Staff

Chris Economides

MASL 2 Commissioner

Economides brings a wealth of experience to the league as the new M2 Commissioner. He has over 30 years of experience in professional soccer, starting with the Rochester Rhinos of the USL where he led them to league and U.S. Open Cup championships. The Rhinos are the only non-MLS team to win the U.S. Open Cup since Major League Soccer (MLS) was established. After Rochester, Economides founded the Carolina Railhawks (now North Carolina FC) before moving to the USL front office to help establish and grow the league as a Senior Director and Commissioner of the MISL when it was managed by the USL.

In addition to his experience in the outdoor game and league office, Chris has also managed arena teams with the Kansas City Attack and most recently Florida Tropics, both of which won championships under his leadership.

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Andrew Ross

MASL 2 Deputy Commissioner

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Andrew Ross brings a wealth of experience for the past 10 years at all levels of the professional soccer landscape. Ross started his career working under now MASL Vice President Jon Ramin and Utica City FC General Manager Tommy Tanner at the Syracuse Silver Knights. Following the Silver Knights, he moved to Florida to work at the USL under Economides during the first season the USL was affiliated with MLS. After the USL, Ross moved to Orlando City SC for their first 2 seasons in MLS before establishing the Florida Tropics. Ross served as the General Manager for the past five years before moving into his current role with the league office.

Ross also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sport Management from Syracuse University, one of the top sports programs in the country, has played soccer his whole life and is a certified coach at the competitive youth level throughout the Tampa Bay Area.

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Brian Ackley

MASL 2 Director of PR and Communications

Brian Ackley serves as the Director of Public Relations and Broadcasting for M2. Ackley – who spent 35 years in the newspaper industry, covering everything from the Winter Olympics, to Super Bowls to Mike Tyson just finished his fifth season as the MASL Florida Tropics Director of Public Relations and Broadcasting, serving as the "Voice of the Tropics" on their home game broadcasts.

He brings a long history of covering and broadcasting indoor soccer beginning in the second year of the original Major Indoor Soccer league when he covered the Buffalo Stallions. He later covered the Columbus Capitals of the American Indoor Soccer Association, and spent four years as a color analyst and play-by-play voice of the Buffalo Blizzard of the National Professional Soccer League.

A long time broadcaster of high school football in Western New York, he also spent several seasons as the color analyst for NCAA Division I University at Buffalo football and as the play-by-play announcer for UB basketball. Most recently, he served as play-by-play voice for the Florida State High School Athletic Association’s girl’s basketball championships, boy's and girl's lacrosse championships and softball championships

He worked for almost five years as Athletic Director at Hilbert College, an NCAA Division III school in Hamburg, N.Y. He and his wife Dr. Lori Shank moved to Central Florida in 2007 where Ackley served as editor of the Lake Wales News, with stints as editor of the Fort Meade Leader and Frostproof News as well. Currently he also assists the City of Lake Wales with their public and community relations.

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Graeme Florance

MASL 2 Director of Officials

Graeme Florance has been the director of officials for M2 for the last three years. Over the past 27 years he has been a professional Indoor Referee in the NPSL/PASL/MISL and the MASL. Graeme has been a registered referee with the US Soccer Federation for 30 years, and is currently a regional emeritus Grade Referee. Graeme is also a US Soccer Assignor and Instructor. He is a WMF (World Mini Football) International Grade Referee . He has officiated at World Cup Final Tournaments in the USA and Australia, and qualifying events in South America. Other soccer referee achievements include former NISOA National Referee.

Courtney Coleman

MASL 2 Operations Assistant

Courtney Coleman serves as the Operations Assistant, coming from a background in the operations and events side of the sports industry. With a bachelors in Sports Business Management from Florida Southern College and pursuing a masters in Sports Management from Southern New Hampshire University, Courtney hopes to expand her career in the front office of a league to further her skills. She has worked with the Florida Tropics the past 2 years as a Game Operations Intern to a Coordinator, worked in the athletics department of FSC on the NCAA DII level, was the Social Media Coordinator for FCS Men’s Hockey, and currently is working for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an Events and Entertainment Conversion Crew member. Courtney enjoys hockey, baseball, and soccer, and a life-long Colorado Avalanche fan. Outside of the sports world, she loves traveling, event/trip planning and spending time with her friends and family back home in Colorado.

