WCFC brings diverse, expanded team into new season

There are plenty of other returning players back on the Toros this year, from many different parts of the world.

Some international returning talent include Vitor Matos Pereira and Giulio Palombo from Brazil, Juan Miranda from Argentina and Gerrard Uamai from Ireland.

Local returnees that were former Worthington High School players are Jonathan Banegas, Maqui Sandoval, Hugo Garcia and Carlos Castillo.

There are also longtime veterans who have been with the Toros for all five years like Miguel Moreno, Luis Echeverria, Jared Hernandez, Eli Salisbury, goalkeeper Eli Robinson and Santos Orellana.

But this year's club also features plenty of new faces, one of which is Twinn's fellow countryman and college teammate Kobi Jones from Nottingham.

Like Twinn, Jones also plays a defensive position at left back and he also grew up around the sport of soccer in England.

"My dad used to always coach, like he used to get involved with football as much as he could. And so that's where it grew on me," Jones said. "When I was four years old, he took me to this place called soccer school, and it was for people ages three to five. And that's where the love of the sport grew for me, because I just kept playing and playing."

After this season with the Toros, Jones plans to return home to play club soccer for his native country.

Other Toros newcomers on defense are Ezekiel Foltz, Xavier O'Garro, Tiago Moreira, Abdulkadir Jama, Paulo Fonte and Antonio Eduardo. New additions on the attack are Tim Berger, Samuel Ramirez, Sakarive Mahamed, Pablo Martin, Ahmed Yusuf and Diego Meza.

Another thing Twinn and Jones have in common is that they are living together this season.

As the Toros continued to expand, players not from the area were offered to stay with local residents from the Worthington community. They were also provided with possible opportunities for work.

Karen Feit is one of those local community residents who opened her doors to players starting last year.

At the time, she offered work to a group of them.

"What happened was Josue (Hernandez) said, 'Do you have anything you want done, Karen?' And I said, 'Yeah, they could do some landscaping,'" Feit said. "So the first day that they came to my house, all eight of them, and I fed them good..."

"We started talking about their living conditions and I was appalled," she added. "When I brought the boys back to their place that they were staying, I didn't know if I wanted to let them go back in that house. So I said, 'You know what? I have two bedrooms. You have the whole basement to yourself. It's a big family room and everything, and grandma will feed you.'"

Twinn was one of those eight players. He stayed in contact with Feit and asked if Jones could move in this year.

Feit has since been an avid supporter of the Toros and she has provided a good temporary home for her two players.

"Me and the other boy that had moved in last year just were really sort of confused," Twinn said. "In England, especially where we're from, you're never that generous. Even my parents had said, like, 'Are you sure she's okay with this?' and I said 'I think so.' But it almost sounded too good to be true."

And even though he has only been there for less than a week, Jones already feels comfortable.

"Harry's been telling me everything about how lovely she is, and I was just thinking to myself, 'This is too good to be true,'" Jones said. "I stepped foot through the door, stuff is down, and she's such a lovely greeting woman greeting with a hug. And she goes, 'My name's Karen, but you can call me grandma if you want,' and right then I felt like really settled in with it."

One thing the Toros are looking for is the continued and increased support from the local community, and they are taking steps toward making it happen.

"It's basically just getting them out in the in the community," Feit said. "We're also looking for help with sponsoring these guys for the lost Toros, because there are a lot of things that people don't see on the back lines."

"We want to bring more people to the site," she added. "Once you attend a Toros game, you are hooked."

April 18: vs Super Stars FC

April 26: at Capital City Roots FC

May 1: vs CB Captains FC

May 2: vs Reapers FC

May 10: at Sioux Falls Thunder FC

May 16: vs Heartland United FC

May 23: at Club Atletico Omaha

May 30: vs Garwo United FC

June 6: at Omaha Street Futbol Club