Life in America has been good for Coventry’s Marty Misbrener, originally from Austria. He has had a marriage that has lasted over 40 years, has run a successful business and now, at 68, received the ultimate recognition for his contribution to the sport he loves when he entered the Ohio Soccer Hall of Fame Columbus.
Misbrener is a member of the OHSHF’s second Hall of Fame class. He is one of eight inductees. Being inducted along with Misbrener is Carol Maas, Tom Hatfield, Andrew, Spiranovic, Mike Sweeney, Erich Haller, Albert Kaufmann and James Ennis.
Before coming to the United States, Misbrener played soccer in his home country. In 1954, he played for Vienna in the Jr. Olympics.
Misbrener’s soccer career in America began shortly after his family moved to the States in 1955.
Misbrener said though life in America was good, there were hardships for his family.
“You come to the U.S. and at times, it was difficult,” said Misbrener. “ I recall my mom crying a few times.”
Having loved soccer since he was a young boy, the opportunity to immerse himself in the game helped to ease the transition.
“We came to find out that there was soccer being played at East Reservoir Park. They practiced two days a week, Tuesdays and Fridays.”
Misbrener soon joined the Akron German Americans in 1955, a second division team in the American Soccer League.
In 1962, Misbrener was drafted into the U.S. Army and served for two years, finishing his service time shortly before the outbreak of the Vietnam War.
In 1965, the German Family Society (of whom Misbrener was a member) founded the Akron Eagles, a team in the Reserve Division of the newly formed Lake Erie Soccer League.
Before the 1976-77 season, the Eagles were promoted to the Major Division. By that time, Misbrener was the coach and manager of the Eagles in addition to being a player. Misbrener remains involved with the Eagles.
In 2003, Misbrener lead the Akron Arsenal to the Veteran’s Cup in Hawaii, which he said is the fondest memory of his career.
Throughout his playing career, Misbrener has made three trips to Europe to play. He even had the opportunity to play in his hometown.
“There were times where I was on the bus and I had tears in my eyes,” he said. “It’s where I grew up and it brought back memories.”
In addition to Misbrener’s involvement in semi-pro soccer, Misbrener has coached for various high schools. He coached for eight years at Coventry High School, eight years at Green High School and two years at Manchester High School. In addition, he was an assistant coach for Walsh Jesuit in 2002 and returned for the 2008 season.
At 68, Misbrener remains as enthusiastic about the game as ever. He said that he has such an immense passion for the game that he does not want to give it up.
“It’s been my life. I grew up with the game. I’ve never lost interest and when you don’t lose interest, you never want to quit,” said Misbrener.
But Misbrener has another motive. He said that he wants to see the game succeed in America. While soccer is far from being a prime-time sport in the U.S., Misbrener said that he has seen some growth in the game since he first came here over 50 years ago.
Misbrener said that play has improved as people have gained knowledge of the game.
“In the early years at the youth level, the parents coached and they learned the game out of a book,” said Misbrener. “But now, the kids who played are coaching. It’s still the parents, but they learned by playing the game.”
While Misbrener has had a lot of success in soccer, he has had just as much success off the field. Misbrener realized the American dream when he started a business that became successful beyond his wildest dreams.
Misbrener worked for General Tire in Akron for 18 years. But when they moved to North Carolina, Misbrener was out of a job.
Misbrener took a chance and started Marty’s Wash and Glo, a car wash, at age 46. When he began the car wash, he had one employee. Within 7 years, he had 80,000 customers and over 30 employees. By the time he was 59, he was able to sell the car wash (which became Wash Works Car Wash) and retire.
“Summer is generally a downtime for the carwash business because people wash their own cars. Winter is when you really get your business. But even in the summer, we would be busy.
The other guys wondered, ‘what’s this guy doing? He’s got cars lined up even in the summer,’” said Misbrener.
He attributed his success to the enthusiasm he showed towards his business and in interaction with the customers as well as the way in which he treated his employees.
“In 13 years, no employee of mine ever bought a lunch. I always bought lunch. They had benefits and after 7 years, I gave them profit sharing,” said Misbrener.
Misbrener said life in America has been wonderful to him and been everything he could have hoped. And through it all has remained his passion for soccer.
"I’ve touched a lot of lives and made many good friends who I’ll never forget because they also have a passion for the game.”
Though he has received a lifetime achievement award in the form of a Hall of Fame induction, Misbrener is far from finished with the game. Misbrener said that he will be involved with soccer until he drops.
Judging by his enthusiasm, that may be a long while.
