Houston connections at TST
(image via Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The Soccer Tournament (TST) is a new 32 team tournament that will feature teams from all over the world competing for a $1 million prize. There are teams of professional clubs, college alumni, former pros, and even celebrities. Former NFL star Chad Johnson is competing. Former NBA MVP Steve Nash is competing. It’s a seven-a-side World Cup style tournament with groups of four going to single elimination knockout rounds.
TST comes from the same group that created TBT, The Basketball Tournament. TBT is known for its Elam Ending which is a very different way to end a basketball game. TST will also have an Elam Ending as well. After two twenty-minute halves, matches will go into Target Score Time with a target of one goal more than the leading team’s score. Whoever hits that target score wins the match. If no one scores after five minutes, a player will be removed from each side. That will continue in five-minute intervals until there is a winner. The winners get a million bucks. Second place gets nothing. The event will run from June 1-4 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Matches will be streaming on Peacock.
There is some Houston flavor to the TST with a number of former players taking part. Here is a rundown of all the former Dynamo and Dash players who will be at TST next week.
Blade and Grass FC – Geoff Cameron
The former Dynamo draft pick is lacing the boots up with some of this old Stoke City mates. Cameron joined Stoke from the Dynamo in the summer of 2012 and spent a decade in England before returning to MLS with FC Cincinnati. He was released at the end of last season and currently is without a team.
DMV Diplomats – Jason Garey – assistant coach
Garey was traded to Houston from Columbus and played 10 games for the Dynamo in 2011. Garey will serve as an assistant coach for the team with roots in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area.
Culture by Mo Ali FC – Leonardo – assistant coach
Another former Dynamo serving as an assistant coach is Leonardo. The Brazilian center back spent two seasons with Houston, 2017 and 2018, and made 54 appearances. He helped lift the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup as a part of the 2018 team. Leonardo will be an assistant for Culture by Mo Ali FC, a team put together by Ali, who trains and produces content for players and teams around the world.
US Women – Lindsey Harris
The only all-female team in the TST is the US Women. USWNT legend Mia Hamm is coaching this team full of former and current players. Houston native and former Dash goalkeeper Lindsey Harris will be in between the posts for the US Women.
Conrad and Beasley United – Chandler Hoffman, DaMarcus Beasley – general manager, Dwayne De Rosario
Former USMNT players Jimmy Conrad and DaMarcus Beasley have put together a team for TST with some firepower. Beasley, the former Dynamo captain, is the team’s general manager and he’s put together a nice squad. Dynamo legend and former Canadian international Dwayne De Rosario will be on the squad. He’ll be joined by another former Dynamo attacker in forward Chandler Hoffman. The striker made just five appearances for Houston in the 2015 season.
Nati SC – Omar Cummings
A team of former FC Cincinnati players, Nati SC, will have some Houston orange as well in Omar Cummings. The Jamaican international played for the Dynamo in 2013 and 2014 where he scored some big goals for the club. After leaving Houston he played for San Antonio and then Cincinnati in the USL.
Team Dempsey – Arturo Alvarez
Clint Dempsey is going back to his Texas roots for his team in TST. Former USMNT players Jermaine Jones and Eddie Johnson are on the roster, along with Houston native and former Dynamo Arturo Alvarez. The El Salvador international won the Open Cup in his only season with the Dynamo, in 2018.
ZALA FFF – AJ DeLaGarza, Evan Newton, Lauren Sesselmann
Former Dynamo defender AJ DeLaGarza has put together ZALA FFF to compete in TST. DeLaGarza spent 2017-2019 with the Dynamo and retired from MLS at the end of last season. He’s brought a couple other former Houston players with him to ZALA FFF as well. Goalkeeper Evan Newton was drafted 7th overall by the Dynamo in the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft. He spent the 2011 season on loan with FC Tampa Bay in NASL and was waived by the Dynamo later that year. Sesselman was selected by the Dash in the 2014 NWSL Expansion draft but made just one appearance for the club.
