Joseph Lapira

[greendeiseboy]

just read this on elevenaside.com. Anyone know anything about this lad .......

must be worth a look.



Irish-American youngster lands college awards


December 20, 2006

Notre Dame soccer star Joseph Lapira, who qualifies for Ireland through his mother Kate, has capped an exceptional campaign for the Fighting Irish by landing several awards, including the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy given to the player recognised by coaches as the best in American junior college soccer.

Lapira, a hugely promising striker who turned 20 in August, scored 22 goals for Notre Dame during the season, including four in a breath-taking 5-4 victory over Indiana as well as the only goal in a 1-0 win over Maryland in November which saw the Fighting Irish through to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship quarter-finals for the first time.

A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Lapira was an unheralded prospect at the start of the year, coming from nowhere to land America’s top award for college soccer players in a ceremony screened across the US earlier this week.

Lapira – who cuts a distinctive figure, with hairband keeping his flowing blond locks in tow – was also named as Soccer America Men’s Player of the Year, as well as being included in the All-American first-team by the respected publication College Soccer News.

Speaking at the Hermann Trophy ceremony, he said: “When they announced the final three, it was a bit overwhelming. Coming from last year, I would have never thought I’d be a in a position to win the Hermann, nonetheless be right up there and winning it.

"Someone was telling me earlier that I wasn’t even on the preseason All-Big East team, which doesn’t surprise me. I didn’t deserve to be. Before the season, I had absolutely no inkling I’d be getting the Hermann Trophy.”

Previous winners of the Hermann Trophy include Manchester City midfielder Claudio Reyna, who came out on top in 1992 and ’93, USA World Cup star Alexi Lalas and ex-Sheffield Wednesday man John Harkes, while virtually every recipient in recent years has gone on to a successful career in Major League Soccer.

[Dodge]

just read this on elevenaside.com. Anyone know anything about this lad .......

must be worth a look.

More so than any of the lads on soccer scholarship in UCD?

[greendeiseboy]

if they're good enough .. why not... same as anyone that fits that category

[ken foree]

More so than any of the lads on soccer scholarship in UCD?

yes. unless he's shaved off this fantastic beard:

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/nd/sports/m-soccer/auto_action/16659.jpeg

[greendeiseboy]

like the jersey tho

[cavan_fan]

Another bloody forward! can we have soem defenders please.

[Metrostars]

like the jersey tho

Better pic:
http://soccernet-att.espn.go.com/design05/mediaUS/20061126/lapira2_205.jpg

Another article:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=394080&root=ncaa&cc=5901


His unbelievable junior season this year almost never happened, as he tore the meniscus in his left knee in the season opener against UAB. Lapira and the coaching staff decided he would try to play on the knee and postpone surgery until after the season.


He has 1 more year left at College level and will probably join an MLS team in 2008. I don't think he has been capped by the US yet but winning the Hermann has certainly brought attention to him. With qualifying for the Olympics (U-23) starting later in 2007, I quessing he might be getting a look unless someone from over there has a chat with him first.

[Paddy Garcia]

Will he play for us then? Anyone in the USA know how strong the tie is likely to be?


I'm not sure we should be playin these yank lads.

[greendeiseboy]

I'm not sure we should be playin these yank lads.

why not? how do you know he regards himself as a "yank" - his mother is irish, he's playing with a team that is proud of it's irish connections - he obviously has strong ties here - for all we know he might even be an irish passport holder - if he's good enough and commited enough get him over and have a look - we're so sh*te at the moment if someone wants to play for us for the right reasons give them a chance

[Dodge]

why not? how do you know he regards himself as a "yank" - his mother is irish, he's playing with a team that is proud of it's irish connections
NOtre Dame doesn't have that strong Irish connections. Chances are this lad joined them because they offered him the best scholarship...

[greendeiseboy]

NOtre Dame doesn't have that strong Irish connections. Chances are this lad joined them because they offered him the best scholarship...



suppose you're right - they dont really have that much connection to ireland:rolleyes:



The Fighting Irish

Exactly where and how Notre Dame's athletic nickname, "Fighting Irish," came to origination never has been perfectly explained.

One story suggests the moniker was born in 1899 with Notre Dame leading Northwestern 5-0 at halftime of a game in Evanston, Ill. The Wildcat fans supposedly began to chant, "Kill the Fighting Irish, kill the Fighting Irish," as the second half opened.

Another tale has the nickname originating at halftime of the Notre Dame-Michigan game in 1909. With his team trailing, one Notre Dame player yelled to his teammates - who happened to have names like Dolan, Kelly, Glynn, Duffy and Ryan - "What's the matter with you guys? You're all Irish and you're not fighting worth a lick."

