THE BOSTON BRAVES pose for a picture in Oslo, Norway before competing against Valerenga Fotball veterans at Intility Arena in Oslo, Norway during a recent nine-day Scandinavian tour. (Courtesy Photo)
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
OSLO, NORWAY — The Boston Braves, a locally-based veterans soccer team, completed a successful Scandinavian tour earlier in August. Over the course of the nine-day trip, the Braves played games against veteran teams from FC Copenhagen and Lyngby Boldklub (Denmark), IFK Goteborg (Sweden), and Valerenga Fotball (Oslo, Norway).
They competed against various former professionals and national-team players from the clubs, including the likes of Hakan Mild, Robin Soder, Mattias Bjärsmyr, Jens Berthel Askou and Jorgen Jalland, among others.
For the first time, the Braves traveled two teams, an over-40 year old team and an over-55 team. Both teams experienced some success during the tour with the over-40 team going 1-1-2 and the over 55-team going 0-2-2 on the tour.
The president of the Braves is Lynnfield resident, Spiros Tourkakis, who coordinated and orchestrated the tour and had been promoting friendships and alliances in the name of veterans soccer for over 20 years.
The Braves were founded by Tourkakis back in 2001 and have traveled to face some of the top clubs in the world, including Manchester City, Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and many more.
Lynnfield residents Marco DaSilva and Ethan Blanchette are also members of the Braves who competed on the over-40 team during the Scandinavia trip.
“It was a very unique experience,” said Blanchette, who is the boys’ junior varsity soccer coach at Lynnfield High. “It was a lot of fun to play against some very talented players, and to eat, drink and talk with them before and after the matches. Each club provided a meal and drinks in various settings at their stadium, or training facility after the matches so that players from both teams could socialize.”
Blanchette, who teaches Anatomy and Biology at Lynnfield High, also enjoyed getting to know the hosts personally.
“For me, one of the parts I enjoyed best was spending time with some of the players the evening before the game and really getting to know a little bit about them and their family. The night before the game against IFK Goteborg, I had dinner with Hannes Stiller and his 15-year-old son, who enjoyed sharing stories about his father and affectionately referring to him by his soccer nickname – ‘Killer Stiller’. Then we competed the next day and spent time talking after the match. Those personal connections are special and enjoyable.”
DaSilva is a US Department of Transportation Manager and has been a member of the Braves since 2012. Blanchette joined the team back in 2017.
Tourkakis, Blanchette and DaSilva are also managers of Lynnfield Football Club (LFC), a veteran soccer organization in the town consisting of six separate age-groups from over-30, through over-68.