AOTW: Catalano’s game continues to climb charts with Michigan Bucks
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
PONTIAC — Tommy Catalano laughs about giving orders.
“I give them at work. I’m the foreman,” laughed the 22-year-old. “I work with a landscaping company right now.”
Catalano my choose which lawns to cut and bricks to lay, but that’s not his life’s mission. There’s another kind of turf he has been cutting up for years: On the soccer pitch.
It’s where he hopes to one day earn his bread and butter.
The now-Rochester Hills resident, who grew up in nearby Macomb Twp. and graduated from Utica Eisenhower High School in 2008, has had his fair share of ups and downs in his career but has turned heads with his recent play as a key member of the Michigan Bucks of the U.S.L.-Premier Developmental League.
RISING STAR: Tommy Catalano has added plenty of exposure to his soccer resume after four years starring with the Michigan Bucks. Courtesy Photo | Michigan Bucks
He aided the Bucks to a 9-4-3 record another postseason run in 2013 — the Bucks have reached the postseason all four summers that Catalano has been a starting midfielder — as his team reached the Sweet 16 of the postseason of the 69-franchise league that spans the U.S. and Canada and features college-age players.
“He’s been one of our best players the past couple of years, one of our leaders,” noted Bucks coach Demir Muftari. “He’s so quick, has great vision and really energizes this team.”
Catalano’s resume was quite polished coming out of high school. He was a two-time All-State selection, including Division 1 All-State First Team in the fall of 2007, helping his high school reach the Final Four as a senior. His club team, the Michigan Wolves, also reached the title game of the U.S. Youth Soccer Association national tournament in 2007 — a team that featured players some several local communities.
He entered Oakland University in the fall of 2008 and quickly became a hit, being named the Summit League Newcomer of the Year before he hit a major bump in the road and missed the 2009 season for the disciplinary reasons. He returned to Oakland in 2010 before and had a solid season there before departing the college game.
Playing with the Bucks and some other amateur leagues the past four years, Catalano has improved enough to reach the radar elsewhere. He has been contacted by professional clubs in two different countries and his goal is to play professionally somewhere around the globe or eventually in Major League Soccer here in the U.S.
“I have talked to teams in Canada and recently Australia. It’s something I am looking into,” said Catalano. “It has been my goal since I was a kid to play pro soccer one day. I will look into these opportunities and keep working hard training here (with the Bucks). I can’t give up.”
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