Tomer Chencinski (Hebrew: תומר חנצ'ינסקי; born December 1, 1984) is an Israeli-Canadian[1] soccer player who plays the position of goalkeeper. He played college soccer at Robert Morris University, where in 2004 he ranked 16th in the nation in saves per game, and at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He most recently played for Irish club Shamrock Rovers. He also played one match for the Canada men's national soccer team.

Tomer Chencinski
Chencinski with RoPS in 2015
Personal information
Full name Tomer Chencinski
Date of birth (1984-12-01) December 1, 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth Bat Yam, Israel
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
North York Hearts
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Robert Morris Colonials 37 (0)
2005–2006 Fairleigh Dickinson Knights 18 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007 Toronto FC 0 (0)
2007 North York Astros
2007–2008 Detroit Ignition (indoor) 7 (0)
2008 Newark Ironbound Express 12 (0)
2008 Nistru Otaci 3 (0)
2009–2010 Harrisburg City Islanders 9 (0)
2011 VPS 28 (0)
2012 Örebro SK 14 (0)
2013–2014 Maccabi Tel Aviv 1 (0)
2014Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan (loan) 19 (0)
2014Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon (loan) 6 (0)
2015 RoPS 12 (0)
2015FC Santa Claus (loan) 2 (0)
2016 Helsingborgs IF 19 (0)
2017–2018 Shamrock Rovers 37 (0)
International career
2013 Canada 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of July 2, 2018
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:58, July 17, 2014 (UTC)

Early life

edit

Chencinski was born in Bat Yam, Israel, to Jewish parents originally from Poland.[2][3][4] He and his family lived in Israel until he was eight years old, before moving to Thornhill, Canada, where he grew up.[3][4] He attended Chapel School.[4] He played youth soccer for the North York Hearts.[5]

He speaks both English and Hebrew fluently.[6][7][8][9]

Playing career

edit

College

edit

Chencinski played two years of college soccer at Robert Morris University, where in 2004 he ranked 16th in the nation in saves per game and recorded six shutouts.[10][4][11] He transferred to Fairleigh Dickinson University as a junior, where he played his final two collegiate seasons.[12][13][4]

Toronto FC

edit

Chencinski turned professional in 2007 when he signed with Major League Soccer side Toronto FC after impressing during a tryout,[14] but never made an appearance for the team. He would also spend a portion of the 2007 season in the Canadian Soccer League with the North York Astros.[15]

After the conclusion of the season, he played indoor soccer for Major Indoor Soccer League side Detroit Ignition.

Nistru Otaci

edit

He dropped down a division to play in the USL Premier Development League for expansion side Newark Ironbound Express in 2008, but left mid-season when he was offered a contract by Moldova National Division side Nistru Otaci.

Harrisburg City Islanders

edit

After playing just three games for Nistru Otaci, he returned to the United States, and signed for the Harrisburg City Islanders in 2009. After completing his season with the Harrisburg City Islanders, Chencinski spent time training with Major League Soccer side Philadelphia Union.[16]

Expecting to start another season with Harrisburg, Chencinski was given the chance of a week-long trial with Finnish side VPS. After a successful trial, he was signed by the Finnish club to provide competition for the goalkeeper position.[17]

He made his debut for VPS on February 5, 2011 in a 2–2 draw with FF Jaro in the Finnish League Cup.[18]

Örebro SK

edit

On December 5, 2011, he was confirmed for the Swedish Allsvenskan side Örebro SK for the 2012 season.[19]

Maccabi Tel Aviv

edit

In late December 2012 Chencinski was transferred from Örebro to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier League, for an undisclosed transfer fee.[6][7][20]

RoPS

edit

In January 2015, Chencinski left Israel and joined RoPS of Finland.[21] RoPS would eventually finish in 2nd place during the 2015 Veikkausliiga, one point behind league winners SJK.[22] Their finish earned the club entry into the first round of qualification for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.

FC Santa Claus (loan)

edit

In 2015, he briefly went on loan to FC Santa Claus in the third tier, who played in the same city as RoPS, after returning from injury.[23][24]

Helsingborgs IF

edit

After his successful season in Finland, Chencinski joined Swedish club Helsingborg on December 8, 2015.[25]

Shamrock Rovers

edit

Chencinski joined Shamrock Rovers on December 15, 2016.[26][27] He made his League of Ireland debut on the opening day of the 2017 League of Ireland Premier Division season.[28] Chencinski made his European debut keeping a clean sheet as Rovers beat Stjarnan men's football in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.[29] He made four appearances keeping two clean sheets in that season's competition.[30] In a game against Dundalk F.C. Chencinski was racially abused in July.[31] After being the starting goalkeeper for the 2017 season, Chencinski left Rovers midway through his second season with the club after they signed Alan Mannus as a replacement.[32]

International career

edit

Chancinski is eligible to play for the national teams of Canada, Israel and Poland.[8]

Chencinski represented Canada at the 2005 Maccabiah Games.[33]