Notre Dame came back to win the game and press, after overhearing the remark, reported the game as a victory for the "Fighting Irish."

The most generally accepted explanation is that the press coined the nickname as a characterization of Notre Dame athletic teams, their never-say-die fighting spirit and the Irish qualities of grit, determination and tenacity. The term likely began as an abusive expression tauntingly directed toward the athletes from the small, private, Catholic institution. Notre Dame alumnus Francis Wallace popularized it in his New York Daily News columns in the 1920s.

The Notre Dame Scholastic, in a 1929 edition, printed its own version of the story:

"The term 'Fighting Irish' has been applied to Notre Dame teams for years. It first attached itself years ago when the school, comparatively unknown, sent its athletic teams away to play in another city ...At that time the title 'Fighting Irish' held no glory or prestige ...

"The years passed swiftly and the school began to take a place in the sports world ...'Fighting Irish' took on a new meaning. The unknown of a few years past has boldly taken a place among the leaders. The unkind appellation became symbolic of the struggle for supremacy of the field. ...The team, while given in irony, has become our heritage. ...So truly does it represent us that we unwilling to part with it ..."

Notre Dame competed under the nickname "Catholics" during the 1800s and became more widely known as the "Ramblers" during the early 1920s in the days of the Four Horsemen.

University president Rev. Matthew Walsh, C.S.C., officially adopted "Fighting Irish" as the Notre Dame nickname in 1927.

[Dodge]

All in the past, and it is only a nickname. Read the full history of the university and its Athletic department and come back to me.

[Superhoops]

suppose you're right - they dont really have that much connection to ireland:rolleyes: .
Wot, like Celt*c, you mean!!

[greendeiseboy]

i did - founded by french priest etc - responsible for providing further education to irish immigrants when most others turned them away - - wouldnt say its all in the past - irish/americans tend to retain their affinity with us -

look regardless of where he goes to school etc if he wants to play for us and he's good enough he should be given a chance - f*ck me theres enough turning us down at the moment - guarantee if he did declare he'd show a lot more commitment than some of the wasters we have at the moment

[Dodge]

guarantee if he did declare he'd show a lot more commitment than some of the wasters we have at the moment

You can guarentee it eh?

[dr_peepee]

Another bloody forward! can we have soem defenders please.


Yeah! This is what it must have been like to be Welsh in the 90's

[SaucyJack]

Better pic:
http://soccernet-att.espn.go.com/design05/mediaUS/20061126/lapira2_205.jpg

Another article:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=394080&root=ncaa&cc=5901



He has 1 more year left at College level and will probably join an MLS team in 2008. I don't think he has been capped by the US yet but winning the Hermann has certainly brought attention to him. With qualifying for the Olympics (U-23) starting later in 2007, I quessing he might be getting a look unless someone from over there has a chat with him first.


I'm guessing that someone in Lapira's camp/Family put the Ireland connection out there to prod the U.S. Under-21/23 selectors to pick him before he gets locked up by us, kinda like we tried with Dixon, just my guess.

[Metrostars]

I'm guessing that someone in Lapira's camp/Family put the Ireland connection out there to prod the U.S. Under-21/23 selectors to pick him before he gets locked up by us, kinda like we tried with Dixon, just my guess.

Maybe so, but if Ireland wants to cap him, it better happen really soon because I predict he will be called up by US U-23 before the end of 2007.

[Qwerty]

The only way that he will play for Ireland is if he is turned down by the U.S. His mother could be Vulcan nerver mind Irish and it wouldn't want to make him play for the U.S any less - unless he has some strange mother-fixation :eek:

[Metrostars]

Speaking of Irish Americans, Michael Parkhurst of the New England Revs who's father is from Monaghan got his first call up for the US team training camp in January.

[bwagner]

