The 33rd (and last?) JAGS

   When I went to the JAGS Tournament Committee meeting Sunday before last I was shocked to hear there will be no JAGS next year and perhaps ever.  President Tom Bayless told the group that the Special Olympics will be in New Jersey this time next year and has locked up every field in the area for Father's Day Weekend and the following.   The week before would conflict with Sunburst.  Two weeks after Father's Day is getting into the Fourth of July and it would be particularly tough to get the older teams.

  So the 33rd Annual will be this weekend and that may be it.  Tom said at the meeting and reiterated to me today that he thinks when you stop having a tournament it can never come back.  Not sure I agree, but Tom has been in this game a long time as a coach and administrator and sadly, he may be right. 

   Tom said he's tired (the same word Medford Strikers president Len Imielinski used when he stepped down after many years) and given his years of service I can understand that.  But the JAGS League will continue and I am hoping some new blood from that group will step up and continue the tournament in 2015.

   I have many fond memories of JAGS, going back to when my daughter, Kirsten, played there for the Medford Strikers some 20 years back.  My good friend Joe Dadura and I coached many games there.  I recall at U15 seeing our girls being applauded by parents from a Maryland team as they ran by on a warm-up run, with calls of congratulations for winning the State Cup a few weeks earlier.  At U16, state champs again, we lost by a goal to the Weston (CT) Wild Things who went on to win the national championship that summer.  At U17 we had lost to Wyckoff in the State Cup but beat them, 1-0 in the JAGS final.  With the Xtreme we actually won JAGS twice, as I recall.  But perhaps the most memorable game was one that was meaningless in the standings.  It was against blood rival TBAA Comets and neither of us could advance to the next round.  The game was scoreless as time was running out.  Kasey Makowski, who later went on to captain Canisius, broke loose on goal and shot the ball towards an open net.  Before it got there, referee Ralph Elias blew the whistle and said time had expired, no goal, game ends in a tie.  Five college coaches watching spoke to me or e-mailed later and said what a terrible call it was.

   As JAGS college coordinator for more years than I can remember (at least 10), I had the pleasure of meeting so many coaches from around the East and more important passing on what little advice I had to players who wanted to play in college and their parents.  Also got to watch a lot of good soccer. 

   It's been a great run and I've enjoyed every minute, starting from the moment then-tournament director John Esposito recruited me to do the college thing more years ago than I can remember - at least 10.  But my job was fun and easy.  People like John, Tom, Rick Firth, Bill Gosselin and so many others put in countless hours year round on the tournament and the league so girls in New Jersey could play soccer.  They made JAGS the great event that it has been for 33 years.  I only saw them once a year but always looked forward to it as I look forward to one more time this weekend.