Rowdies Legend has Key Role in Front Office

TAMPA -- Many people are not aware of what happens behind the scenes of a professional sports team. Rowdies legend, Perry Van Der Beck, was one of the major players during his playing career and is now one of the major players in the front office. As Executive Vice President, Technical Director and Director of Player Development, he was vital to the Rowdies’ success last season and will continue to be so for this season.

“My responsibilities have to do with the technical side of the team” the former American international explained. “With the players, I’m involved in everything from scouting and identifying players for the coach and then obviously I’m involved with the contract side of it, doing negotiations and getting the players signed.”

Van Der Beck is also in charge of bringing players in for tryouts and oversees them during this process. When asked about the season so far, he explained how injuries hurt the team.

“We were competitive, but I think one of the things that affected our results were the injuries. We have some depth but obviously you always want more. When you look at players like Mike Ambersley and Carl Cort who have been successful at the club, they didn’t play a whole lot in the first half and it showed in our goal production.”

Several injuries this season in the back line forced the Rowdies to move players around as the games went on. With that being said, Van Der Beck reflected on how the club can bounce back in the Fall Season.

“I would say organizationally in the first half of the season, the injuries in our defense showed in some of our results. The home game against Atlanta and the game at Carolina were crucial since getting those two results I think would have put us in a better position than we were in the first half of the season. Taking those circumstances, I think we can finish at the top in the Fall Season. That’s our goal, and I think we can achieve that, but we just need to stay healthy.”

Van Der Beck went on to say, “In terms of the mentality, I think we’ve had that right from the beginning. In this league, it’s the first year that we have had this format. Now the players understand that every game counts. I think we really need to take advantage and have a better home record, as there are times that we’ve played well at home but it hasn’t been consistent.”

The 2012 NASL Champions will open the Fall Season on the road at Toyota Field against San Antonio on Saturday, August 3. The historic rivalry between the Rowdies and the Cosmos will reemerge just two weeks into the 2013 NASL Fall Season on Saturday, August 10, with Tampa Bay hosting New York at Al Lang Stadium.