Board of Governors

Dr. Sev Hrywnak

Dr. Sev Hrywnak is a successful physician- businessman who has developed multi-million dollar commercial, residential, and medical complexes in the Chicago area. He is currently the president and CEO of The SEV Group, Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Center and Elmwood Park Immediate Health Care Centers. Dr. Sev has a deep sports background history with founding and owning the Rochester Razorsharks in 2005, and the Premier Basketball League from 2008-2017. Dr. Sev currently serves as one of the owners of the Chicago Mustangs FC and MASL2 board member and league partner.

Other companies owned by Dr. Sev include Flixpress technologies and Belknap Real Estate Management. Dr. Sev has lectured extensively in the United States and Canada on topics ranging from Medicine, Law, Technology, Anti-Aging, Genetics and the future of healthcare. Does review Lectures for USMLE Step 1 and 2. He has authored review books in Internal Medicine. Has written board questions in internal medicine for the National Podiatric Boards part 2.

Dr. Sev has a BA in Molecular Biology, Physiology and Electrical Engineering from Buffalo State University, Doctor of Medicine from the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez, School of Medicine, as well as a Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine from the College of Podiatric Medicine, Chicago. He is currently a licensed Healthcare Futurist from the National Association of Accredited Surgical Centers, while being awarded the “Excellence in Medicine 2014” by the Illinois Crime Commission. He has been seen on CNN and Fox News, with being a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Sev is certified in Genomic Medical Analysis, founder of Project HUGS, Helping Under-insured Get Surgery and was awarded the Police Surgeon Badge 2010, while holding several patents in healthcare and engineering.

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Stephanie Tucker

Stephanie Tucker was born and raised in the small town of Groom, Texas and has been a hard worker from her days at the farm, and was asked to work for the Amarillo Dillas Baseball team in the ticket booth. With attending Texas Tech University’s Rawls College of Business with a dual degree in Management and Marketing, Tucker has been able to work in numerous franchises to get to where she is today. While at Tech, she worked as the Raider Recruiter for football and baseball to find new athletes and make them and their families feel welcomed within the Red Raider community, She is currently the owner of Amarillo Bombers, FC West Texas, FC Wichita Falls and the Amarillo Venom Football. For the 2014-2015 season, Tucker was the Executive Vice President and GM of the Amarillo ThunderHeads Baseball Club, and was the owner of the Fun Family Fitness while serving as a personal trainer.

With Tucker’s experience in public relations, marketing, management and operations, she was able to use her passion in sports to apply her skills and knowledge to the streets of Amarillo. She created new partnerships and opportunities for Amarillo area businesses to make sure that they can sponsor the Bombers and Venom to secure community involvement and support. In 2018, Tucker and a team of business partners launched an entire league, the US Arena Pro Soccer League, where she built four teams from the ground up, but claimed that the craziness is all worth it. With her compassion and love for the community, Tucker’s love for her local partnerships and the generosity of giving back to the communities, only makes her franchises grow.

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Blake Shumaker

Blake Shumaker is a successful business entrepreneur from Wichita, Kansas. He has always had a close tie to the sport of soccer, and started FC Wichita youth club and pro academy prior to taking over the Wichita Wings. Blake has turned the Wings into one of the marquee indoor soccer franchises across the United States, and has grown FC Wichita into one of the largest youth clubs in midwest. He is also a member of Arena Soccer Group who managed the league prior to the recent announcement of the new league office and has been a leader in pushing the sport and league forward in the past 3 years of its existence.

Brett Riding

James “Brett” Riding is the Chief Operating Officer of the SoccerHause Management Company and owner of the Colorado Inferno in Colorado Springs, Colorado since 2013. He has worked to establish a community-oriented multi-sport indoor facility with their signature mantra of “Built by Players, for Players!’ and that it explains the vision. While attending the University of Phoenix, he obtained his bachelors in Business Management and soon after a masters in Business Administration, then went on to Colorado Christian University to receive another MBA, with an emphasis in leadership in 2014. During his second masters, he created a plan that contributed to the state-of-the-art 48,000 sq ft multi-sport arena with a restaurant that overlooks the indoor field.

