It’s that time of the year again, when I attempt to convince you to vote for one of five nominated clubs for Protagonist Soccer’s Club of the Year. We’ve done this four times before. In 2018, Inocentes FC from Ft. Worth, Texas won with an amazing story of immigrants finding success on the fields of the UPSL. In 2019, Pensacola FC won the WPSL title and the Club of the Year award. In 2020, one of the strangest of years due to the spiking pandemic, the Maryland Bobcats, fresh off a UPSL title and an announced move to becoming a professional club, took home the hardware. Last year, KC Courage were chosen as the Club of the Year for their heroic approach to supporting their players during the pandemic.

As always, our award is chosen by our readers. Our goal, as a staff, is to work together to narrow the field to 4-5 clubs in the lower league ranks, both men’s and women’s, and offer our choices to the readers of our site. It has yielded interesting results, honestly. Clubs seen as favorites have been passed over and dark horses have certainly surged across the finish line to take the silver. This year offered the first, in three years of pandemic, full seasons for all clubs nominated. In the end, it will be up to the readers to decide. Here’s to an amazing season of lower league stories. And here’s to our third nomination, FC Motown.

Soccer is a game played by humans. And no matter how beautiful the game is, life outside the chalk lines can sometimes interfere in terrible and tragic ways. Tragedies can make people shut down, give up, retreat from the pain, but they can also inspire, pushing us beyond what we thought possible.

In late March of this year, FC Motown began its US Open Cup play. It’s Round 1 matchup was West Chester United. After the match ended (a 3-2 loss for FC Motown in extra time), it was discovered that the referee had allowed an illegal substitution. The USOC decided that the match would be replayed a week later.

A soccer match is just a soccer match, until it’s something more.

In the week between matches, FC Motown defender, Sainclair Tueno-Nguimfack, was struck by a car driving at a high speed. He was rushed to the hospital, fighting for his life. The players were clearly concerned with the health and safety of their teammate, but the match would be played regardless. Before the match kicked off, FC Motown players wore t-shirts with the phrase “Fight the Fight!!!” in support of their fallen friend. While the team won 1-0, advancing to the second round of the competition, Tueno would succumb to his injuries two weeks later. It was a massive blow for his family, his friends, and his team.

And in the wake of his passing, the team decided to dedicate the season to their fallen friend. Fellow FC Motown defender, Jean Voltaire, summed up the teams approach to 2022. “We started the season slow but we kept fighting and fighting. We have only one goal and that’s to fight for Sainclair.” And they fought.

FC Motown competes in multiple leagues, including USL League Two, NPSL, and Garden State Soccer League (GSSL). While the team struggled in a tough USL League Two Metropolitan Division, finishing the season with just 5 wins, the New Jersey club shone brightly in everywhere else. In the NPSL, the Keystone Conference regular season was a tight one and FC Motown finished atop the table with a 7-1-2 record. The attack was potent, led by Assane Ben Fall who scored 9 goals in 10 matches. In the East Region playoffs, the club topped its former USOC foe West Chest United on penalties. Next came the NPSL national playoffs, where FCM cruised to the final and, in thrilling fashion, won the championship 4-3 over Crossfire Redmond.

The winning ways weren’t limited to the NPSL. In the GSSL, FC Motown would also take home hardware. The same was true in the NJ State Men’s Open Cup. In the US Open Cup, FC Motown’s run would end in the third round, defeated by Rochester NY FC. However, regardless of the loss, the club would take home the prize for the highest finishing amateur team in the competition. This was a team who played inspired, determined soccer in almost every league and competition it entered.

There is something to be said for playing with a broken heart. Competing when everything says to give up. Fighting when you only feel like crying. FC Motown lost a brother this year and made something meaningful of it regardless. Dedicated to winning to honor his memory, his teammates raised trophy after trophy. It’s a story worth remembering, a story with honoring, a story worthy of club of the year.

- Dan Vaughn