R.I.P Evelyn Partenheimer

My mother, Evelyn M. Partenheimer, died Thursday, March 14, 2019 in Ft. Washington, PA, at age 98.  She was quite the athlete at Friends Select School in Philadelphia, Class of 1938, starring in field hockey, basketball and tennis.  She was married to my father, Raymond Partenheimer, from 1945 until his death in October 2001.

Over the years my mother saw a lot of soccer games, watching my brother, Gary, and me play for Penn Charter, me at Gettysburg College, and then Kirsten and Scott over the years.

As she grew older my mother was devoted to family and loved the holidays at the Werners' in West Chester or at my house.  She was fond of her eight greatgrandchildren: Kirsten's four (Oliver, Soren, Kiera and Matteo) ; Scott's son (Neale) and Sarah's three (Zachary, Allison and Maggie).  She had quite a few friends at Gwynedd Estates, where she lived until moving to skilled nursing, at Ft. Washington Estates, and at her church.

She will be missed.

For France in Memory of Louise

As we all know, France plays Croatia for the World Cup later today.

Twenty years ago, when the Cup was held in France, my wife, Louise, came home from work at the Inquirer a few days before the opening games and asked if France was any good.  Um, yes, I replied, they had a chance of winning it all.  The reason for her inquiry was that she had picked France in her office pool.

Sure enough, on July 12 at Stade de France in Saint-Denis outside Paris, the French beat Brazil, 3-0, to win the Cup.  They had edged Croatia, 2-1, in the semi-finals a few days earlier.  Louise brought home several hundred dollars and everyone thought she was a soccer genius.  Truth be told though, she had pulled France out of a hat, but she was honest enough to admit it.

In the next two World Cups in 2002 and 2006 we joked about France being Louise's team and rooted for France if they were not playing the United States or Germany.  But like defending champion Germany this year, they did not make it out of the group stage in 2002 and in 2006 they lost to Brazil in a shootout in the final in Berlin.

Sadly, Louise did not live to see another World Cup.  She passed away on December 11, 2006, shortly before what would have been our 37th anniversary.  Today I will be remembering her team and hoping France can win another World Cup for her.

Coach P is Running Again (Not For Office)

Six and a half months after my pacemaker surgery it was good to go to the starting line of a race today at the 11th Annual Haddon Township Turkey Trot.  Debbie and I have been a proud sponsor of the race for at least six years after she ran into race director John Foley at a nail salon one stormy day back in 2011.

This year I planned to train more and build up to running the full 5K without walking, improving on my 2016 time of 37:28.  (Keep in mind that back in the day my PR was 21+ and I would warm up for a 5K by running 5K.)  I was building up on mileage on the treadmill, until one day my heart stopped for about 5 seconds and I was diagnosed with a bradycardia (slow heartbeat). 

Next thing I know I was flat on my back at Virtua Hospital feeling great but with a temporary pacemaker that prevented me from moving for two days until the surgeon was available to do the procedure.  The cardiologist recommended not running for six weeks, which I stretched to seven, but I kept walking during that time.  Very gradually I began running a bit with the walking.

I did not run a full mile until this past Wednesday.  At my age (71) six months without training requires about six years to get back to baseline.  So I wasn't sure what to expect when I went to the starting line today.  Fortunately the weather was ideal - low 40s, manageable humidity, no wind.

I hit the first mile in 11:07, walked/ran the rest of the way and finished in 40:17 - not great but I'll take it.  During my first New York Marathon in 1980 I remember crossing the 59th Street Bridge at 16 miles and hearing people say Al Salazar had won.  Today, sort of like that on a much smaller scale, I was thinking early in the second mile that the winner had most likely crossed the line (he had) and at 20 minutes - when I still had half the course to go, I expected my son Scott had finished.  He had - after being uncertain whether he could break 20 minutes, he came in at 19:33, good for first in his age group and 24th overall.

After the race we posed for our traditional picture in front of the Pour House sign.

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all the soccer Dads out there, particularly to those from the Strikers' 81-82 team and the Medford Strikers Xtreme, who were so supportive of the team and the coaches over the years.  Many are on sidelines somewhere today, cheering on their sons and daughters.