Riding credits his family for his motivation and his career achievements, with his wife and sons as his constant sources for his inspiration to strive for further personal and professional accomplishments. He was named to the Top Locals Best Businesses, published in Colorado Business Journal, The Independent, Gazette, and in 2014, was covered in Fox 21 News Colorado Springs. Before his current position, Riding got experience as a Food and Beverage Manager, Banquet Manager and worker as a Store Director and an Account Executive for Comcast, as well as a college admissions representative from 2008 to 2014. Over the next five years, Riding aims to have established at least three corporate locations for SoccerHaus Management Company, and wants to begin franchising locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, then expanding across the United States

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Matt Schmitt

Matt Schmitt is the Owner and President of the Muskegon Risers, and founded the franchise in 2014 with the sole purpose of creating positive social and economic impact on the Muskegon Lakeshore, through the community love of soccer. Schmitt played collegiate soccer at University of Michigan from 2006 to 2010, while earning a BS in biopsychology. After he graduated, he worked in a sales and marketing role with Evolve Group Marketing in Troy, Michigan and Neurocore in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These roles exposed him to the high-level clientele that the sports entertainment industry has to offer, including the NFL, NBA, and PGA. Schmitt also currently owns and operates his own business consulting company while holding real estate investments, and being a co-owner of a medical equipment and services company.

On the business side of owning a soccer franchise, Schmitt looks forward to collaborating with the local community to help showcase the beautiful sport that is soccer and how to get the local businesses to partner and support their endeavours. Through the various support of community ties and donors, Schmitt believes that the team’s unique history, their strong business-sense and the collaborative mindset of the front office staff, can make for a great way to share around the Muskegon community and beyond.

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Sam Fantauzzo

"SoccerSam" Fantuzzo was born and raised in Rochester, NY and fell in love with the great game of soccer in 1970 at the age of 10. Sam began playing that year with the Rochester Juniors and his uncle Al Oliveri took him to his first Lancers game. Samhas been an avid fan of Indoor and Outdoor American Soccer ever since and continues to play.

IFSL 1980-2000: SoccerSam took over as commissioner of the Irondequoit Fall Soccer League (IFSL) in 1980 with the help of his wife Linda. This 20 team league offered Fall soccer to some of the best former Pro players, college coaches and this areas best local players. In 1994, an all-star team traveled to Agropoli, Italy and won an adult tournament. SoccerSam and his board organized several international trips. In 2000 Sam & Linda opened America's first Soccer Themed Italian resturant. SoccerSam's Pizza Pasta Cafe opened in Webster NY.

SoccerSam TV Show 1994-2006: In 1994, SoccerSam started America's first weekly soccer TV show called "The SoccerSam Show" on Irondequoit cable access. This weekly show featured the IFSL all stars, trips to Italy and the first Rochester Lancers reunion game and award banquet. The show covered local youth and adult soccer, including section V soccer and local teams competing in the US Open Cup. The show went weekly on the WB network. Sam interviewed some of the greatest names in the history of soccer on this show including Pelé and Mia Hamm. 1995: The Rochester Rhinos were introduced and the focus of the show became making the Rhinos a success. The Rhinos became the most successful team in the history of American Soccer and many attribute the success of the team to the show.

Kick This! The SoccerSam Radio Show 1995-Present: This weekly radio show started in 1995 and several local soccer celebrities helped host the show. The show covers local and Professional indoor & outdoor American Soccer! Jeff DiVeronica of the Democrat & Chronicle has hosted this show with Sam for years, James Weise, Rich Randall, Andrew Battisti, "The Dean" Alex Loj, "The Don" Don Lalka and others helped host the show in the past. Rich "Kicker" Jones is the producer and Mike Moran is the Webmaster.

Rochester Rhinos 1996-2009: SoccerSam was the assistant to the GM Chris Economides since day one of the Rochester Rhinos. Sam took care of selling tickets, sponsorship, trades and most of the game day ideas for the early days of the Rhinos. Sam was part of the Rhinos radio team for years and introduced the Post Game Call-In Show. The Rhinos played at Frontier Field from 1996- 2005 and became the most successful soccer team in history under the ownership of Frank Duross, Steve Donner & Chris Economides. SoccerSam and Chris Economides had been friends since High School. In 2006, both men ventured to Cary NC and helped bring Pro Soccer to Cary North Carolina with the Rail Hawks. In 2008, under new owner Rob Clark, Sam became the Team President and helped rebuild attendance, sponsorship sales and new concessions. 2008 & 2009 became the only successful years off the field at the new soccer stadium. Sam and Rich Randal brought the Frontier excitement and feel to the new stadium. In July 2009 Sam had life changing surgery and was never asked to return to the Rhinos.

