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First family of the U.S. Open Cup
Three Dombrowski brothers in tournament
By Eric Anderson
USOpenCup.com
Chad Dombrowski has been a professional soccer player for five years.
Four times, the defender has played in the U.S. Open Cup.
Four times, he’s ended up playing against one of his brothers.
Of course, that’s probably because the odds are just better - Chad is one of five brothers from the West Allis, Wis., family that has played in the tournament, all in the past five years.
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Chad Dombrowski
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The next meeting comes Tuesday night in the second round, as Chad likely will be in the starting 11 as the Carolina RailHawks of the USL First Division play host to his older brother Scott and Bavarian SC from Milwaukee - the only one of the eight USASA teams to win a first-round match this year.
Later in the evening, perhaps as they’re sitting down for dinner in North Carolina with their parents, Judy and Mark, and their three youngest siblings - brothers Quinn (13) and Cade (9) and sister Keally (7) - another brother, Neil, will be taking the field for the Portland Timbers’ second-round match against their USL First Division rivals, the Seattle Sounders.
Their other two brothers aren’t in the U.S. Open Cup this year, but they’re still playing at a high level. Tighe, 25, is a starting defender for Swedish second division club IK Sirius, and 20-year-old Zeke is playing for the PDL’s Des Moines Menace, who didn’t qualify this year after appearing in four of the previous five tournaments.
"It’s great when there’s an opportunity like this, where I get to step back and take a look," Neil Dombrowski said. "I’m really proud of my family to be able to play at this level, and I’m glad I’m able to do it, too. I’m grateful for it."
Just another game?
Like the previous three meetings against his siblings in the U.S. Open Cup, Chad’s team is favored to win.
That’s what happened in 2003, when he was part of Milwaukee Wave United’s 4-1 third-round victory over Scott and Bavarian SC in a Milwaukee derby. And again in 2005, when his Minnesota Thunder side got past younger brother Neil and PDL club Chicago Fire Premier 2-1 in the second round, part of a run that saw the Thunder advance to the semifinals.
But last year, Zeke and the Menace pulled off a 1-0 upset of the Thunder in the second round despite playing with 10 men most of the game.
"When I play against my brother Neil in a professional aspect, then it’s just another game," said Chad, 26. "But when you’re playing against an amateur team and it’s from your hometown or it’s a PDL team, a group of college guys, and it’s your younger brother, that’s a little different.
"Playing against amateur players who train once or twice a week, as good of players as they are, you’re still expected to win. This is what I do for my living. So there’s a little bit more pressure on in that aspect of it, but ... I’m not going to be worried about going against my brother. But there’s the pride factor for after the game and everything like that - you don’t want to lose to your brother’s team."
So, not surprisingly, there hasn’t been much said between Scott and Chad about the matchup.
"Game time is game time," Scott said. "You really don’t think about it, going against them, leading up the game."
"Everybody loves it"
Scott Dombrowski set the tone for his brothers, as he starred at West Allis Hale High School and UW-Milwaukee before playing professionally with the A-League’s Milwaukee Rampage.
"Scott, once he got into it big, everyone kind of followed," Chad said of the family’s sport of choice. "You look up to your older brother, and everyone kind of followed that."
What might come as a surprise, though, is that all of the brothers played other sports into high school.
"It wasn’t like the main focus was to play professional soccer or to play soccer in college, it was just something that we did," said Chad, who also plays indoors with the Milwaukee Wave of the MISL. "We enjoyed playing, and it’s just a byproduct of working hard and having people that like the same things to be able to just go outside and be able to do things with."
Just imagine some of those pickup games in the Dombrowski backyard.
"We were always playing. Everybody always had a couple of friends, so we’d be playing 3 on 3 or 4 on 4," said 24-year-old Neil, who is considering playing indoors next winter - the Wave
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Neil Dombrowski
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own his rights. "A lot of my learning how to play soccer and how to compete came from those games. I learned a lot in the backyard. It got pretty brutal and pretty intense sometimes."
As to why soccer was the sport everyone picked, Chad has a theory.
"Some of it has to do with playing against your brother, your younger brother in soccer, the size difference doesn’t make as much of a difference," he said. "So if there was a few of us around, we could go out and play soccer and no one was that much worse for the wear. If you go out and play basketball, which we still did, the size difference is going to be pretty big."
Or maybe it’s as Scott puts it: "There’s just something about it. Everybody loves it."
Chad, Tighe and Neil followed in Scott’s footsteps, putting together distinguished careers at UW-Milwaukee. Zeke is doing the same - he will be a senior for the Panthers in the fall.
What about the youngest Dombrowski siblings, you ask?
"They all play," said Scott, whose wife, Liana, coaches Keally’s team. Asked if they had to, he joked, "Exactly."
"They definitely enjoy it," Chad added. "I think they think it’s natural, though, they think that everyone just kind of shows up and goes to watch their older brothers play either professional or college soccer. That’s just what they do. ... They’ve been doing it pretty much their whole lives."
A great opportunity
Being veterans of the U.S. Open Cup, Scott, Chad and Neil all praised the tournament, unique in American sports.
"I really think it’s a cool kind of setup, where college guys can play against the pros and guys who used to be pros, guys like my brother Scott, get another chance to play against the pros," Neil said.
For 28-year-old Scott, Tuesday’s match means something different.
"The guys that are on our team, for a lot of the older guys, played pro for a couple years and are back working and doing their full-time jobs, so it’s a good chance for us to try to make what we can of these opportunities," said Scott, who is the co-owner of a home exercise equipment repair business and coaches youth soccer teams with Bavarian SC and the Parkland Soccer Club, which is run by his father.
"There’s excitement to be able to come out and play in front of a couple thousand people again and have the game mean something."
He’s also looking forward to seeing his brother - once the game is over.
"Afterwards, it’s kind of nice to be able to see them on the other side," Scott said. "Whether you win or lose, it doesn’t matter as much."
DOMBROWSKIS IN THE U.S. OPEN CUP
| Scott Dombrowski |
| 2003 |
Bavarian SC |
USASA |
Third round |
| 2007 |
Bavarian SC |
USASA |
Second round |
| Chad Dombrowski |
| 2003 |
Milwaukee Wave United |
A-League |
Fourth round |
| 2005 |
Minnesota Thunder |
USL-1 |
Semifinals |
| 2006 |
Minnesota Thunder |
USL-1 |
Second round |
| 2007 |
Carolina RailHawks |
USL-1 |
Semifinals |
| Tighe Dombrowski |
| 2002 |
Des Moines Menace |
PDL |
Second round |
| 2004 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
MLS |
Semifinals |
| 2005 |
Minnesota Thunder (loan) |
USL-1 |
Semifinals |
| Neil Dombrowski |
| 2005 |
Chicago Fire Premier |
PDL |
Second round |
| 2006 |
Rochester Rhinos |
USL-1 |
Fourth round |
| 2007 |
Portland Timbers |
USL-1 |
Second round |
| Zeke Dombrowski |
| 2006 |
Des Moines Menace |
PDL |
Third round |
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