I'm missing a few soccer dads, who passed away too soon: Ed Schifrin, whose daughter, Sheri, played with Kirsten for the Strikers; Joe Platt, long-time president of the South Jersey Girls Soccer League and whose daughter, Erica, I coached on SJ Select; Mark Haines, whose daughter, Tracy, was a great player for the '81-'82 team; and of course my dear friend, Joe Dadura, father of Kristy, Jen and Kacy, with whom I had the honor and pleasure of coaching for four years.  They are all remembered not only by their daughters, but by all of us who knew them.

Also remembered is my own father, himself a soccer dad when I played in high school and college, and a soccer granddad when Kirsten and Scott played.  He passed away on Halloween in 2001 but is still much remembered.

The sun actually shone on son Scott's wedding

  

             September 28, 2013 -- My favorite male soccer player, my son, Scott Partenheimer, married Stevie Neale yesterday on an island in a lake at Camp Ockanickon in Medford, NJ.   They had been engaged since last August.

            We have this thing in our family about bad weather at weddings, including a blizzard, heavy rain and a howling Nor’easter (for Debbie and me on March 13, 2010), so it was a joy to see picture perfect weather in an idyllic setting,  As he had been for Kirsten in 2008 and for Debbie and me, brother Gary, an ordained Episcopal minister, was the officiant.

            Scott is known for backflips, but rather than backflipping to start the ceremony, he just paddled over to the island in a canoe, and after he and Stevie were pronounced husband and wife, they left by canoe.

            As I said at the reception, I was honored to join the Chesla family in Minnesota when Kirsten and Chris married in 2008, and to be accepted by the family of Debbie’s son-in-law, Adam Werner in 2010.  Now I am equally honored to join with the Neale family of Florida.  And reiterating the toast to the happy couple, Scott was best man when Debbie and I were married, so to the best son a man could ever hope for and his new wife: Hoch sollen sie leben! Dreimal hoch!

"She Said Yes, Praise the Lord, Glory Hallelujah!" Congrats to Scott & Stevie

I was in the men's room at P.J. Whelihan's Pub in Haddonfield a week ago Friday when my cellphone rang.  It was my favorite male former soccer player and author of the second best blog on the Web, who happens to be my son, Scott, calling to tell me he and girlfriend Stevie Neale, had gotten engaged down in Florida.

Scott was looking for a song to announce the engagement on Facebook, so he came up with a pretty good one: "She Said Yes," by a British folk rock group known as The Wedding Band, a/k/a Mumford and Sons & Friends.  Read the announcement on Scott's blog.

We celebrated the happy occasion in Ocean City a few nights ago, where sister Kirsten welcomed Stevie to the family.  Looking forward to the wedding in early 2013.

Welcome, Soren

Scott beat me to it on his blog, but Coach P says welcome to his second grandson, Soren Andrew Partenheimer Chesla, born October 11, 2011 at 12:16 a.m. local time in St. Paul, MN.

2nd best sports blog on the web

OK, I may be a bit biased, but I happen to think my son Scott, among his many other talents, is a great writer. See, for example, his blog about a cross country trip in 2007. So I was happy to learn he has started a new blog on running. (If you have to ask what running has to do with soccer, you probably aren't reading a soccer blog anyway.)

It has a clever name: "I Thought They Said Rum" and starts off on January 31, 2011 with an account of Scott's fantastic run in the Philadelphia Marathon when he registered a 3:09:44, good enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon. As one who has run seven marathons, I am impressed with anyone who can cover 26.2 miles in any time. As one whose best time in those seven was 3:50 something, running the distance in the time Scott did amazes me. If you think it's easy, try running a mile in 7:15, then doing it 25 more times, and still having to run the length of three soccer fields to finish.

The photo with this post says it all -- the joy of not only finishing a marathon, but of Scott knowing he reached a goal that took months of training, sacrifice and discipline. (If the clock has been in the picture it would have been misleading as a runner's official time is the "chip time" measured from when he crosses the starting line - which may be a minute or more after the gun goes off and the elite runners head out.)

So anyway, after you read Coach P's blog, check out Scott's running blog. And well-done, Scott!

