Tim Hankinson Ready To Lead New Era In Indy

On the most recent stop – Jamaica – on his global soccer-coaching odyssey, Tim Hankinson said he learned a valuable lesson.

“From my last stop, Montego Bay, I encountered an expression we all know – ‘no problem mon’,” the new coach of Indy Eleven told NASL.com. “Yet I never really understood the context until I lived there. You don’t get the meaning as a tourist. Living there in the culture you understand what’s going on in the street, the team’s problems, the football infrastructure, the conditions the players live in. Everything.

“In that country every person lives in a world where there are problems and challenges all around them all day long. They are unavoidable. But the players never seemed to be bothered. If you took at an American player there, he would walk away in two days. But my players kept their eyes on the prize. They know the problems won’t keep them from achieving.”

He added: “In soccer in the United States there are also challenges. Budgets, practice facilities and others, and I think too often players and coaches will use those issues as a crutch or an excuse. I come to Indianapolis renewed. It snowed last night. No problem. Field turf can be tough. No problem. I will have the philosophy to keep eyes on the prize and not to let circumstantial issues around us be a bother.”

Hankinson, 60, took Montego Bay United to the top of the Red Stripe National Premier League’s first division with a 7W-4D-2L record during the first half of their 2015-16 season (August through mid-November). He also helped the club earn its first point in CONCACAF Champions League with a 3-3 draw against DC United of MLS. In the past, he has coached collegiately in the U.S., Iceland, MLS, Brazil and the under-17 national team of Guatemala.

Now, the native New Yorker who grew up playing soccer in Manhattan’s Central Park and became a coach (Oglethorpe University) at the tender age of 25 after a collegiate career at South Carolina, faces the task of turning Indy Eleven’s success off the field into success on the field.

“Experienced candidates were a focal point of our search, and few coaches have the knowledge of American soccer that Tim Hankinson does,” Indy Eleven owner Ersal Ozdemir said on Wednesday when Hankinson was introduced at a news conference. “On behalf of the Indy Eleven family I want to welcome Tim and his wife, Yvette, to Indianapolis and look forward to them receiving the support of one of the most passionate fan bases in the country.”

Indy, which will play its third season in the NASL in 2016, struggled through much of the 2015 season. Juergen Sommer was dismissed as coach and Tim Regan was named as his interim replacement through the end of the season. Hankinson decided to retain Regan as one of his assistants, but the club has already made wholesale changes to its roster.

“We’ve decided to revamp the squad and give a fresh start to things,” Hankinson said. “The first couple of years there was limited success, success in the stands, and support from fans and the city. But we need wins.

“We will retain a number of players, but clearly the goal production was not good enough. Of the 36 goals the team scored last year, only nine were from strikers. On the good side it means we have a midfield and a defense that found ways to find the back of the net. But our goal production was not good enough. We need to create a better attacking unit. We also need to make sure that we are defensively solid. There were some goals given up late in games. We want to be the full package and need to find better players at every position.”

On Thursday, the club announced it had picked up the options on eight players: defenders Marco Franco, Greg Janicki, and Cory Miller; midfielders Dylan Mares, Don Smart, and Dragan Stojkov; and forwards Duke Lacroix and Wojciech Wojcik. The club declined options on eight others: goalkeepers Jon Dawson and Kristian Nicht; defenders Judson McKinney and Erick Norales; and midfielders Marvin Ceballos, Daniel Cuevas, Kleberson, and Victor Pineda.

The contracts of defender Kyle Hyland and defender/midfielder Daniel Keller expired. Indy is cuurently in contract discussions with goalkeeper Keith Cardona and midfielder Brad Ring. Finally, loan deals for six players have run their course: defender Jaime Frias (Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico); midfielders Sergio Peña (Real Sociedad, Honduras), Dane Richards (New York Red Bulls, MLS), and Zach Steinberger (Houston Dynamo, MLS); and forwards Brian Brown (Montego Bay United, Jamaica) and Charlie Rugg (Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS).

Hankinson and Indy basically retained only two players from the team’s starting unit. “We need a fresh start,” said Hankinson, who in 2012 was the San Antonio Scorpions’ first coach in that club’s debut season in the NASL. “In Indianapolis, I have a lot of things to figure out. It’s a new territory for me.”