On March 14, 2013, Chencinski received his first call up by the Canada national team for friendlies against Japan and Belarus.[34] Chencinski made his debut for the national team on March 25 starting the game against Belarus after Milan Borjan was benched following the loss to Japan, the game ended in a 2–0 defeat to the European nation.[35][36]

Coaching career

edit

In 2013, he was one of the coaches of Maccabi Canada's youth soccer team.[37][38]

Honours

edit

Maccabi Tel Aviv

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Coach Profile".
  2. ^ Telegraph, Alex Harris webmaster@jewishtelegraph.com - Jewish. "A JEWISH TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER". www.jewishtelegraph.com. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Canada Soccer". canadasoccer.com. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Tomer Chencinski - 2005-06 Men's Soccer - Fairleigh Dickinson University". Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "Notable Hearts Alumnni". North York Hearts.
  6. ^ a b Bird, Liviu (January 18, 2013). "Peripatetic Goalkeeper Lands in Israel". New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Tomer Chencinsk signed for Maccabi Tel Aviv". Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club. December 31, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Tomer Chencinski". Canada Soccer. Canadian Soccer Association. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  9. ^ Sandor, Steven (March 14, 2013). "Chencinski's inclusion highlights Canadian national-team roster". The 11. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  10. ^ "HIF:s målvakter "lite för unga"". Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  11. ^ "Northeast Conference - FDU's Tomer Chencinski Signs With Toronto FC Of The MLS". www.northeastconference.org. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  12. ^ "Canadian goalie Forrest says he won't join Toronto - The Star". Toronto Star. April 12, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  13. ^ "Möt ÖSK:s nya målvakt i stor intervju - Örebro SK - Allsvenskan - SvenskaFans.com". www.svenskafans.com. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  14. ^ "FDU's Tomer Chencinski Signs With Toronto FC Of The MLS". Northeastconference.org. Archived from the original on August 7, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  15. ^ "2007 North York Astros roster". www.cpsl.ca. Archived from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  16. ^ "Tomer Chencinski training with the Union". August 25, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  17. ^ Meluzio, Derek. "Tomer Chencinski signs with VPS of the Finnish Veikausliiga". pennlive.com. PA Media Group. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  18. ^ "Jaro vs. VPS". Soccerway. February 5, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  19. ^ Gravela, Lorenzo (June 18, 2018). SOCCER WORLD 2012/2013. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781291275162. Retrieved June 18, 2018 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ "Chenciski transfer from Orebro agreed". Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club. December 26, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  21. ^ Administrator. "RoPS vahvisti rivejään maalivahdilla ja topparilla". Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  22. ^ Melander, Oscar (November 29, 2015). "Canucks Abroad: 2015 review of Finland's Veikkausliiga".
  23. ^ Kinisjärvi, Mikko (August 5, 2015). "FC Santa Claus AC tasapeliin Oulussa – RoPS-vahti Tomer Chencinski Santan maalilla" [FC Santa Claus AC draw in Oulu - RoPS guard with Tomer Chencinski Santa's goal]. Lapin Kansa (in Finnish).
  24. ^ Sandor, Steven (January 15, 2017). "Tomer the Rover: Canadian keeper Chencinski opens up about his decision move to Ireland". The 11.
  25. ^ "TOMER CHENCINSKI NY MÅLVAKT I HIF". December 8, 2015. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015.
  26. ^ "Two new 'keepers". December 15, 2016.
  27. ^ O'Hehir, Paul (July 6, 2017). "Tomer Chencinski hoping for Europa League clean sheet". Irish Mirror.
  28. ^ Blake, Ben. "As it happened: Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers, SSE Airtricity League Premier Division". The42. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  29. ^ "Stjarnan-Shamrock Rovers 2018 History | UEFA Europa League". UEFA.com. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  30. ^ "Canada - T. Chencinski - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  31. ^ Rogers, James (July 24, 2017). "Stephen Bradley hails Shamrock Rovers as Dundalk's title hopes fade". Irish Examiner. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  32. ^ "Goalkeeper Tomer Chencinski confirms Shamrock Rovers exit". The Irish Mirror. July 23, 2018.
  33. ^ Zer Aviv, Shimon (July 9, 2012). "And the winner is… Israel or Canada?". Shalom Toronto Online. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  34. ^ "Canada announces roster, additional match for camp in Qatar". Canada Soccer. Canadian Soccer Association. March 29, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  35. ^ "Canada vs Belarus - 2013-03-25". Canada Soccer. Canadian Soccer Association. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  36. ^ Meluzio, Derek (March 27, 2013). "Chencinski records first cap with Canada, Union victory has City Islander flavor to it". PennLive.com. PA Media Group. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  37. ^ Lungen, Paul (February 8, 2013). "Maccabi Canada's soccer program growing fast". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  38. ^ Shear, David (January 7, 2013). "Soccer is Alive and Well and Living in Toronto". Shalom Life. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
edit