Tom Mullahey thought that he had the coup of the century, the ideal prize to give to Hudson County’s boys’ and girls’ soccer players.
The Snyder High School athletic director, who doubles as the chairman of the Hudson County soccer committee, had brokered a deal with the New York Red Bulls soccer team to use the Harrison-located brand new $400 million Red Bull Arena, which opened last March, for the upcoming Hudson County Tournament championship games, scheduled to be played next Sunday.
The deal was set. The girls’ title game was going to be played at 11 a.m., with the boys’ championship game to follow at 1 p.m.
It was a chance of a lifetime for these kids. These kids were getting a chance to play on a professional soccer pitch in a facility that is second-to-none among soccer arenas. Mullahey had to be proud for setting up this dream date.
“Last Tuesday [Oct. 5], John Millar [the legendary Kearny soccer coach and current AD at the school] and I went to Red Bull Arena and met with their people,” Mullahey said. “We had a walk-through at the Arena and told us everything we could have. We worked out every detail, like admission charges and guest passes, down to the ball boys.”
Mullahey walked out of that meeting with the Red Bull officials like he was a soccer champion.
“I played soccer in college at Caldwell College,” Mullahey said. “I’m a soccer guy. It’s like a dream come true. For the kids, the coaches, it really was an amazing thing to get a chance to play at such a beautiful stadium. You couldn’t ask for anything better. We were all looking forward to it.”
Mullahey even promoted the event, telling local media and getting the schools behind ticket sales.
“It worked out great,” Mullahey said.
However, there was one minor obstacle.
“It was my fault,” Mullahey said. “I didn’t get anything in writing. I didn’t think anything would happen.”
Mullahey was wrong.
Last Thursday, just eight days after granting permission for the Hudson County Tournament finals to be played at Red Bull Arena, the Red Bulls called Mullahey to give him the bad news. They were reneging on their deal. The championship doubleheader was off.
“They basically said that we were being moved, because the Red Bulls were going to play a playoff game there [Nov. 4] and they didn’t want to have the field ruined by our kids,” Mullahey said.
Red Bulls giveth and then they taketh away.
“The field conditions were always a concern,” said Erik Stover, the managing director of the Red Bulls. “We recently had three games (a Red Bulls regular season game, an international friendly between Colombia and Ecuador and the U.S. Under 17 team) in three days and the field was just not usable after that. We came out of that weekend with very poor field conditions. So unfortunately, we were not able to host the event.”
Stover said that the Red Bulls always wanted to host the championships.
“We have been real committed to the Hudson County tournament and it was our best intention to squeeze it in when we had an off week,” Stover said. “We think it’s important to support the event.”
Then why pull the rug out before it happens?
Needless to say, Mullahey was not pleased.
“I don’t understand it,” Mullahey said. “When I asked, then they should have just said no. You can’t tell someone that they can have something and a week later, take it away. It’s not right. If they said no from the beginning, I would have understood. But this way doesn’t make sense. They said they didn’t want us to tear up the field. It’s a soccer game, not a demolition derby.”
Then, to try to make amends, the Red Bulls offered Mullahey a two-year deal to play the county tourney finals at Red Bull Arena in the future.
“That was the interesting part,” Mullahey said. “What good does a two-year thing do now? And they said that the two-year deal was doing us a favor. What about this year. I’m just upset with the lack of respect they showed. When I got the call, my jaw just dropped. I couldn’t believe they were doing this to us, especially after I went out and told everyone we were playing there. It makes no sense.”
Mullahey has a point. Because if the Red Bulls were truly turning the local kids away because of an upcoming playoff game, then didn’t the Red Bulls know they were going to host a playoff game like in June, when it was clearly evident that the team had made a dramatic turnaround and was headed for the postseason?
“John Millar asked them that,” Mullahey said. “He asked them about the playoffs and they said it wasn’t a big thing.”
Apparently, it is now, a complete change of direction in just one week.
“We always tried to make this work,” Stover said. “We didn’t want to do it this way. We could have managed things better to make it work.”
Yeah, like not saying one thing and doing another.
Stover said that the use of Red Bull Arena should have never gone public before a deal was signed.
“We didn’t intend for it to go public,” Stover said. “It should have been between us and the Hudson County tournament people.”
Gee, that makes the whole thing so much better, doesn’t it? That it was supposed to be a secret? Until when? The day before?
When the Red Bulls announced the building of Red Bull Arena a few years ago, the team said that they had planned to have the facility opened for local soccer events, like county and state tournament games, as well as the possibility of hosting the popular Harrison-Kearny soccer match for the avid local fans of those towns.
Well, that plan looks like it’s out the window already. Here’s the first chance to be community-minded and the Red Bulls fall flat on their faces.
“We’re trying to learn how our field is going to perform after use,” Stover said. “It’s our first year. We’re still learning.”
Mullahey is still working out details to move the county tourney final games to another site. Maybe Harrison High School will be the location. But that’s certainly not the best soccer pitch in the town. The big silver one where the Red Bulls play holds that distinction – and now that has been taken away from the Hudson County kids. It’s back to the drawing board and the games are a week away.
It’s amazing how things like this happen. Teams like the Red Bulls can’t make offers such as this, then take them away. It’s just bad for everyone involved and leaves a sour taste in everyone’s mouths.
“Ultimately, it’s my decision and we should have stuck to no in the first place,” Stover said. “It’s a lesson learned on focusing on what’s important.”
Like Nancy Reagan once professed when talking about drug use, “Just say no.” It would have been a lot easier than this mess.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.