Vincent Grady
Vincent "V-flo" Grady
Coach Vince has been flo’ing since his early days in Dover, De, where as a youngster he could be found in his backyard with any of his 5 siblings playing every game and sport imaginable. His duel passion for soccer and basketball formed the basis for his initial flo, where pick-up games with neighborhood friends were intense but also friendly. As a teenager, he took his flo to the top of high school and club soccer, winning 3 DE high school titles, 4 state club championships with Kirkwood FC and participating in the United States Olympic Developmental Program. In college, he traveled to Argentina and Peru and began his life-long flo affair with Spanish. A few years later, he graduated with his BA in Span Lit, a street degree in Salsa Dancing from NYC, and a passion for street futbol that has continued unabated to this day. The last 8 years he has brought his flo to working with children in sport (Gotham Girls FC, Downtown United Soccer Club, Community Soccer Initiative, Loisaida Youth Soccer) and freestyle soccer, his most recent passion. Coach Vince is an avid reader of youth sport literature, flow studies, sociology of sport, positive and sport psychology, education and pedagogy. He believes that the role of the coach in youth soccer is to facilitate the love and learning of movement through sport, to be a model of ethical conduct, and to make visible the innate potential of every child to achieve competence, autonomy, and relatedness in sport. He is an advocate of positive coaching methodology and insists that praxis and theory not be separated, but understood as existing in a dialectical dance. He holds a "C" license from the US Soccer Federation. |
Frankie Gonzalez
Frankie"Flo" Gonzalez
Born in Queens of Mexican descent, Frankie “Flo” Gonzalez seemed to embody the very concept of flo from birth. Immersed in an all-encompassing soccer cultural life, Frankie began dribbling a ball roughly around the same time he could walk. As a New York youngster, Frankie flo’ed with hip hop, salsa and electronica while killing it on the pitch with unparalleled skill. As a stand-out player at a small Queens’ high school player, Frankie eventually caught the eye of Latino scouts in NYC and they encouraged him to travel back to his father’s birthplace to give professional football serious consideration. He played briefly in Mexico before coming back to his birthplace and getting involved in the budding freestyle soccer scene. The last 7 years Frankie has rocked his flo with Redbulls Street Team, Budweiser Kings, and Freestyle Soccer (with freestyle legend Eli “Swrl”) where he shared the limelight with street luminary Edward Van Gils among others, and has performed in every important North American event out there, from half time shows to Soccer Conventions to film festivals. At the moment he is working with Met Oval Academy giving master classes to some of NYCs most talented youth players, and he is also an integral part of our program here at Loisaida Youth Soccer (LYS). He believes that the youth coach should always carry a smile close by, that the intrinsic motivation to learn dwells within every child, and that the best environment for learning is one where the child feels safe, happy, and inspired. |