little soccer Harlem Globetrotters." - A parent from the opposing team at the GIT 2008 talking about the foot skills of the 98's

"u13's, think of every cuss word you know, because I am saying them all in my head right now after that one. At least pretend to defend a corner one time. On the bright side, nice job cassidinho." - Laban after u11 tnfc impact 98 - black superstar Cassidy slammed in a goal off a corner kick while scrimmaging with Laban's older state champions u13 team

"You better count your meat. Don't trust the cooks!" - Sommet Center Concession Trainer Elgin instructing the volunteer parents about the meat count

"Ya'll are killing me with your kumbaya love fest. Take the ball and go to goal." - Laban to Callie and Emily who were being a little too unselfish with their passing in front of the goal

"Neither, we're more of a scoring team". - Laban when asked if his u10 girls style of play was more a possession team or a team that plays direct

"We don't mind incompetence, it's bias that makes us mad". - The 'Ice Man' Ed Hunt commenting on the officiating being equally bad for both teams

"I guess we won't hear any more 'closing the gap' talk for a while." - Laban after an 11-0 win over a local team

"I wasn't being arrested. I was just standing with my hands behind my back in a non-threatening position out of respect for the police." - Michael Zongor addressing the rumor he was in jail for speeding after being pulled over on his motorcycle

"I am not a control freak at all, as long as everything goes the way I want it to." - Impact Operations Director John Harvey

"She's just like Laban... except she doesn't yell, and she is a girl.... and she is a little taller." - Cameron when asked what she thought about new trainer Vanderbilt player Sarah Dennis

"I guess I better sharpen up my elbows!" - Callie to her dad when she found out we were playing an older local rival team

"Laban has 20 soccer players that are totally dedicated to soccer. I have 12 basketball players that are totally dedicated to soccer." - Basketball Coach John Harvey pondering the low turnout at a basketball game for Impact girls

"If you’re not continuously working at your game to the utmost of your ability, someone out there somewhere with equal ability is. And one day you’ll play each other." - The Impact Creed

"I have been going to the beach since I was pregnant!" - Cameron trying to explain to Callie that she has been going to the beach since her mom was pregnant with her

"Let's go ride the big spinning one again!" - Cassidy to the others at the fair after she had thrown up 4 times

"You might as well stop crying, Laban really doesn't go for that kind of stuff." - Cameron to a player at U9 tryouts who was trying to get the coaches attention

"I got goose bumps watching them play." - referee to Coach Laban after the girls won a game at the TUSC tournament at U10

"I have seen teams all over this part of the country... Memphis, Cincinnati, Atlanta... You girls are the best team I have ever seen..." - referee to the girls after they won a game at the TUSC tournament

"That's what you get." - Cameron to player that kept fouling her after Cassidy put her down with a tackle

"I'll bet you can kick some goalies!" - waitress at Knoxville O'Charley's

"I like to see the sad look on their faces when I take the ball away" - Ann Claire when asked why she would rather play defense than forward

"Those girls do that better than my 15 year olds did" - Coach Jenger after their U10 camp session on changing the point of attack

"I have a job to do this weekend. I am a professional." - Laban's reply when asked why he didn't go play poker on the riverboat in St Louis while at the Metro United tournament

"You can't make me come out there. That's not a rule... see, she is getting up..." - Laban to referee when asked to come check a player (who was not hurt but slow getting up)

"Just throw the gum down. We are not trying to be ecological warriors, we are practicing soccer" - Laban to Logan who was taking her gum to the garbage can 40 yards away

"You have ruined her" - Laban to Cam's dad after he cheered on her 4th attempt at a 45 yard shot

"Maybe if you could get the train conductor to stop coming by and blowing the whistle, that would help too…" - Laban to the tournament officials told him the Impact Player Lounge karaoke machine was distracting the players on the fields nearby (while the train went by every 5 minutes)

"If we could add a wet bar to the Impact Player Lounge at the tournaments, that would be cool" - Laban in an email to the parents

"The guy with the under armour shirt, hat, and one glove is killing me. Let's get out of here" - Laban D. at the karaoke bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans

"The L move will solve all of life's problems. Learn it." - Laban getting deep with the team

"It's the dummy, not the bunny" - Laban to a player after they hopped over the ball trying to dummy it

"That is why I have made you endure all the psychological torture, because I knew you could do it." - Laban to Cassidy after scoring a left-footed goal

"My job is to teach my team to score goals. The other coach should teach his team how to stop us from scoring goals. That is not my job. I am helping his kids learn when our team scores all those goals." - Coach Laban

"This cone is like a baby bird. If you step on his head, it will hurt. Don't step on my cones." - Coach Laban

"It's not the overstop, it's the overlap..." - Laban to Cameron, who did not run by the forward on the overlap

That play was so good, you should just quit playing soccer right now and never play again..." - Laban to Elizabeth and Anne Claire after executing a perfect overlapping run to score a goal when they were 8 years old

"Can you explain what we're going to be doing the rest of the season?" - Kyle, just seconds after Chris finished explaining what we would be doing the rest of the season