Loss of a NOVA Legend

With great personal sadness, I am forwarding the below message from our founding members, which discusses the death of one of our club founders, Michael Kentes.

Mike was a bona fide war hero who served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and was highly decorated for his service (see image below or google his name). He played for George Mason RFC, the club from which NOVA was formed, as a short but tough center, I'm told, and his service to our club lasted for three decades.

Some of us old timers had the privilege to play for him as coach, when he volunteered as backs coach at George Mason University in the early 90s, and we got just a small taste of how tough a guy he truly was. Many of our current NOVA players might have recognized Mike stalking the sidelines at Gravelly Point, as he always seemed to make at least one match a year, with a cigar clenched in his teeth and gravelly voice cheer us on. He was at our VIP Tent at the Sweet 16s last year, dressed in a blue blazer, which concealed his "personal protector" on his hip.

For those that had the privilege, Mike Kentes was a first-rate friend, who always knew how to laugh or make you laugh, and would do anything for a friend or his club. He was a NOVA man, through and through and will be sorely missed. Mike Kentes was one of a kind.

Michael Kentes memorial and funeral will be held Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. at the Old Post Chapel at Ft. Meyer, with the internment to follow at Arlington National Cemetery.

His obituary can be found in the Washington Post:
Michael Kentes, decorated Vietnam soldier, dies at 63