Granese, otherwise know as ‘El Presidente’, fell in love with the beautiful game growing up in Italy as a young boy who was (and still is) a passionate supporter of his beloved Internazionale (Inter Milan). At the age of 16, John immigrated to the United States and continued his love for the game by playing in high school, college and with several local club teams in the Philadelphia area. John also coached in the local Ocean City travel program and has been an organizer of several local adult leagues.

John became Ocean City Barons President in 2005, and was the architect behind renaming the Barons and relocating the franchise to Ocean City. John lives and breathes soccer and is extremely passionate and committed to creating an exciting, positive and professional atmosphere for soccer fans to enjoy at the Jersey Shore during the summer months.

John has been a full time resident and business owner (

General Manager – Neil Holloway - Email: nholloway@sjbarons.com

Neil is a native of Reading, England, where he grew up supporting and playing for his beloved Reading FC as a school boy. At the age of 16, Neil’s dream came true when he signed as a trainee professional (YTS player) for Reading FC (EPL, Eng). After his apprenticeship had ended, Neil went to the F.A. exit trials in Blackpool to play infront of American college scouts. In the summer of 1997, Neil accepted a full soccer scholarship from Wheeling Jesuit University (WV). He graduated from Wheeling Jesuit University with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management.

While at Wheeling Jesuit, Neil garnered a reputation as a tenacious midfield player and finished his playing career with 49 goals and 39 assists. In 2000 and 2001, Wheeling were WVIAC regular season champions, and during the 2000 season, the team went undefeated (18-0-0) and were NCAA Regional Champions.

In 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2001, Neil was named to the WVIAC All-Conference First Team. In 2001, he was named the WVIAC Conference Player of the Year. In 2000 and 2001, He was named to the NCAA Regional All-Amercian Team and during his senior season, he was named a NCAA Division II All-American.

After a stellar college career, he joined the Barons in the 2002 Season not only as a player for the club, but also as the general manager. He made an immediate impact at the club and was named the captain in his first game. He captained the 2004 Barons team that made PDL history by becoming one of five teams to go undefeated (14-0-4) in the USL’s 20-year history. During the same season, he was named to the All-PDL and All-Conference Team. During that season, he scored a memorable goal from the half way line against the Syracuse Salty Dogs that will go down in U.S. Open Cup history.

In 2005, Neil became coach of the team and led them to a 14-3-1 record and a place in the Conference playoffs where they were beaten in the first round 5-4 by the Richmond Kickers Future. He also led the team to the third round of the U.S. Open Cup upsetting the Long Island Rough Riders (USL Second Division, professional) 4-0 in the second round, only to fall, in historic fashion, to the USL First Division’s Richmond Kickers in the next round 8-4. (12 goals stands as a record for the most total goals scored in a U.S. Open Cup game since the USL started to compete in the tournament in 1995).

Neil has been a part of the Barons franchise since 2002. For the 2007 season, he will relinquish his coaching duties to focus more on his role as the club’s general manager.

As well as being the GM of the Ocean City Barons, Neil coaches several of the South Jersey Barons youth academy teams. He is a Super Y-League ODP Regional Coach, holds a USSF License and a F.A. Coaching Certificate License. Neil resides in Ocean City, NJ with his wife Joanne and their three cats.

Head Coach - Mike

John is a native of Penrith, England, a small town just outside of the Lake District. John became a part of the Barons franchise in May 2002 and has been heavily involved in the communtiy since his arrival in New Jersey.

He joined the Barons after graduating from Lewis University (IL) where he received a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems. He is the IT Director for the Barons and in his second season as the Barons’ Assistant Coach.

John began his senior playing career with his local semi-professional team, Penrith, at the age of 16. He moved on to play for Queen of the South and Gretna before returning again to his beloved Penrith.

In 1998, John accepted a full soccer sholarship from Lewis University Head Coach Evan Fiffles. John had a stellar college career, playing in every game over his four years with the school. He ended his career with the Flyers as the school’s all-time leader in minutes played.

In 1999, 2000, and 2001 John was named to the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference First team, the NCAA Division II Regional All-American First Team and the NCAA Division II All-American First Team. In 2000, John led his team to the NCAA Final Four, defeating Neil Holloway’s undefeated Wheeling Jesuit University in the Elite Eight and in 2001, his college team finished the regular season undefeated (21-0-1) and finished ranked #1 in the nation. In 2001, John was named the GLVC Scholar Athlete of the Year. He finished his college career with 21 goals and nine assists. In 2007, John’s outstanding contribution to the Lewis soccer program was honored by the university when he was inducted into the school’s athletics hall of fame.

In 2002, he joined the South Jersey Barons in what was to be their last season in the professional ranks. He has played in over 80 games during his five years with the club. In 2004, he was named to the All-Conference First Team, All-PDL Team and was named PDL Defender of the Year. In 2005, he repeated as an All-PDL selection.

John coaches several South Jersey Barons youth academy teams, in addition to the Ocean City Barons Super-20 team. John is also on the Super Y-League Mid-Atlantic Regional ODP staff, and holds a USSF license and a F.A. Preliminary License. He resides in Sicklerville, N.J.

Assistant Coach - Tim Oswald - Email: toswald@sjbarons.com

Tim Oswald is the Head Coach of NCAA Division III power house Rutgers-Camden University Mens Soccer team, in Oswalds first season at Rutgers Camden his team finished 13-4-6, were the ECAC Metro Champions (1st championship in Men’s soccer program history), NJAC Semifinalist’s and NJAC Regular Season Runners-Up. Tim will take join the Barons Coaching staff in the Spring of 2007 and will coach the Barons Senior Academy teams.

Oswald was a quality athlete during his playing days. He earned All-Catholic honors and added All-Area recognition from the Northeast Times in 1996 to cap his soccer career at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia.

