Ex-Viking Griffin leads UAB against professionals|[03/29/07]

Published 12:00 am Thursday, March 29, 2007

University of Alabama-Birmingham assistant soccer coach Justus Griffin is looking forward to being back in his home state when his Blazers take on the Chicago Fire in an exhibition match today at 3 p.m. at Liberty Park in Ridgeland.

The former Warren Central soccer player is in his 12th season as an assistant at UAB. He’s helped the Blazers reach the NCAA Tournament four times in the last eight years.

&#8220I think it’s great coming back to the (Jackson) metro area. It is always fun coming home to play a game, and this is about as good a game as we get with a college team,” Griffin said of the matchup with the Fire, a Major League Soccer club.

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&#8220They are the only MLS team we play this year. We do like to play pro teams in our spring season, we just tied the Atlanta Silverbacks (Sunday) 1-1,” Griffin said. &#8220They are in the USL, which is the equivalent of a Triple A baseball team. It was a very good result for us.”

UAB plays its regular season in the fall. Griffin says the spring season is a time to look at younger players.

&#8220Our purpose for this game is to get us ready for next fall. Our spring season is a great time for us to develop as a team. Especially our younger players who haven’t played a lot for us. The best way to develop is to play the best games possible, and this is a great game.”

Griffin says being a college coach is a great way to follow in the footsteps of two of his mentors in Vicksburg, former WC coach Lucy Young and youth coach Bob Kennedy.

&#8220Coach Young was one of the people who influenced me to become a coach, along with Bob Kennedy, who was the director of coaching for the Cannon Soccer Club while I played in Vicksburg. They were both great people and great coaches that taught me a lot and made the game very enjoyable,” Griffin said.

Griffin now brings that joy of the game to the Blazers. After WC, he played one season at Hinds before transferring to UAB. As a Blazer, he was a three-year letter winner and started 59 out of 60 games as a defender.

He stayed in the program as a graduate assistant and then was promoted to a full-time assistant.

Griffin says the Blazers are coming off a strong season with one their seniors, Jerson Montero, having been drafted in the first round by the MLS.

&#8220This was the second time we’ve had a player drafted that high and not too many programs can say that,” Griffin said. &#8220But we expect to have one of our best teams next fall. Our starting lineup is filled with players in their third year here. We’re looking forward to a great year.”