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.

Board of Governors

Dr. JB Parker

Owner, Amarillo Bombers

Dr. Sev Hrywnak

Owner, Chicago Mustangs

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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Craig Rhodes

Managing Partner, Cincinnati Swerve

Dr. Joseph R. Muscatello

Owner, Cleveland Crunch

Dr. Joseph R. Muscatello: Joe is a long time coach, referee, and administrator of high school, college and professional sports. He is the owner of 6 businesses including the franchise owner of the Cleveland Crunch. Joe is a former executive with several Fortune 100 companies. Currently, in addition to being an entrepreneur, he is an Associate Professor of Business at Kent State University, and serves on several charity boards.

John Riding

Owner, Colorado Inferno

Matt Schmitt

Owner, Muskegon Risers

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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Andres Trujillo

Owner, New Mexico Runners

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

Owner, Omaha Kings

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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Anthony Perez

Managing Partner, Ontario Fury II

Oscar Ruvalcaba

Owner, RGV Barracudas

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.

Sean Bowers

General Manager, San Diego Sockers

Sean Bowers retired as a member of the San Diego Sockers in 2009-10 with the PASL after an illustrious indoor career. He is the only person in NPSL/MISL history to achieve at least 1000 blocks and 1000 points. He was a 2002/2003 MISL All-Star and the league's Defender of the Year with the Baltimore

Blast. Bowers was a three-time Defender of the Year in the MISL. He played for the Kansas City Wizards from 1996-99 in the MLS, and earned the team's Defender of the Year award twice. He also served as Wizards’ team captain for the 1999 season. Bowers was the U.S. National Futsal Team’s captain from 1998-2004. He also saw time with the Detroit Rockers of the NPSL from 1991-95 and 2000-01; he was the league's Rookie of the Year as the Rockers won the 1991 NPSL championship. He was a four-time NPSL All-Star and three-time Defender of the Year. To honor his play at Quincy College (Ill.), Bowers was inducted into the college’s Soccer Hall of Fame, in 2007. Over the ten years before becoming the General Manager of the San Diego Sockers, Sean was a full-time Professor at San Diego Miramar College, teaching Kinesiology and coaching the Women’s Soccer program as the Head Coach. Under Sean's leadership the women's soccer program at Miramar College had a record of 146-32-17 including 5 PCAC Championships, 2 Sweet Sixteens, and 3 Elite Eights. Sean is also the President and owner of 619futsal since 2011, helping develop over 2000 players annually through leagues, camps, and clinics. He is married to his lovely wife Maria and has 3 wonderful children Aydan (24), Isabella (22) and Gracie (20).

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Arturo Pulido

Owner, Turlock Express

Blake Shumaker

Owner, Wichita Wings

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.