Chattanooga FC goalkeeper Greg Hartley jumps to catch an Atlanta Silverbacks shot during an NPSL playoff match last year. Hartley and his CFC teammates host the Sonoma County Sol tonight in a national semifinal.Greg Hartley's time as a part-time resident of Chattanooga began with a trip to Cheeburger, Cheeburger with Chattanooga Football Club coach Bill Elliott and his family in 2012.
Since that point, perhaps no person is a better "face of the program" than goalkeeper Hartley, who will lead the South Regional champions into tonight's National Premier Soccer League national semifinal against West champion Sonoma County (Calif.) Sol at 7:30 at Finley Stadium.
Chattanooga FC is fighting for its fifth trip to a national final, while Sonoma County is looking for its fourth. The visiting team does have a national title, in 2009, to its credit.
The winner of tonight's match will face either Midwest champion AFC Cleveland or the Clarkstown (N.Y.) SC Eagles, the winners of the Northeast region, in next week's final. If CFC wins tonight, it will host as the highest seed.
Elliott has said on numerous occasions that if Hartley were a couple inches taller, he would be playing professional soccer at some level. But being 5-foot-10 hasn't stopped Hartley from twice being named the NPSL's top goalkeeper.
"Greg is unbelievable," Elliott said Wednesday. "He's a great shot-blocker; he reads crosses well; his kicking is very, very good. He's one of the best players at any position, in my opinion, in the league."
"He reads the game so well," second-year CFC keepers coach Jordan Mattheiss said. "When you watch him, you get amazed by how well he reads. It drives guys crazy in practice because he reads what they're going to do before they do it. But he always gives everybody so much confidence because he brings it. He demands excellence from everybody - coaches, teammates, himself.
"I know that when I show up at practice, he expects me to have a good training session prepared."
In his fifth season with CFC, Hartley is one of the players who has been around through the growth of the program, from playing in front of 1,000 fans to playing twice in front of more than 10,000. That may happen again tonight.
"You see new people going to the games," he said. "You see the Chattahooligans, and while it does come down to us winning, you see them showing people how great of a day out coming to a match is. You see non-soccer fans at matches, and you realize it's not just about soccer, it's about a community.
"The Chattahooligans are one of the reasons I keep coming back. Whenever they need anything, I'm always there to help them wherever I can. I'm always there for them because although we give back, they do so much off the field that we don't see, and that's why I try to get involved in things they do."
It's because of that community relationship that Hartley recently moved from Atlanta to Chattanooga, getting "an opportunity" to live here after a couple of futile efforts in previous years. The relationship he has with both the club and the city has "no expiration date," he said, unless a professional team comes calling.
"I'm here as long as the club wants me," he said. "I always want to be involved with this team even if I'm not playing. I'll be on the coaching staff.
"I'd even go sell tickets if I had to."
He's done plenty of that already.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.