Tomer Chencinski ( he, תומר חנצ'ינסקי; born December 1, 1984) is an Israeli-Canadian soccer player who plays the position of goalkeeper. He played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the mericanrevolution." It enrolls nearly 5,000 students and offers 60 b ...

, where in 2004 he ranked 16th in the nation in saves per game, and at

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

. He most recently played for Irish club Shamrock Rovers. He also played one match for the

Canada men's national soccer team The Canada men's national soccer team (french: Équipe du Canada de soccer masculin) represents Canada in international soccer competitions since 1924. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Can ...

Early life

Chencinski was born in

Bat Yam Bat Yam ( he, בַּת יָם or ) is a city located on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In 2020, it had a population ...

, Israel, to Jewish parents originally from Poland. He and his family lived in Israel until he was eight years old, before moving to Thornhill, Canada, where he grew up. He attended Chapel School. He played youth soccer for the North York Hearts. He speaks both English and Hebrew fluently.

Playing career

College

Chencinski played two years of

, where in 2004 he ranked 16th in the nation in saves per game and recorded six shutouts. He transferred to

as a junior, where he played his final two collegiate seasons.

Toronto FC

Chencinski turned professional in 2007 when he signed with Major League Soccer side

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

after impressing during a tryout, but never made an appearance for the team, and left to play indoor soccer for Major Indoor Soccer League side

Detroit Ignition The Detroit Ignition were an American indoor soccer team that has played three seasons, most recently 2008–09. In April 2006, Greg Bibb, president of Hantz Group Sports and Entertainment, introduced the teams as a new Major Indoor Soccer Leag ...

Nistru Otaci

He dropped down a division to play in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

for expansion side

Newark Ironbound Express Jersey Express was an American soccer team based in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey, Springfield, New Jersey. Founded in 2007, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, ...

in 2008, but left mid-season when he was offered a contract by Moldova National Division side

Nistru Otaci FC Nistru Otaci was a Moldovan football club based in Otaci, Moldova. The club was founded on 17 August 1953. It was dissolved in 2017. History During the 1999–2000 season, the club played as FC Nistru-Unisport Otaci due to Nistru being expell ...

Harrisburg City Islanders

After playing just three games for Nistru Otaci, he returned to the United States, and signed for the

Harrisburg City Islanders Penn FC (formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) was an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the United States soccer ...

in 2009. After completing his season with the Harrisburg City Islanders, Chencinski spent time training with Major League Soccer side Philadelphia Union.

VPS

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. He made his debut for VPS on February 5, 2011 in a 2–2 draw with

FF Jaro FF Jaro is a Finnish football club, based in the bilingual town of Jakobstad. It currently plays in ''Ykkönen''. Home matches are played at the Jakobstads Centralplan. Current squad ''Updated 7 March, 2022.'' Manageme ...

in the

Finnish League Cup The Finnish League Cup was a knock-out football competition contested annually during the pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga. The league cup was abolished after the 2016 tournament and replaced with the Finnish Cup group stage startin ...

Örebro SK

On December 5, 2011, he was confirmed for the Swedish Allsvenskan side

Örebro SK Örebro Sportklubb, more commonly known as Örebro SK, Örebro or (especially locally) ÖSK, is a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Behrn ...

for the 2012 season.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

In late December 2012 Chencinski was transferred from Örebro to

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

in the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

, for an undisclosed transfer fee.

RoPS

In January 2015, Chencinski left Israel and joined

RoPS Rops may refer to: People * Daniel-Rops (1901–1965), French writer and historian * Félicien Rops (1833–1898), Belgian artist Places * Rops (peak), a mountain in Kosovo Sports * Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS), a Finnish football club T ...

of Finland. RoPS would eventually finish in 2nd place during the

2015 Veikkausliiga The 2015 Veikkausliiga was the 85th season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK Helsinki were the defending champions. The season was won by SJK, ending HJK's record streak of six straight titles. Teams TPS were relegated to Ykkönen after fini ...

, one point behind league winners SJK. Their finish earned the club entry into the first round of qualification for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.

FC Santa Claus (loan)

In 2015, he briefly went on loan to

FC Santa Claus FC Santa Claus is a football club from Rovaniemi, Finland that currently plays in the Nelonen, the fifth tier of the Finnish football league system. The club has played as high as the third tier Kakkonen, where they have played a total of 14 ...

in the third tier, who played in the same city as RoPS, after returning from injury.

Helsingborgs IF

After his successful season in Finland, Chencinski joined Swedish club

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

on December 8, 2015.

Shamrock Rovers

Chencinski joined Shamrock Rovers on December 15, 2016. He made his

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

debut on the opening day of the

2017 League of Ireland Premier Division The 2017 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 33rd season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The league began on Friday 24 February 2017 and concluded on 27 October 2017. Fixtures were announced on 9 December 2016. On 17 October, ...

season. Chencinski made his European debut keeping a clean sheet as Rovers beat Stjarnan men's football in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League. He made four appearances keeping two clean sheets in that season's competition. In a game against

Dundalk F.C. Dundalk Football Club ( ; ga, Cumann Peile Dhún Dealgan) is a professional association football club that competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of football in the Republic of Ireland. The club is based in Dundalk ...

Chencinski was racially abused in July. 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 Alan Mannus (born 19 May 1982) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Shamrock Rovers. He began his career at Linfield, and during his time there he had spells on loan at Larne and Carrick Rangers. He then ...

as a replacement.

International career

Chancinski is eligible to play for the national teams of Canada, Israel and Poland. Chencinski represented Canada at the 2005 Maccabiah Games. On March 14, 2013, Chencinski received his first call up by the Canada national team for friendlies against Japan and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. Chencinski made his debut for the national team on March 25 starting the game against Belarus after

Milan Borjan Milan Borjan ( sr-cyr, Милан Борјан; born 23 October 1987) is a professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Red Star Belgrade and the Canadian national team. Early life Borjan was born on 23 October 1987 in Knin, SFR Yug ...

was benched following the loss to Japan, the game ended in a 2–0 defeat to the European nation.

Coaching career

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

Honours

Maccabi Tel Aviv *

: 2012–13, 2013-2014

References

External links

Harrisburg City Islanders bio

Detroit Ignition bio

FDU Knights bio

Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chencinski, Tomer 1984 births Living people Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Jewish Canadian sportspeople Jewish Israeli sportspeople Jewish men's footballers Canadian men's soccer players Detroit Ignition (MISL) players Robert Morris Colonials men's soccer players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Fairleigh Dickinson Knights men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Penn FC players Israeli men's footballers Israeli emigrants to Canada Israeli Canadian Maccabiah Games competitors for Canada Competitors at the 2005 Maccabiah Games Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Jersey Express S.C. players Footballers from Bat Yam Toronto FC players USL League Two players USL Second Division players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan F.C. players Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon F.C. players Israeli Premier League players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Allsvenskan players League of Ireland players Liga Leumit players Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent FC Santa Claus players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Ireland