Rochester Lancers (Indoor) In 1995, SoccerSam purchased the Rochester Lancers name and logo as part of his soccer memorabilia collection. In 2010, SoccerSam started negotiating with the Chris Economides of the USL to be part of the new indoor I-League. The USL struggled to attract teams to the newly formed I-League. At the 2010/2011 MISL Championship game in Baltimore, SoccerSam convinced MISL commissioner David Grimaldi to meet with the USL and bring current teams. 2011/2012 the new MISL under the USL banner was launched with 4 existing MISL teams and 3 new I-League teams. SoccerSam decided to use his beloved Rochester Lancers name and logo for this new indoor MISL team.

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Eric Davis

A lifelong resident of Cleveland, Ohio, Eric Davis remembers attending those iconic Cleveland Crunch soccer games at Cleveland State's Convocation Center with his family as a little kid. After nearly a 20-year absence since the Crunch's 2002 exit from professional arena soccer, the young, ambitious entrepreneur spearheaded the efforts to reboot the Crunch back to existence. After accomplishing the registration to reestablish the Crunch name as a business entity, Davis and business partner Luciano Ruscitto, a long-time friend and former college soccer teammate of Davis' at Division II Lake Erie College, came onboard as Vice President shortly thereafter. Together, they developed the branding, acquired the trademark rights, and have built a small team of volunteers around them to support the daily operations.

Davis graduated from Lake Erie College (Painesville, Ohio) in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in both Business Administration and Marketing. The Mentor, Ohio native started his career in sales at Park Place Technologies shortly after graduating, where he was accepted into their Business Development Program. Prior to relaunching the Crunch full time, Davis spent the last 2-1/2 years as an account executive at Stephen Gould Corporation, where he credits the rapid, crucial development of his business attributes and leadership qualities early on in his career. Davis' background in soccer stems back to the days of his early youth, finishing his competitive playing career at NCAA Division II Lake Erie College.

Davis is a majority owner and serves as President of the new era Cleveland Crunch. His leadership role requires overseeing the entire day-to-day business operations, with business development, merchandising, and community outreach being his main areas of focus. Company culture from top to bottom is extremely imperative to Davis and is something that he takes pride in setting on a daily basis, understanding that culture in any capacity is absolutely paramount to complete, end-to-end organizational success.

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Andres Trujillo

Andres Trujillo is a media and sports entrepreneur with over 14 years of experience in sports media and over 7 years in the professional sports industry. He has owned, operated, and invested in various sports teams including professional indoor football as well as soccer. His investment into the community and his family was the start of the New Mexico Runners which has been in operation since 2018. The New Mexico Runners are owned and operated by Andres along with his family.

He is a New Mexico native born and raised who strives to change the sportscape and make a positive impact in the state. As a graduate of Valley High School and the University of New Mexico in 2010, he has always believed in New Mexico’s sports community and wanted it to be stronger than before. He and the Runners franchise are all about representing the "Land of Enchantment." Mr. Trujillo is extremely involved with the New Mexico's sports scene including participating as Executive Director of the New Mexico Games as well as TV sports production with ProView Networks and the triple-A baseball club the Albuquerque Isotopes. Trujillo always wants the public to enjoy the Runners games and the sport that is arena soccer.

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Emmanuel Viel

Since late 2019, Emmanuel Viel has been the Owner of the Omaha Kings in Omaha, Nebraska. With a degree in International Business and Recreational Sports from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 2009, Viel was a starter of the men’s soccer team, was on the men’s volleyball team, a member of the Spanish club. He previously worked as a Bilingual Sales Representative and Translator at Performance Ford, Homebuyers Inc., Nissan of Omaha and Forklifts of Des Moines, before being the founder of Viel enterprises LLC that owns the Kinds franchise. In December of 2018, Viel and his wife created a podcast to show the passion about the game of soccer all over the world, entitled Futbol with Crazy Manny.

He and his wife wanted to bring the game to the beauty community of Omaha, but in a way that most people aren't familiar with, by having indoor soccer. Viel claims that soccer is unique as a culture and that having his wife as women owner, and himself being a minority, to be owners of a franchise is unique. The Veil's hope that the game of soccer, including indoor, will have a lasting impact on the Omaha community and can’t wait to grow the King’s franchise.

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Oscar Ruvalcaba

Mr. Ruvalcaba is a sports entrepreneur who is based out of Brownsville Texas. Mr. Ruvalcaba has more than 16 years of experience in the management of amateur soccer leagues and teams under the Barracudas F.C. brand. He is also an expert in medical equipment consultation for hospitals and clinics with more than 25 years of experience in industry. He also owns and manages RGV Medical Equipment.