FC DIVONNE IN THE USA!
FC Divonne, a club representing the town of Divonne-les-Bains, France (on the border of Switzerland) recently visited NC
to celebrate a Raleigh native's 50th birthday and play soccer in the USA!
The local TASL men's club, Athletic Club Raleigh, Men's Over 50 ACR Fitty team, along with some other TASL players, enjoyed the competition with FC Divonne on a recent weekend in November.
The FC Divonne club plays in the neighboring Swiss Football Association league. The 50+ team is currently ranked in 1st place in its division, while the 40+ team is currently in 5th place.
Most of the guys that came to NC to play are on the club’s 40+ team, who won the Swiss Regional Cup last May. See the article and videos at this link.
Alexis Gros-Piron organized the trip under the pre-text of celebrating his 50thbirthday. Alexis grew up in Raleigh and played at Broughton High School. He was selected First Team All State and 1st runner up for player of the year his senior year in 1991-92. Alex's club team was the 1974 Raleigh Express, 1989 state champions. Alex played soccer at UNC from 1992-1996 in the same recruiting class as Eddie Pope. Alex has worked for the Olympic Games the past 25 years mainly based in Europe, including for the International Olympic Committee for 20 years (where he played on the corporate soccer team and was captain for 9 years). You can find Alex on LinkedIn.
Cheers to the rest of the players that visited NC! Come back for a rematch soon!
- Julien Manon – originally from Lyon in the Rhone Alps region of France.
- Yann Moros – French from the Brittany region in northwest France.
- Ayhan Izgi – French from the Jura region, with origins from Turkey.
- Assan Torun – French from the Jura region, with origins from Turkey. Assan scored the lone goal against ACR Fitty.
- Jerome Imparato – French from Marseille in the Provence region in southern France.
- Manu Ribaud – French from the Vosges region in the east of France.
- Karim Hathroubi – French from the Champagne region, with origins from Tunisia.
- Fahro Mehic – dual national French and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In the next 18 months, ACR Fitty will be planning a trip to play soccer in France! If you or your team is interested in going, contact Steve Swift via email at sswiftdesignbuild@gmail.com.
2014 MEN'S OVER 55 OLDCASTLE - STATE CUP CHAMPIONS
TEAM CAPTAIN - DAVID ZABARSKY
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