Date: Fri 23-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Ball-Soccer-MLS

Full Text:

John Ball Signs With Chicago Fire of MLS

(with file photo)

BY KIM J. HARMON

It seems as if John Ball has always been with a champion.

He was a champion at Newtown High School, a two-time Division II national

champion at Southern Connecticut State University, and a two-time champion

with the Cleveland Crunch of the indoor National Professional Soccer League.

And it seems only natural that when Ball signed his first contract with Major

League Soccer, it would be with a champion.

Ball was signed by the Chicago Fire, the 1998 MLS champions, as a discovery

player on June 28 and he made his debut with the team -- as a starting

midfielder -- on Tuesday night in a friendly match with Darby County.

A little over a month before the signing, Ball had helped lead the Crunch over

St. Louis, three games to two, securing the 1999 NPSL championship. Ball was

hurt in the final minute of the clincher, a second-degree sprain, and then

went on a six-week rehabilitation plan.

Ball's agent, meanwhile, was talking with the Fire, who had seen and scouted

the former Newtown star, and finally a deal was worked out near the end of

June.

"It's nice," said Ball on Wednesday morning, the night after his debut. "I

really like it a lot. Chicago is a really nice city and the guys on the team

are great."

One of those guys is Greg Sutton of Bethel, who signed with the Fire for the

1999 season. Ball and Sutton missed each other back in the old Western

Connecticut Conference, as Sutton was in eighth grade in Bethel when Ball was

a senior at NHS.

"We were talking about that last night," said Ball. "It's weird to have two

guys from the same high school conference playing professionally on the same

team."

Ball started playing professionally soon after graduating from SCSU. He joined

the Connecticut Wolves of the A League and the Cleveland Crunch of the NPSL

and later had a taste of the MLS when he was called up by the New York/New

Jersey Metrostars for a friendly match -- but it was just a taste.

Now he has hooked on with MLS for, he hopes, much more than a little taste

and, as one would expect, it's with a winner.

"It feels good to be here," he said. "All the teams I've played with have been

winners and I hope I can help (Chicago) win again."

The Fire entered the recent MLS All-Star break with a 10-7 record in the

Western Conference. They are tied with the Dallas Burn for second place, four

points behind the first-place Colorado Rapids and just four points ahead of

the Los Angeles Galaxy. The San Jose Clash and the Kansas City Wizards are in

fifth and sixth place, respectively, well behind the rest of the pack.

And because the top four teams in each conference reach the playoffs, it seems

a good bet that the Fire will return to the post-season in an effort to defend

the championship they won in their first season.

But it's not enough.

"We've had our little setbacks, like all champions," said Ball, who now has an

apartment in Chicago and is just four months away from getting married, "but

we're looking to get back on track in the second half."

And Ball has a few goals in mind.

"I'm hoping to get my fitness back," he said, "win a starting position on

right midfield, and help the team win."