Long before Joe Lapira recorded 50 points in a season, worked the awards circuit to win Soccer America's Player of the Year award, earned SIOC's Male U Award, or made speeches in front of a national television audience, the long-haired, free-spirited attacking forward from Lake Charles, La., was unfettered to any collegiate decision.
As a junior at St. Louis Catholic High, Lapira contemplated living the undergrad party life at Louisiana State, licking the Cajun barbeque sauce off his fingertips and crashing on couches.
"I was pretty much set to go to school and have a good time with my friends at Louisiana State," says Lapira, 20, who was the 2004 Gatorade Player of the Year in Louisiana as a senior in high school. "No schools were recruiting me. It was Notre Dame or go to LSU with my friends."
Still, he pushed forward. After setting up a weekend visit to see his cousin, Melissa, at Notre Dame, Lapira sent soccer coach Bobby Clark an e-mail to arrange a visit and to see Notre Dame host Boston College in football. Ranked No. 4 in the nation at the time, the Fighting Irish stormed out of the tunnel wearing their special-occasion green jerseys, but it was Lapira wound up getting luckier than Tyrone Willingham's football team, which lost, 14-7.
"I was just a kid who stopped in," Lapira said. "They weren't recruiting me, but we spent about a half-hour to an hour in there, and [Clark] suggested some ways to get noticed and what tournaments and camps to attend."
Lapira walked out of the Joyce Center office and soon signed up for Notre Dame's summer camp that July. After an impressive week on the pitch, Irish eyes zoned in on Lapira. Three weeks later, the staff saw him again at an Iowa tournament.
"He wasn't tearing the world apart when we saw him, but there was a raw energy to him that we thought we could work with and get the most of," Clark says.
A scholarship was offered, and Lapira was on his way to South Bend, leaving the South and Cajun cooking for Indiana's cold winter.
"There was some adjustment when I got there," said Lapira. "The work was tougher than anything I had handled in high school, but the weather and being used to warmth was another thing all together. It's a different lifestyle."
Son of a Pittsburgh-born father, Paul, and Irish mother, Catherine, Lapira does not claim Cajun bloodlines. But he did need time to adjust to the climate. Accustomed to soaking in Louisiana's warmth and spirited revelries, he had never seen snow before, nor had he seen the sun go down so early.
Dubbed the "Ragin' Cajun" immediately upon enrollment, Lapira sported a grown-in beard and sprinted into his freshman season with unbridled enthusiasm and unheralded skills.
"I was never the star of my teams, but I just came in and wanted to be as active as possible," Lapira says. "I wanted to contribute and get involved."
And what did coach think?
"Oh, he lived up to that nickname," Clark says in his Scottish accent. "He was the true Ragin' Cajun. Such energy, but it needed to be harnessed."
Making sure to utilize Lapira in the most positive ways, the staff conjured ways to get the most out of their potential star. They needed to use him effectively and efficiently, not just allowing his energy to spill out effusively with no rhyme or reason.
"Our thought was hopefully he can be reined in and start to know where he's going all the time in the field," Clark says.
That reining-in process came together, and Clark saw the possibility for even greater success after his sophomore season.
"At the end of the season we talk with coach about what we can improve and how we go about it," Lapira says. "Last year he pulled me aside and said he thought I could be the Big East Player of the Year.
A swift mover and seamless ball sprayer, Lapira, who resembles legendary runner Steve Prefontaine when he dons a mustache, set out on a path to fulfill his potential, working on his dribbling last summer with senior midfielder Nate Norman.
"I'm definitely getting more out of my movement than I did in other years," Lapira says. "But I have such an array of talent to work with that my game feeds off of my team's play."
Having blossomed into a star as a junior, Lapira still traces his roots back down South, where his family and community survived the wrath of Katrina but Rita wreaked havoc.
"When I was watching the coverage of Rita, I was looking at the docks and piers, all places that I had been hanging out near a few weeks before," Lapira says. "It was kind of surreal, but it helped me put things in perspective."
Rita knocked a tree onto the Lapira house, where Joe had lived since he was 3. The house needed a tarp and some work, but Lake Charles is still home to the Lapira family.
Notre Dame takes on LSU in the Sugar Bowl, and the Lapira family, including Joe's younger sister, Maria, a freshman at LSU will be in attendance.Back in the Bayou, Lapira no longer chooses between Cajun food and an Irish experience."There's no choice for me now," Lapira says. "I'm taking the Irish."

[gustavo]

Long before Joe Lapira recorded 50 points in a season,

How does one do that ?

Also could you source that article?

[bwagner]

Sorry i had another part as the heading, i got it from a college sport site.
Also in the sunday mail yesterday there was a article on him and he stats he would be very willing to play for Ireland and he even wears and Ireland repica shirt around the campus.

[Dodge]

How does one do that ?

Also could you source that article?

They count goals + assists

[The Legend]

unless his mother is like me... if i had a kid that was any good at anything, it would be a cold day in hell before I'd let him play for a U.S team as long as there was a chance Ireland would want him.

[dodgycanadian]

I live in Canada and know loads of lads who play in the NCAA division 1 against players such as Joseph. The league is ****in rubbish and any other forward in the Eircom league would tear it apart and score like anthony stokes ;) . Don't read too much into him.

[charliesboots]

He's obviously Irish - Tiocfaidh ár Lá (P.I.R.A.).