Memories

As part of combining households since the wedding, we are cleaning out rooms, closets and drawers of my house. Just when I thought I had everything, I found some boxes behind a file cabinet in a closet in the den.

One box was full of trophies from random baseball and soccer teams on which my son, Scott, played when we lived in Medford. Most have been long forgotten by me, and probably by Scott. First place at U13 in the 1994 Hamilton Invitational. Second place in a 1995 Select Team Tournament. A championship indoors at Soccer International.

But another box caught my eye. In it were the jerseys Scott wore for the Medford Strikers, including the one in the photo above when they won the State Cup at U14 and played at regionals in Niagara Falls. New Jersey plays a single elimination cup and we won six games, including the final in OT, and had a win and two ties at regionals. Nine games without a loss - a nice run in anyone's book.

Coach P Got Married!

Despite heavy rains that caused problems at the Jersey Shore and elsewhere, the wedding came off without a problem (and with no yellow cards) on March 13 at the Church of the Messiah in Gwynedd, PA. Debbie and I met in this church close to 50 years ago and have been friends ever since and now we are husband and wife.

Although Debbie rejected my suggestion that she dribble a ball down the aisle, there was a soccer influence at the wedding. In the bridal party alone we had six current or former players including me; my brother, Gary, a teacher and Episcopal priest who married us; my daughter, Kirsten and her husband, Chris Chesla, who both played in high school and now play for FC Hansa in Minneapolis; my son, Scott; and Debbie's grandson, Zachary Werner, the ringbearer, who plays on a 5-year old team near West Chester.

I was also happy to have representatives from all three Medford Strikers teams I have coached and from Haddonfield H.S. From the '78-'79 team were parents Mark and Angela Adlen. Coach Jerry Ciser was in Florida and could not make it. From the great '81-'82 team was Coach Joe Dadura ("Mr. D") and his wife Bobbie. And the Medford Strikers Xtreme were represented by GM John Makowski and his wife, Sandy; Coach Mike Grimes and his wife Linda, both former players; and parents Bettie and George Sierra.

We had quite a team at one of the tables with Scott, who played for the Strikers U14 1994 state champions; Kirsten and Chris; and my good friend, Lauren Konopka, a great player for the Strikers, Holy Cross H.S. and Wheaton College, Mass. (Class of '08).

Coaches Steve Barbagiovanni and George Rhea from the Xtreme could not make it, but not surprisingly the best line of the day came from George. (This is the guy who gave me the saying, "Free is me," among others.) George texted me congratulations on the morning of the wedding and I texted back thanking him. To which he replied, "Remember 'I do.'" Thanks, George. And I did.

Coach P is a Grandfather!!!

Future player, Oliver Scott Partenheimer Chesla, at 14 hours

Believe it or not, there are some things more important than soccer, and this is one of them. I am proud to announce that my daughter, Kirsten Partenheimer, gave birth at 1:13 a.m. today (2:13 a.m. Eastern time) to a healthy baby boy in Stillwater, MN: Oliver Chesla, 6 pounds, 13 ounces, 20 inches.

Following report from Dad, Chris Chesla: "Kirsten was admitted to the Labor and Delivery section of the hospital at 7:30 am. Her water was broken and she was progressing nicely until about 2pm. From 2pm until 7pm, there was no significant progress made, so the doctors did everything they could to get the baby to come. At about 11pm, Kirsten started active labor. Kirsten and the hospital staff did everything they could to deliver the baby naturally, but after an hour of hard labor, it was determined that she needed a C-section.The C-section went great and after what seemed like only a few moments Kirsten and I could hear a crying baby. After an initial check of the baby's vitals, I got to go over and hold our little....boy!

"The C-section went great and after what seemed like only a few moments Kirsten and I could hear a crying baby. After an initial check of the baby's vitals, I got to go over and hold our little....boy!

"Kirsten is doing well and actually has dozed off while I have been typing this. She was basically in shock when she saw little Oliver, I believe at one point in the emergency room she actually exclaimed "that came out of me!?" We are both very tired and exhuasted but also in complete happiness that we have a new member to our family."

Photos and details to come, but I have no doubt Oliver will be able to kick with either foot.