Steamers’first home game Saturday at Savvis
By Thomas Crone
For the St. Louis American
For years, St. Louis’ variety of professional indoor soccer teams – the Storm, Ambush and various incarnations of the Steamers – were built around St. Louis talent, with local high schools and colleges represented heavily on each seasons’ roster. But with new coach Omid Namazi replacing indoor legend Daryl Doran behind the Steamers bench for 2005-2006, a new era of player development has emerged.
Bringing in players from around the U.S. and throughout South and Central America, Namazi has revamped a good chunk of last year’s roster, with a handful of African Americans expected to be among the catalysts for the team.
Among their number is Jamar Beasley, a lightning-quick midfielder who’s been playing professionally since being drafted out of high school by Major League Soccer in 1998. He brings a wealth of professional experiences to the Steamers, with stints in both outdoor and indoor leagues throughout the United States, as well as a shorter term playing in Italy.
Beasley’s brother DeMarcus is a regular member of the United States’ national team pool for the outdoor game and is expected to appear in next summer’s World Cup. Jamar, meanwhile, has played for the national team in futsal, a modified version of the indoor game that’s played abroad.
Acquired late in the preseason, a talkative Beasley says, “It was great to know that I’d get a chance for play. My fiancée had a job in Kansas City, as well, and her job transferred her here. Plus, it’s a good opportunity to come here and help develop this team. I played in Kansas City for two years and they were a great experience for me. But I’m really happy with the situation now. There’s a real mix of veterans and young guys.”
Beasley falls neatly in both categories. As a teenager, he was already making headlines, becoming, at one point, the youngest player in MLS history. Now, he’s among a group of young vets trying to build a new system here.
“I don’t look back at all,” he says. “I only take things one day at a time. I don’t look back at what I’ve done or where I’ve played.”
Mali Walton could certainly be forgiven for doing that. A veteran of outdoor and indoor soccer leagues throughout the U.S., Walton’s a returnee from last year’s Steamers squad, which finished 20-20 on the season. In the past, he even played with Namazi in Philadelphia.
Walton says, “Time flies once you get to a certain age. When I played with him in Philadelphia, it was a pleasure. Now I have him as a coach and it’s a total bonus.”
A hard-nosed defender who’s been with the team since the 2003-04 season, Walton figures that “we have lots of new faces, but they’re faces that we’ve played against in the past. The soccer community’s pretty small.”
Not only in the States, but the world, too. The international flavor of the Steamers this season includes midfielder Addae Rique, a native of Trinidad & Tobago, in his third partial season with the team; he played locally at both Missouri Baptist and SIU-Edwardsville after moving to the U.S. Also, there’s forward James Koehler, who was acquired late in the preseason from the Milwaukee Wave; though born in Brooklyn, he moved to Brazil at a young age and has played professionally on both American continents.
Namazi has plenty of good things to say about Beasley and Walton.
Of the former, he says, “Jamar is a rising star in the league. He was rookie-of-the-year with Kansas City. A tremendous player with a lot of speed, one of the fastest playes in the league. He’s a very dynamic player.”
Namazi, meanwhile, says that Walton “has been in the professional ranks for many years. He’s in his 11th or 12th year. He offers a lot of leadership qualities. I’ve played alongside him and I’m glad to have him on the team.”
Both players and their coach will look to bounce back from a setback in the team’s first game of the year, a 12-5 away loss at Baltimore last Saturday. The team plays its first home game on Saturday, November 26, with a 1:05 home game versus the Philadelphia Kixx, part of the seven-team Major Indoor Soccer League. All Steamers games are held at Savvis Center. Call (314) 421-4400 for details.
For those who’ve never been to an indoor match, Beasley says, “they can expect a very good game. With the mixture of young and old guys, it may take a little bit, but we’ll play sexy soccer. Can I say ‘sexy soccer’?”
If you can play it, you can say it.
