Hey, all. I was just going through the Gold Cup's squads for this year and Belize's hasn't been announced but Wiki lists American Ian Mork as their coach. Anyone know anything about him?
I think this is Ian's second go around with Belize. I believe he managed them during qualification for WC '10. Mork, IIRC, is from KC or Wichita and played collegiately for Southern Colorado, now known as CSU-Pueblo. He briefly played professionally for the Wichita Wings, an indoor team. I know he's bounced around Central America coaching and running clinics. Other than that...............
Their fed president has announced he wants to humiliate the US in our game, so I've been having trouble sleeping: http://www.americansoccernow.com/articles/belize-federation-president-wants-to-humiliate-u-s
Warning Off-Topic: Back when I was 19-20 I was bartending at a place in Dallas and this nice young couple used to come in. After they had come in 4 times or so I asked their names and they replied: "Mork and Mindy" as a joke. Well, seeing as how 19 year old me had no idea what that was, I heard "Morgan & Mindy." I proceeded to call them this (specifically calling the guy Morgan when he'd come in by himself every once in a while) for a solid 6 months until finally he stops me and says, "Hey, just so you know, its Mork and Mindy, like the TV show...and those aren't our real names, we were just messing around and didn't have the heart to correct you." One of the most embarrassing moments of my life for some reason and its stuck with me. I must have called the guy Morgan 200 times.
If I recall correctly, in the "old days" of BigSoccer the "Ian Mork and Jeremy Sweet" thread was a popular one... I believe they both played in Belize and elsewhere. Here by the way is an update on Sweet. http://jeremysweet.com/home.html
Ian Mork, Head Coach, F.F.B. National Male Team Ian Mork “The plan is to advance in the Gold Cup and ideally we beat the U.S. I am competitive just like all the players and the executive and we want to win every time we play. But we have to be realistic about our level and where we are at and ideally we could advance and get to the next round of the Gold Cup. From what I’ve seen so far, I think the potential is great. We have to be realistic. I think the U.S. has players playing in Rome, they have a lot of talent; a lot of top international players. Until Belize starts to beat teams in Central America consistently, then we can think about beating the U.S. as well. But I do think that it is possible and Belize needs to start think about playing the U.S. every year or so because if we want to be a top team in CONCACAF, we are going to be playing the U.S. more than just one time; we are going to be playing them all the time. So I am trying to look a little bit more at the long time than just this one time game.” http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/84184 But I prefer this look, circa 2008: http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=691642&s=mundial&type=story Playing Experience : Belize 1st Division--San Pedro Dolphins San Francisco Premier League--Scots San Francisco Premier League--Milan F.C. Holland Top Amateur--Quick F.C. San Francisco Premier League--Juventus, Santa Rosa N.P.S.L.--Wichita Wings http://busc.org/p/comp/just-coachprofile.php?coachName=Ian A. Mork
Article from his hometown: http://www.kansas.com/2013/07/06/2877985/wichita-native-ian-mork-finds.html Seems even his family has a hard time rooting for Belize.
A bit more on Coach Mork: http://www.mlssoccer.com/goldcup/ne...-says-his-players-will-show-usmnt-they-can-ma
Maybe they just saw Milan and Juventus on his resume................and chose not to investigate futher