Oswald continued his soccer career as a midfielder/forward at Elizabethtown College, where the Blue Jays earned national rankings during all four of his years, including Top 5 rankings during his junior and senior seasons. The Blue Jays played in three straight MAC championship games, winning the 1999 title and earning a trip to the NCAA tournament. During his senior year he earned conference Player of the Week, First-Team All-Conference and All-Academic MAC honors. In 53 career games, he notched 15 goals, 18 assists and 48 points at Elizabethtown.

Oswald received his B.S. in Elementary Education from Elizabethtown in 2001 and his Master’s in School Counseling from Widener in 2003.

Oswald spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Arcadia University, helping the Scarlet Knights achieve Division III Top 25 national rankings each year. Arcadia reached the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference championship game all three years, winning the PAC title in 2004 and advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament. 

Prior to coaching at Arcadia, Oswald spent the 2001 and 2002 seasons assisting at Widener University. In his second season at Widener, the Pioneers achieved the highest NSCAA regional ranking in the history of the program and earned their second-ever ECAC post-season berth.

Oswald owns his NSCAA National Diploma, which he passed with distinction. On the club level, Oswald has recently become an ODP U-14 assistant coach with EPYSA, a U-11 head coach with FC Bucks and the U-17 head coach of FC Philadelphia United. He also has served as a co-head coach, along with Carlin, of the PSC Coppa-Bucks club team which won two EPYSA state championships and was nationally-ranked in the Top 25 in both 2004 and 2005.

Oswald, who lives in West Deptford with his fiancée Denise, works as a guidance counselor at Ridley (PA) Middle School.

Josh Hakala - Director of Public Relations / Play-By-Play Announcer - Email: jhakala@sjbarons.com

2007 will mark the third season Josh has worked with the Ocean City Barons. In 2005, his first job with the club was the play-by-play announcer for their Third Round U.S. Open Cup match against the Richmond Kickers. The following season, he came on board as the director of public relations and broadcasting. During the 2006 season, he helped maintain the Barons’ website, wrote match reports and features, as well as performing and producing the live online radio broadcasts for the majority of the Barons’ schedule.

Originally from the state of Michigan, Josh has been playing soccer since his pre-school days, but as he got older realized that his skills were more conducive to covering and promoting the game. He first discovered sports broadcasting/journalism while attending Lansing Community College (LCC) in Lansing, Michigan where he won a number of awards as the sports editor for the college’s newspaper "The Lookout." He discovered the broadcasting side of his field while working as the sports director at 89.7FM WLNZ where he was not only a disc jockey for the station’s jazz and blues format, but also produced and performed LCC’s basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball broadcasts. While at WLNZ he won a handful of awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, most notably in the sportscasting category in radio, as well as television.

The internet radio studio at WLNZ was also the birthplace of the Soccer Fanatics Radio Show, which was, at the time, the only show that covered every level of American soccer -- including men’s and women’s soccer from the national team level to the PDL and the W-League, as well as unprecedented coverage of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The weekly show, which had no advertising budget, attracted tens of thousands of listeners from all over the world, as well as over 180 different guests. Featured on the show were some of the game’s top players, coaches, administrators and soccer writers, among them Tim Howard, Julie Foudy, Giorgio Chinaglia, and Bob Bradley.

It was during this time that Josh began to broadcast games for MLS and USL clubs. He called games for the Chicago Fire, Milwaukee Wave United, Michigan Bucks, Columbus Crew, Cincinnati Kings, and the Chicago Fire Reserves (now the Chicago Fire Premier). After graduating from LCC in 2003, Josh and his wife, Sarah, moved to Philadelphia where he completed his Bachelor’s Degree at Temple University in Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media. Shortly after graduating, he became the Voice of the New Jersey Wildcats (W-League) for their 2005 championship season, including the first-ever broadcast of both W-League semifinal games.

When he’s not working for the Barons or broadcasting games, he is the creator and senior editor of USOpenCup.com and also works for EA Sports as a managing editor for their "FIFA" video game series. Josh and his wife Sarah are expecting their first child in May, and currently reside in the Philadelphia area.

Director of Media Relations - Paul O’Donnell - Email: podonnell@sjbarons.com

Paul was born and raised right here in South Jersey on the mainland opposite Atlantic City. As a young man Ocean City was one of his favorite places.

Paul has played organized soccer but always enjoyed giving it a go. His interest in soccer really got fired up when his son started playing at a young age. As he grew older he played soccer almost year-round and developed into one fo the better players in his age group and was invited to play for the top level team representing the league. His team had good success and appeared in the final for the country cup his final two years, winning it on their second try in a thrilling overtime match.

By then, he had lost interest in American soccer for various reasons and had discovered satellite TV which allowed him to watch soccer from around the world. His favorite English side became Blackburn Rovers as they challenged the big four and actually won the EPL title during the 1994-95 season. Soon he was watching Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga and following the J-League, thanks to the coverage available via satellite and keeping tabs on his favorite American side, the Charleston Battery (USL First Division) on the Internet. He even travelled by train to Charleston to attend the Battery’s Challenge Cup where they entertained MLS sides in a pre-season tournament. That trip was a special event for Paul and his soccer mania and he was soon cheering for teams like Preston North End and Sunderland too.

Paul started keeping an eye on the Barons during their seasons as a pro side and then discovered the team joined the PDL and were playing their home games at Winslow. It was very convenient for Paul since he lived about 15 minutes away and he was soon attending every game of the Barons’ undefeated 2004 PDL campaign that also included a memorable Open Cup match against the Syracuse Salty Dogs.

Paul answered a notice put out by the Barons looking for volunteers, and the next thing he knew he was meeting with Neil and John and an association with the PDL team began.