[SkStu]

according to BBC website this guy is going on trial with Aberdeen

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/default.stm

(bottom of the first section)

[deadman]

and why isn't ronnie o'brien involved in this "irish" squad

[gustavo]

http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=49333&highlight=lapira

search function is handy

[deadman]

ah thanks,

i see he's been drafted into the irish training squad

[zinedineontour]

Lipira has been included in training with the Irish team in the US at the moment

[Poor Student]

and why isn't ronnie o'brien involved in this "irish" squad

Because he's injured?

[eirebhoy]

O'Brien has started the last couple of games for Toronto. I think he turned down an invitation to train with the squad.

[pete]

Lipira has been included in training with the Irish team in the US at the moment

Are you sure he not just carrying the bags? Maybe he is the Waterboy? :p

[Paddy Garcia]

O'Brien has started the last couple of games for Toronto. I think he turned down an invitation to train with the squad.

I don't blame him. When you look at the make up of the squad, what would it have cost Stan to give him a proper invitation. And the other lad for that matter.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Well Lapira has an Irish parent. Apparently according to Bobby Clark ex-Aberdeen goalie and his coach at Notre Dame, interviewed on Newstalk106 last night, a lot of US born soccer players at College level who have reasonable ability want to ply their trade in Europe. As US citizens they need to have played in 80% of their country's senior internationals in the previous year before they can get a work permit to play in Europe. If however they are entitled to citizenship of a European or EU member state, things change. Young Lapira is getting an Irish passport, hoping to play in the two games of the US Cup and maybe get a trial in Europe. I would recommend that he should try his luck here, if he is any use of course, given his Irish citizenship.

If he's crap try San Marino or Andorra :D

[CollegeTillIDie]

O'Brien has started the last couple of games for Toronto. I think he turned down an invitation to train with the squad.

He was once the greatest player in the world in an internet poll if I am not mistaken:D

[Stuttgart88]

Time Magazine's Person of the Century I think it was, beating Mandela, the Pope, Gorbachev and others maybe a bit more deserving!

[bwagner]

Maybe a silly question lads but can this guy actually play in these games or is it only training he is allowed to take part in?

[Pablo]

If he gets in the squad proper its conclusive proof that Staunton is an incompetent idiot

[Paddy Garcia]

Why, if he is a genuine hot prospect. Playing him in a meaningless friendly is nothing compared to calling a youth team player into a world cup finals squad i.e. Walcott.

If he has the same potential it makes sense. In fact just inviting him to "train" makes little sense.

[Réiteoir]

Stan is truly unbelievable, we are going to give a cap to a player that can't get into the US underage set-up, isn't professional, and hasn't played football in 2 months?

:rolleyes:

[eirebhoy]

Ronnie O'Brien (Toronto), Bryan Byrne (New England), Michael Parkhurst (New England) and Joe Lapira (Notre Dame) were all invited to train with the squad.

[kev mcq]

He hasn't got an irish passport so he can't play on this tour. Waste of time calling him in to train. Why doesn't stan call up a few eircom division 1 players as well while he's at it.

[The Legend]

He hasn't got an irish passport so he can't play on this tour. Waste of time calling him in to train. Why doesn't stan call up a few eircom division 1 players as well while he's at it.

He should call me up, I am fat and can't run, but I can "do a job"!:D

[Kivlehan]

He hasn't got an irish passport so he can't play on this tour. Waste of time calling him in to train. Why doesn't stan call up a few eircom division 1 players as well while he's at it.

He hasn't been called up, just invited to training. No harm done. No one's spot stolen.

[Paddy Garcia]

He hasn't been called up, just invited to training. No harm done. No one's spot stolen.

I sooner involve a bright prospect than an established player from the lower English leagues. Also it seems many of our home born players could not give a toss about their spot.

[Paddy Garcia]

He hasn't got an irish passport so he can't play on this tour. Waste of time calling him in to train. Why doesn't stan call up a few eircom division 1 players as well while he's at it.

Not according to Stan.

"And several more of the 11 uncapped players in the Ireland squad will also start or enter the match as substitutes.

That could include 20 year old striker Joe Lapira who plays for Notre Dame college and who qualifies for Ireland through his Dublin-born mother Catherine Lynam whose brother Michael is the FAI national children’s officer.

Joe is eligible to play and he is part of the squad. He has come along and done very well in training, considering he has not had any football for two months. "

[youngirish]

Lapira will be capped tonight I believe. I had a vision last night. He sounds like a decent prospect so by all means give him a cap if (and only if) he has his heart set on playing for us. He's certainly a better prospect than 50% of the players in the poorest squad we've ever had at International level.

If only he was a left back or central midfield player. As mentioned earlier do we really need another forward?

Bad news confirmed about Duff also. Who will replace him for the qualifiers? I reckon A Reid is our best option if he's fit.