Chattanooga Football Club's Fynn Glover participates in practice Wednesday at Finley Stadium.Fynn Glover likes to run. Whether it's while wearing his Chattanooga Football Club uniform or almost any other time, the 25-year-old covers a lot of ground.
"He does so much running," CFC coach Bill Elliott said of his center midfielder. "The amount of ground he covers in a game is probably equal to two normal players. I mean, he just does so much to win the ball back for our team."
Chattanooga FC (1-1 NPSL Southeast) will need Glover in fine running form tonight when the Mississippi Storm (1-1) visit Finley Stadium. CFC is coming off of a 1-0 loss last Saturday in Pensacola, Fla., to the Gulfcoast Texans.
Glover, who scored on a header in CFC's U.S. Open Cup game, was one of several players who had to miss the Florida trip, and CFC is expected to be back closer to full strength tonight.
Glover ran cross country at Baylor before playing collegiate soccer at Richmond (2006-09). He began his CFC career in the club's inaugural season in 2009. He took most of the 2011 season off to travel (and run) around the country -- literally.
"It was kind of like a research project," he said. "I raised some money and went around the country and interviewed 1,000 college students about how they access outdoor recreation. That was what led to the company that we launched about a year ago."
That company is RootsRated, an online resource for finding outdoor recreational activities in select areas throughout the country. Whether it's trail running in Aspen, Colo., or Athens, Ga., or rock climbing in Colorado Springs, or many more activities in many more places, the site has recommendations.
Glover is among the oldest players on the CFC team and said he doesn't play much soccer otherwise. He runs hard and lifts weights year-round, so he begins the season ready to go. And what he lacks in recent matches he makes up for with wisdom.
"The joke on the team is that because I'm 25 now, I'm kind of the old man," he said. "Most of the guys are still in college, so I've been playing longer than them. And my body hurts after every game."
Elliott has called CFC veteran defender Andy Stewart the "rock" and "soul" of the team. Glover is similarly important.
"Fynn's kind of the engine that makes the team go," Elliott said.
Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/MocsBeat.