FUTSOC'S OWN D.O.C. INDUCTED INTO RANSOM EVERGLADES HALL OF FAME

FUTSOC'S OWN D.O.C. INDUCTED INTO RANSOM EVERGLADES HALL OF FAME

This last April, 2015, our very own Executive Director and D.O.C. - Jose Tamayo, was honored with his selection for induction, into the prestigious RANSOM EVERGLADES SCHOOL Hall of Fame.

A graduate of this most prestigious and nationally renowned college preparatory high school in the Class of 1975, Jose Tamayo was a key member of what to this day is regarded by many as the finest soccer team to ever have been assembled in Florida. At a time when high school soccer was the only formal club soccer equivalent (travel soccer was being pioneered by Ransom players during the high school off season under the Coconut Grove Soccer Club banner), Jose Tamayo was leading the powerful RANSOM High School team during 1973, 1974 and 1975, as the leading scorer not only for the team but for Dade County as well in all those years...amassing an impressive 113 goals and 22 assists during that period. RANSOM was the premier soccer team in the State of Florida during those years, routinely defeating all the much larger high schools on their way to repeated championships through those years.

During the 1974 and 1975 seasons, the powerfull RANSOM squad amassed a record of 37 wins, 4 ties and only 2 losses, with a 22 game win streak and the No. 1 ranking in both seasons. Furthermore, the team scored 160 goals against only 28 goals conceded, two GAC Championships, the most All State, All County, All City and All Conference players in history and of great historical perspective, ushered in the coeducational participation in soccer, as three young women formed part of the squad.

In 1995, the highly regarded and respected Miami Dade Community College Soccer Coach Lazlo Nagy, noted that the 1975 RANSOM team was the best youth team he had had the privilege of seeing in 25 years, A player respected and admired as much for his talent as for his humility and modesty, Jose Tamayo was the most feared attacking player of his era, and by most accounts, the best ever. His mentor and leader, the great and highly regarded Coach Jim Beverley , remarked that in over 50 years of coaching, Jose Tamayo was simply unique! He had the most lethal and hardest shot ever seen to this day! Remembered among other things for the fabled "Shot",...he once knocked out a coach with a kick, constantly mangled goalies hands and fingertips and routinely scored in every game multiple goals, especially in the games the counted most...championship matches where he was most challenged. Averaging over two goals a game against man press, zonal defenses, constant hacking and routine defensive schemes created by opposing teams to try to thwart his attacks, they all failed. Opposing coaches and players were simply captivated and frustrated by their inability to contain him.

At the podium during his induction, Coach Beverley, citing a formal quote by the great poet Emerson, stated that "Success is earning the praise of those who give it sparingly" and the legendary Hungarian soccer master Coach Nagy and grass field Manager, crowned Jose Tamayo as the most dangerous high school forward he had ever seen...and this was years later!

Coach Beverley would go on to add, that Jose's effect on the game and his teammates was mystical. Yet, despite such a storied history and legend, his greatest virtue will always be his most sincere humility, dedication, modesty and sportsmanship. He loved his school, his team, his coach (Beverley) and the game itself, beyond all praise. His teams of 1973, 1974 and 1975 were the most feared of that era and the single greatest and most defining influence upon the history and future of all sports at RANSOM and RANSOM EVERGLADES! This was a unique group with a special spirit and ethos, that has been passed down through decades to all subsequent teams!

Welcome Jose Tamayo, only the 64th member ever inducted into the RANSOM HALL OF FAME in all its gloried 113 year history.