So who are you and how did you get involved in soccer/Amish Country United?

I’m 21 years old and in the fall, I am going to be a senior at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, double-majoring in Business Administration and Sports Management. I have played soccer my whole life but really found my love of the game watching the 2014 World Cup. From that summer on, I couldn’t get enough of playing, watching, or following soccer. My sophomore year of high school, I started an indoor soccer team to play in a local league. This team eventually became Amish Country United and we’ve made the switch to outdoors.

So why the name Amish Country United?

We decided on the name Amish Country United because our area— Holmes County— is often referred to as Amish Country, as we have one of the largest Amish populations in the world. We added the “United” part because we came together as players from several schools within Amish Country to start the team.

How long has your club existed and where do you draw your talent from?

We started playing indoor in 2014 and began playing under the name Amish Country United in 2016. We made the move from indoor to outdoor in the summer of 2018, and this is when we started getting more competitive and began doing a lot more recruiting. A large number of our players have come from three successful area high school programs. These schools are Hiland High School (where I attended), Kidron Central Christian, and Mansfield Christian. We also get a lot of our players from Mount Vernon Nazarene University, where I attend college.

Can you tell us about 1 or 2 of your players?

We have thirty players on our men’s team but I will highlight two that have been very important to our history. The first is our club captain is Brandon Kozak. He played at Hiland High School and Denison University. He has lined up at center attacking midfielder, either wing, and even striker for us but is mostly used as a CAM or left winger. He’s a very technical player and is extremely vocal, leading by example. He’s also very good at taking younger players under his wing, making them feel accepted, and helping them grow. Sam Paul led us in goals and assists last year with 7 goals and 7 assists in just 7 games. He joined us after playing for Mansfield Christian, where he won an Ohio state championship. After graduating high school, he attended the University of Cincinnati where he played and helped lead their club soccer team. Sam plays on the right wing and possesses blazing speed and flashy foot skills. Sam assisted the first goal and scored the game-clinching goal in the 92’ in our 2-0 semifinal win over Inter Ohio. In addition to what he does on the field, Sam has a very bright future in the medical field.

You play in the NOSL, can you talk about the league?

We were the first team in the Northern Ohio Soccer League and started play last summer. The league is very competitive and there are many talented high school and college players from the surrounding counties who make up the league. The NOSL is also fairly balanced, where any team could beat any other team on any given day. For example, last year we lost 0-5 and 1-6 to Inter Ohio during the regular season, but we came away with a 2-0 victory in the NOSL semifinals. The teams are all constantly trying to improve and best each other. There is actually some stiff competition between teams going for the same players at times. There were five teams in the NOSL in 2019 but there are currently ten teams in the league. The league is gaining a lot of momentum and has got a lot of interest from the northern Ohio region.

What club is your biggest rival?

Our biggest rival is probably FC Accipiter, whom we lost to in the NOSL final. Our games with them are usually pretty chippy and display some high emotions. We’re also located only 20 minutes away from them, making them one of the closer teams to us geographically. We also are pretty evenly matched with Stark County United and our games are also very competitive. ACU, Accipiter, and Stark are the three remaining teams from the original five so we will probably always have some good rivalry matchups.

What's the plan for 2020?

With the NOSL being postponed for 2020, we are hoping to play a few friendlies throughout the remainder of the summer. We have already confirmed games with two teams, we’re just waiting for clearance to play. We also hope to play at least one friendly this fall at our new home field, as Hiland High School is in the process of completing their new turf soccer field.

Anything else we should know about the club?

Amish Country United would not be able to compete without the financial support of our sponsors— Pioneer Trails, AloNovus Corp. and Der Dutchman. We have recently announced the formation of an ACU women’s team and have big plans to start up a competitive youth development program. You can check us out at www.amishcountryunited.com, where you can see all new updates, stories, schedules, and other information on Amish Country United and purchase our new home and away jerseys from Icarus FC on the team store.