Former Bucs Player To Lead Tampa's New Professional Indoor Soccer Team

TAMPA, FL — A familiar face will head up Tampa's new National Indoor Soccer League.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Martin Gramatica, 46, has been named head coach of the expansion team, the Tampa Bay Strikers, that will begin play in December at Yuengling Center on the campus of the University of South Florida.

"When we started the coaching search, there were several qualities we were looking for in our candidates in addition to soccer experience," Strikers co-owner Andrew Haines said. "Some of those were passion, leadership and a proven winner plus someone committed to the Tampa Bay community. We feel Martin has all of those characteristics and more."

"I cannot be more excited to bring my two passions together — soccer and the Tampa Bay community," Gramatica said.

The National Indoor Soccer League was founded in January 2021 by a group of experienced sports team/league owners with more than 50 years of ownership experience.

The league will compete in a 20-game regular season. Each city will have a team in both the men's and women's divisions. Games will be played as double headers.

Haines said the soccer club is committed to elevating the sport while providing affordable, quality entertainment in the communities.

"We couldn't be more excited," he said. "It's an incredible opportunity to bring the Tampa Bay Strikers to the Tampa Bay area this December. We look forward to announcing more details about the team as soon as possible. You won't want to miss this past-paced, high-scoring, family-friendly entertainment."

"We're very excited to welcome the Tampa Bay area's newest sports franchise, the Tampa Bay Strikers, to Yuengling Center," said Kelli Yeloushan Sr., director of event management at the Vinik Sports Group. "We are always looking for ways to bring new, exciting events to Tampa, while offering a world-class experience. The Strikers coming to Yuengling Center will add yet another great entertainment option for our community. We can't wait for kick off."

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Gramatica moved to the United States with his family at the age of 9 and said he grew up playing soccer.

Ironically, he didn't start playing organized football until he was a senior in high school, but the skills he'd honed playing soccer turned him into a high school football standout as a placekicker.

He went on to play college football for Kansas State University.

Gramatica has been recognized twice as a Consensus All-American, won the Lou Groza Award in 1997, which honors the nation?s top kicker, and he still holds the NCAA record with a 65-yard field goal without the use of a tee.

He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft and went on to be selected to the Pro Bowl and named All Pro in 2001 before what he calls the highlight of his career — playing on the 2002 Super Bowl-winning Bucs team.

He signed with the Indianapolis Colts in 2004, the New England Patriots in 2006, the Dallas Cowboys the same year and, finally, the New Orleans Saints in 2007 before retiring to Tampa in 2008.

Retirement is a bit of a misnomer.

After moving back to Tampa, Gramatica reignited his love of soccer by coaching competitive youth soccer for the past 14 years. In May, he guided his team, the West Florida Flames East Lake U19 Boys Elite Soccer team, to a Florida state championship in May. The team is now in Colorado competing for the national championship.

When he wasn't coaching soccer, Gramatica was busy building a business with his brothers, Bill, who played pro football for the Arizona Cardinals, and Santiago, who was only prevented from playing pro by an injury.

The brothers founded Gramatica SIPS International, which provides green, energy-efficient insulated panels for construction.

Martin Gramatica said he came up with the idea for the business after witnessing the destruction inflicted on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina after he joined the Saints two years after Katrina struck in 2005.

?It looked like the hurricane had just come through,? he said.

While researching building materials, he stumbled upon SIPS, which stands for structurally insulated panel systems.

According to the Structurally Insulated Panel Association, SIPS are a high-performance building system for residential and light commercial construction. The panels consist of an insulating foam core sandwiched between two structural facings.

Manufactured under factory-controlled conditions, SIPS can be fabricated to fit nearly any building designs. The result is a green building system that is extremely strong, energy-efficient and cost-effective.

Once installed, SIP panels are 50 percent more energy-efficient than traditional timber framing, and meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and Zero Energy Ready Homes standards.

They're resistant to rot from water damage as well as termite damage.

Of special importance to Gramatic, however, is the panels are designed to Miami-Dade hurricane standards.

The charitable arm of the Gramatica brothers' business, the Gramatica Family Foundation, is using the panels to build mortgage-free, energy-efficient homes for wounded combat veterans.

Over the eight years since the foundation was started, the brothers have completed six homes that are allowing wounded veterans to independently and with dignity.

The Gramaticas have also used the green technology for Habitat for Humanity homes and to help poverty-stricken communities rebuild following hurricanes and other natural disasters.

After the 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010, devastated Haiti, the Gramatica brothers used SIPS to build an entire village of homes for those left homeless in Haiti, with the help of funding from the NFL and the United Aid Foundation.

While coaching the new indoor professional soccer team will undoubtedly put a crimp in Gramatica's home-building activities, he knows he's leaving the business in the hands of two of the people he trusts most in the world — his brothers.

He admits he's going to miss coaching youth soccer and the kids on his teams.

"But I didn?t want to regret saying no and seeing how great it becomes," said Gramatica during a news conference this week. "So I wanted to give it a shot, and I'm so excited about it. As a former player, you always miss that adrenaline, and that's what I'll get out of this. I get it coaching youth soccer. I can only imagine how this will be."

After seeing what the young soccer players in Tampa Bay have to offer, he said he'll have no problem filling the rosters.

"We have so much soccer talent in the area. There's no need to go outside and look for any," Gramatica said.

The Strikers' co-owner, Haines, is the president of HSE, a sports and entertainment marketing and consulting company and has worked with professional soccer, football and baseball teams for years.

Most recently, he was the general manager of the Orlando SeaWolves indoor soccer franchise.

He serves on the executive board of directors of the National Indoor Soccer League.

Joining Haines as co-owner of the Strikers and on the National Indoor Soccer League's executive board is Tampa native Michael Taylor, owner of the Florida Tarpons arena football team from 2012 to 2020.

Click here to learn more about team tryouts.