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About Brendan Flaherty

In the year 1979 at the Tournament Soccer World Championships, held at the famous Radisson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a young California fooser by the name of Brendan Flaherty found himself paired with a legend. Brendan's luck of the draw brought him face to face with the king of Colorado, Mike "Nerves of Steel" Bowers. Bowers, having never seen the rookie, grabbed the forward rods to take control-something he was quite accustomed to. Brendan, not one to disrespect a champion, quietly but firmly stated, "Mike, I realize you don't know me from Jack, but I'm telling you, my game right now is on fire. Give me one chance at the forward position and I promise you won't regret it. If you do, you can throw me in the pits any time you choose." Bowers was known for being someone you couldn't dupe, so when he saw that look in the kid from California's eyes, he surely must have seen hunger and desire. Bowers never put Brendan at goalie, and in turn they stormed the 256-team bracket DYP, taking 1st place and setting the stage for Brendan's world championship weekend. While Brendan would go on to Master status on the prestigious Tournament Soccer Tour and win professional tournaments, this particular weekend would be his crowning glory-the dream of all foosers to be able to someday brag to their kids that dad was once a world champion.

"You're Brendan Flaherty," stated a brash blonde kid from Minnesota. "I'm Dave, Dave Gummeson, and pro Kenny Alwell tells me that either you or I will win this world novice title." How right Alwell was, for Brendan and his partner Vasquez not only won the title, but did it the hard way through the loser's bracket. When veteran Johnny Lott recently was reminiscing with Brendan about that 1979 TS tournament, he recalled a sneaky tactic that had worked so well for Gummeson's team. Gummeson's goalie had originated an amazing aerial shot that would toss the ball off the table, resulting in Dave getting an automatic drop. The rule at the time was that anytime the ball flew off the table, it was an automatic re-serve. Johnny's question to Brendan was, "How did you overcome that tactic?" Brendan calmly answered, "Back then, TS let you play foosball, and well, frankly I play a pretty rough style, so it just wasn't that easy to get it up in the aerial position."

This statement by Brendan reveals much about the man and what you can expect from Warrior tournaments. First, his resourcefulness and unwillingness to be a victim like everyone else that weekend, and second, he's from the old school, more represented by players like Sumption, Wiswell, Furry, Kaiser, Bednar, Simon, and Bowers; players who pushed the limits and weren't worried whether someone breathed too hard or challenged them physically on a table. Get ready, because the one thing we at Warrior Table Soccer can promise you is that on the Warrior Table, you will be allowed to "get down and play."

On the business side, Brendan, president of Warrior, has covered the entire gambit. According to Brendan, "Johnny Lott and I first talked about doing something over a beer at a famous local bar in Hermosa Beach [The Pitcher House] in 1985. About the same time, I was in a successful magazine venture called California Green, which Kathy Brainard so kindly wrote an article for. I was looking to do something in foosball, but was turned down flat by Johnny Lott." He continues, "If I've learned anything in life, it's that everything is about timing, and the timing wasn't right."

Brendan went on to found a number of successful businesses, including a venture capital firm, a commodities firm, a rare sports collectable firm, a securities and stock brokerage firm, and finally his current and most successful venture, Warrior Custom Golf. Brendan said, "I finally felt I was in a position to re-approach Johnny Lott, and this time we were both in the same mindset, that nothing exciting was happening in the foosball world and it was time to shake things up!"

Brendan Flaherty resides in Laguna Beach, California, and his three children Dillon, 16, Destiny, 13, and Devon, 9. His daughter Tara is 23 years of age and currently a student at Florida State University.