When was the club founded, what was the mission at the time and has that changed at all since then?
Founded in 1986 by Stan Clark and Lesh Shkreli, Blast FC has always been dedicated to creating young passionate soccer players who truly enjoy and love to play the game of soccer. That hasn’t changed. Over the past 35 years, Blast FC has continued to provide professional level training in all aspects of the game – including technical, tactical and fitness – and offer ambitious players the opportunity to have both a college and pro career.

What league or leagues do you have teams in? Do you ever participate in regional or national tournaments?
Blast FC teams currently compete in numerous leagues locally, regionally and nationally. Some of those leagues include: Buckeye Premier Youth Soccer League (BPYSL), Central Ohio Premier League (COPL), Ohio Champions League (OCL), Great Lakes Alliance (GLA), and Midwest Development League (MDL). The club has also won more than 100 State Championships, advanced to the USYS Regional Semifinals six times, the USYS Finals three times and has one Regional Championship. Blast has also competed for the USYS National Championship twice.

Blast FC appears to have a strong youth program. Does the adult squad serve as the end of the development funnel? Do you recruit outside of the youth set up to fill in the senior roster?
This will be the inaugural season for Blast FC to sponsor a team in the growing U-23 Ohio Valley Premier League. As noted above, Blast FC’s focus has primarily been on preparing its youth to play both collegiately and professionally.

Tell us about the addition of Romeo Jozak. What will his role be and how will that elevate the club?
It’s not every day that someone with Romeo’s experience joins a small soccer club in the Midwest; or anywhere in the United States for that matter. Having previously served as the technical director of the Croatian Football Federation – where he was largely responsible for developing the bulk of Croatia’s 2018 World Cup finalists, including Real Madrid superstar and 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric – Romeo’s addition to our club will no doubt elevate us to the next level. As CEO and Club Director, his responsibilities will include boosting the academy’s development curriculum, bolstering the staff with coaches from both the region and abroad, and exploring opportunities to build a state-of-the-art training facility, among others.

Blast FC welcome former Technical Director of the Croation Football Federation, Romeo Jozak, to the club

Do you foresee moving a squad into a national league, such as the UPSL or the NPSL, if Mr Jozak is able to recruit the American Luka Modric?
I would say that would definitely be dependent on bringing in that type of talent (and more than just one) because of the travel and expense commitments necessary to do it. Right now, it is pretty much just OP and Club Ohio playing in the National League space in Columbus, so there is room to do it. And we’re confident Romeo will help us get there.

What are the goals and hopes for Blast FC in 2021? How will you define success for the year?
Like any other year, our goal is to help players of all levels reach their ultimate potential. To date, Blast FC has guided more than 1,000 young players to collegiate soccer teams across the nation, including 12 players who have continued on to the professional level.

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A Championship-winning youth team looks to translate its success to the Ohio Valley Premier League