As George Fotiou takes the field on Sept. 6 for the Robbinsville High boys soccer opener against visiting Nottingham, he will do so with a new gratitude towards the surface he is playing on.
And the footwear he is wearing.
Fotiou, who is proud of his Greek heritage, visited the land of his ancestors this summer and saw such sights as the Acropolis and the Santorini Islands. He also managed to partake in some pick-up soccer games while roaming the country.
“Everybody’s playing barefoot there,” Fotiou said. “It’s pretty fun, we’d just be walking to lunch or something, I’d see some kids playing in the street, and I’d hop in with them.”
Asked if he took his shoes off, he said, “Of course, you gotta fit in with them.”
So, what was it like?
“Different,” he said. “It’s a little painful, especially with the rocks on the street and stuff. You come home, and we’ve got these nice big turf fields here. You can appreciate it more.”
And Ravens coach Jeff Fisher can certainly appreciate that Fotiou is one of his guys playing on that field.
“George will go down as easily one of the better players to ever come through Robbinsville,” Fisher said. “He’s been, if not our most creative, one of our most creative players the last three years. He can finish the spectacular outside the box, he also has a tremendous amount of pace to him that he can get in behind defenses and finish. He equally dishes out assists and scores goals.”
Statistics bear that out. Entering his senior year, Fotiou has 18 goals and 17 assists, getting a near equal amount each season. As a freshman, he collected five goals and three assists, as a sophomore he had seven and seven and last year, despite being forced to play in the back much of the year, he had six and seven.
‘We’ve got some good experience on the field that can hopefully take some of the pressure off of George so he’s not the only one creating or scoring goals.’
Fotiou admits he enjoys scoring, but his talent can sometimes betray him in that he is also a strong defender; meaning he will be moved by his coach when the situation warrants.
“He’s kind of played pretty much all over the place in the midfield and up top; and last year he was a first-team all-conference midfielder,” Fisher said. “But we had to pull him back and play him in more of a defensive midfielder role last year, which we didn’t want to do. It kind of took away from his attacking ability because we needed him to play further back. His numbers weren’t as good as they could have been playing up top or playing as an attacking mid. He could have easily been double digits if we were able to do that. This year we’re hoping to play him in more of an attacking role.”
Fotiou is happy to return to that role, but accepted last year’s duties without question.
“I had to adjust a little, because I like scoring goals,” he said. “But I had to do it. I had to do what my team needed. Fish needed me there, so I had to do what had to be done.”
Growing up in Hamilton, Fotiou played in the township’s recreation leagues before his family moved to Robbinsville when he was 10. Fotiou’s first travel team was the Hibernian Celtics Juniors, and he moved on to the high-level Match Fit club at age 13.
Coming off the varsity bench as a freshman, he still “pretty much played starter minutes,” according to Fisher. He was named a team captain last year and retains that title this season.
“I’m looking to be a better leader this year,” Fotiou said. “I want to keep the team organized, keep everybody together, get us all moving as one. I feel we didn’t have that last year.”
Fisher feels Fotiou does that just by the way he goes about things.
“Sometimes his work ethic at practice is the way to lead,” the coach said. “It’s not always vocal, but about going out and being the hardest worker every day. Those other guys see that.”
It was a frustrating preseason for Fotiou, who suffered a hamstring pull playing travel ball at the end of May. He was in the process of cautiously working his way back during August workouts, and Fisher assured he would be ready to go when the season started.
That’s not surprising, considering Fotiou’s passion.
“He’s one guy that loves the game,” Fisher said. “If it’s in practice, if it’s a scrimmage, if it’s a real game, he gives you the same energy. He gives you 110 percent all the time. He really loves the game and he plays with that mentality.”
And what is it he loves?
“Just the competitiveness,” Fotiou said. “It’s the individual aspect, but also the team aspect. Both of them have their pros. That’s what makes it so fun.”
One thing that was not fun was the way Robbinsville ended its 2017 season. The Ravens dropped an anguishing shootout loss to Trenton in the first-round of the Mercer County Tournament, and fell 3-0 to Monmouth in the Central Jersey Group III tournament to finish 5-11-3.
“That all left a sour taste in my mouth,” Fotiou said. “Plus I’m coming off this injury so between all of that it really makes me want to get out there on the field and work hard.”
After playing center-midfield, forward, wing and outside back throughout his career, Fotiou is expected to be back at center mid this year in order to take advantage of his various talents.
“He’s not the tallest player (5-8),” Fisher said. “But he’s strong, he’s quick, he’s feisty. He’ll run through tackles. He makes up for not being the tallest player by being strong, quick and fast.”
Much of the offense will center around Fotiou this season, although Fisher hopes the continued development of junior Robbie Lotito and senior Matt Hevey will relieve his scoring burden.
“We’ve got some good experience on the field that can hopefully take some of the pressure off of George so he’s not the only one creating or scoring goals,” Fisher said.
Fotiou is hoping to play college soccer, and Fisher feels he can definitely do so. For now, he is worried about the Ravens soccer team, his classroom studies and getting a part-time job at a new pizza restaurant in Hamilton that also serves gyros. As a member of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Hamilton, he makes the gyros at their annual Greek Festival in May.
Asked who taught him that skill, Fotiou laughed.
“I just started picking it up,” he said. “It was in my blood to make gyros, and I just started doing it one day. I already put in an application for the pizza place, but I haven’t heard back yet.”
If he gets the job, Fotiou is well aware that the best thing about this Greek tradition is you don’t have to do it in your bare feet.
Senior George Fotiou juggles the ball during Robbinsville High boys’ soccer practice Aug. 17, 2018. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.),
