So tell us who you (the person responding) are and how you got involved with your club?
I am PJ Criscione the Founder/Captain of Hotbed FC Cyclones. I grew up on the North Shore of Massachusetts in a small town called Boxford. Attended Masconomet Regional High School and won a State Championship my Senior Year, in Fall of 2013. Went on to play Collegiately at Salve Regina University (NCAA Division 3) in Newport Rhode Island. I started Hotbed FC Cyclones in the summer of 2016, as I didn’t have a team to play on and was looking to continue playing before my college season in the Fall. It was a great opportunity to play soccer with old high school and club teammates twice a week in the summer. Initial buy-in was strong so I build out our roster and entered us in the GPS Twilight Summer Soccer League.

Hotbed FC Cyclones, where'd that come from? What's the club history?
The name Hotbed FC Cyclones originates from the North Shore being a very successful soccer area with a ton of talent. Aka “The Hotbed” a thriving soccer area. The nickname Cyclones comes from my JV Soccer Coach Bob Serino who gave me the nickname “the Cyclone” as a player on his team for my heart, hustle, and ability to run through defenders. Hotbed FC started in the Summer 2016 out of Boxford, MA. Our Home field was Spofford Pond School, a beautiful grass pitched that proposed issues to opponents due to grass length and field location being quite far away. Great home field advantage. Participating in the GPS Twilight Summer Soccer league each summer through Summer 2019. Operating as a summer only team for college players to continue playing over the summer. The two mottos we started out with were Roll Hotbed and Road to Nattys. The Road to Nattys means our journey through the Twilight Summer league season finishing top 4 and qualifying for playoffs, aka “Nattys”. Our first season we finished the season mid-table in 6th out of 12. Summer 2017 we finished in 4th but were bounced in the League Semi-Finals. Going into Summer 2018 we made a commitment to bringing in the best talent we could and training more frequently. This move paid off as we finished the regular season in 1st place and went on become co-champions as our final game was abandoned due to lightening as we were tied 2-2 with Middlesex FC (BSSL D1 at the time) in extra time. In Summer 2019, the last season the Twilight Summer League was active Hotbed was able to capture the regular season and playoff title to be officially crowned TSL Champs “Natty Champs”. Beating Middlesex FC 2-0 in extra time. Captain Jack Heintzelman scored a 45-yard screamer over the keeper’s head and Lucas Firme beat 3 defenders on a 50-yard run to slide it past the keeper. Due to covid, the GPS TSL did not come back in summer 2020 and Hotbed decided to schedule out friendlies throughout the late summer and fall against sides from the BSSL, Casa Soccer League and FA1. We finished the fall of 2020 10-0 with a whopping 42 Goals For and 4 Against. This spring of 2021 Hotbed FC has joined the Bay State Soccer League (BSSL) and is starting off in Division 3 South.

Previously you competed in the GPS Twilight League. Can you talk about that league?
The GPS Twilight League was a very competitive summer soccer league that played on Tuesdays and Thursday evenings from June to August. Most of the teams were from the Boston and Greater Boston area. Teams participating in the league were either strictly summer teams or BSSL teams looking to continue playing during the summer break. The league always had between 10-12 teams and most games were very close. We loved it as we didn’t have to play games on the weekends. Uncertain of the league status in this present day as it doesn’t look like it will be making a comeback.

This year you're in BSSL, do you consider that a step up? How do you expect to finish this season?
This spring is our inaugural season in the BSSL. We do consider the BSSL a step up as it has a promotion/relegation setup, and we must start in Division 3. Around 40 teams participate in the BSSL and every Saturday game day is very competitive. We expect to finish top of the table this season, as we know it will be a challenge, Hotbed FC has the players and talent to make some noise this spring.

What kind of players play for your club? How do you find them/they find you?
High level collegiate and ex collegiate make up the bulk of Hotbed’s roster. Mainly NCAA D3, D2 and a couple D1 players. With the remaining roster filled out with players who played club in college or who a strong passion for the game. The main core of our team played soccer together at Masconomet with me and we all continued playing throughout college. From there its players we played club within high school, college teammates and friends of friends. Meeting players through word of mouth, training sessions and pickup soccer our other ways we bring in talent. Hotbed carries a 36-man roster to provide maximum efficiency at training and ample subs at games. “We don’t rebuild, we just reload” has been the saying we go by each season as our team continues to grow and improve.

What's the clubs long term goals?
The clubs long term goal is to make it and win BSSL Division 1. Since the “Road to Nattys” is over the new mindset we hold is “Road to D1”. Hotbed has the infrastructure and talent to work our way up the BSSL Ladder into Division 1. Our team commitment is unmatched. We typically bring 25-30 players to every practice and game. It’s a great playing environment. Looking to continue building upon our talent and team chemistry throughout practices and games to achieve this goal. A club we look up to in the BSSL is the Broadway Gunners (BSSL 1), who does a great job of balancing wining games/trophies and having fun.

Any specific players we should know about on your club?
Hotbed has had some many great people and players over the years it is hard to point them all out specifically. Here are some that have help us in more ways then just wining games: PJ Criscione (Captain), Jack Heintzelman (Captain), Danny Raphael (Captain), Jordan Forrester (Captain), Noah Camelo, Kevin Gilbert, David Luongo, Lucas Firme, Jason Miller, Steve Heintzelman, Mikey Budrewicz, Dani Knudsen, Armando Lezama, Donnie Igo, Warren Johnson, David Anderson, Will Talleri, Aidan Robinson, Nick Moore, Eli Cronin, Dylan Zernich, Helio-Mierielles Neto, Brendan Plasczynski, Bryan Gilbert, Justin D’Orlando, Jake Moorman, Keith Dixon, Kieran Bhave, Connor Horan, Ian McGinnis, Tyler Glass, Peter Melo, Matt Leon, Ted Hogan and Tighe Robinson.

Anything else we should know about your team?
Thank you all for playing and sticking with us over the years this truly wouldn’t be possible without the commitment and support from our players. As a wise man once said “We don’t keep score, we just keep scoring”.

Follow Hotbed FC Cyclones on Twitter HERE