The Passing of a "Great Soccer Dad": R.I.P. George Sierra

 

I was terribly saddened this morning to learn of the passing of George Sierra, father of Medford Strikers Xtreme (MSX) player Linda Sierra Wall and her brother Andrew, and wife of Bettie.  

Linda was an outstanding player on the MSX and Cherokee High School and then for Rowan University and was also one of the nicest girls a coach could have on a team, not to mention one of the hardest working.   I do not know their son but am guessing he is just the same.

George and Bettie were the ultimate team parents, supportive of the coaches and the entire team.  George was often the club linesman on our side of the field.

During and after the MSX years Debbie and I stayed in touch with George and Bettie and would occasionally meet for dinner.  The photo below was taken at our house January 1, 2012.  For several years I would see George on a regular basis at the Virtua Health Center in Moorestown, but had not seen him since that closed just before the pandemic.

Former MSX player Brenna (Rubino) Henry nailed it when she commented on Facebook that George was "a great soccer dad."  That he was and so much more.  

My heart goes out to Bettie, Linda, Andrew and the entire family.  A great guy who will be missed.

        Photo below taken at our house, 1/1/12.

Challenging Cup Final for Penn Fusion U13s

There is something about the Cup, whether it's the World Cup or the Medford Cup.

When every minute is important and every goal counts, the intensity picks up whether there is a stadium full of fans and a TV audience, or nothing more than a few dozen family and friends standing on the sideline.

"Relax," I told one of my players before my first State Cup final as a coach back in 1994.  "It's just another game."  "Another game?" she shrieked.  "It's the freakin' State Cup final."  (I'm happy to say we won that final.)

This past week my granddaughter, Allison, got to experience the "freakin' State Cup Final" when she played goal for her Penn Fusion U13 girls team in the Eastern Pennsylvania Challenge Cup against the Lionville team in Manheim, Pennsylvania.  For those unaware, in U.S. Youth Soccer, Eastern and Western Pennsylvania are separate "states" so winning an Eastern Pennsylvania cup is the same as winning a New Jersey cup.

One of the Cup traditions is the pre-game parade used in international matches when the teams march onto the field and line up in the center.  It was exciting for me as a coach to watch the girls I'd coached walk out there, and even more so to see my own son in the parade in 1995 and then 24 years later to see my granddaughter, wearing the orange keeper's shirt and the captain's armband, take the walk to center field.

The game itself was exiting and well-played, but the results didn't go our way.  Lionville, in blue, went on the board in the 12th minute with a well-placed shot to the lower left corner, then added another in the 49th (35 minute halves) on a crazy bounce.  Penn Fusion couldn't solve Lionville's pressing flat back four and tenacious defense and it ended 2-0.

Nothing to be ashamed of.  As I told Allison, 28 teams started the Challenge Cup and last Saturday only two remained and hers was one of them.   The girls played their hardest and no one could ask for more.

First Cup Final As A Grandparent

Proud of granddaughter Allison Werner and her U13 Penn Fusion SA United team, who came back from a 2-0 halftime deficit yesterday to defeat Rose Tree Blast, 3-2 in the semi-finals of the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association (EPYSA) Challenge Cup May 11 in Media.  It was an exciting game, well-played by both sides.

Allison is a goalie and this was the first time she'd given up a goal in five cup matches.  Who cares?  They won.

I have been to five State Cup finals in New Jersey.  Four as a coach - won them all.  One as a parent - won it.  Here's hoping the streak continues as a grandparent.

The final is tentatively scheduled for June 1.

Penn Fusion SA United U13 Girls - Challenge Cup finalists

Coach P and granddaughter Allison

Improving Kensington Kids' Lives Through Soccer

Inspiring story by Kristen A. Graham in today's Inquirer about the Kensington Soccer Club and the impressive Philadelphia teacher, Jim Hardy, who started the organization and is its heart and soul.  It now serves nearly 1,500 youths from 3 to 19 with 40 volunteers and 25 coaches.  The $120,000 budget is funded through grants and donations.

"I don't think you can say how many kids Jim helps, how many families," Graham quotes City Parks & Recreation Department employee Anthony Washington, who has known Hardy since 2010, as saying. "The parents call him and say, 'Help me, you're the one he listens to.'" 

Nice to see some good news coming out of Kensington for a change.  Here's wishing Coach Hardy continuing success with KSC.

As an aside, I recall refereeing some games of the Kensington Ramblers at Scanlon Playground, K & Tioga, back in the mid-70s.

Where Do The Children Play?

"Where do the children play?" asked Cat Stevens in a song on the 1970 album, Tea For The Tillerman.

Apparently not as many are playing on soccer fields in 2018 as in years past.  As reported by the New York Times, the percentage of 6- to 12-year-olds playing soccer regularly has dropped nearly 14 percent, to 2.3 million players, according to a study by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.  Not surprisingly, reasons given for the decline vary, including other sports, cost and electronic diversions.  

When my kinds were in high school in the late '90s, we did not have crew or lacrosse at our high school.  Neither conflicts with high school soccer, but they do with club soccer, whose prime season for high school-age players is the spring.  Add to this the fact that top athletes more and more are choosing one sport earlier and earlier.  

Part of the problem, suggested former Women's National Team goalie Hope Solo, is the perception of soccer as a "rich, white-kid sport."  The Sports & Fitness Industry Association says that households with $100,00 and above incomes provide 35 percent of youth players while only 11 percent come from households with incomes of $25,000 or less. Carlos Cordeiro, the new president of the U.S. Soccer Federation has promised to make the sport less expensive, although he does not say how.

Road trips

Granddaughter Allison and her U12 team from Pennsylvania were down in Richmond this weekend for the Jefferson Cup.  They did well: 1-1-1, dropping the first game 4-3 after being down 4-1, winning the second, 4-1, and drawing the final match, 2-2.

Following the results on the tournament website brought back a lot of memories for me as a coach and parent of the road trips to the Jefferson Cup, to the Columbia (Maryland) showcase, to Middletown, NY, to the Potomac Cup, to WAGS and to others.

Memories of arriving at the hotel sometimes late on a Friday after a long drive, of having to get up at an awful hour some mornings for an 8 a.m. game when the grass was wet with dew.  Of killing time between games when it was too far to drive back to the hotel.  Of hanging out with the parents at dinner and after at the hotel.  Of the kids seeming to have a good time whether in the hotel pool, going to a mall or hanging out in the rooms. 

Whenever we went out for dinner we would have separate tables or groups of tables for players and parents.  Often the hotels would let us use one of their meeting rooms as a team hospitality suite where parents could drink another cup of coffee before leaving for the fields or recap the day's games over some adult beverages at night.

There was always soccer talk.  What did we know about the team we played tomorrow?  Was anyone on our team injured?  What did we need to do - and other teams to do - for us to advance?   If we advance who might we play?  Are any teams from our league at the tournament and how are they doing?

There are times I miss those days.

The End Of a Soccer Mom's Career

Good story in today's Philadelphia Inquirer by Noel Dolan of suburban Philadelphia about the end of the line for her career as a soccer mom.  Seems her son was a goalkeeper for a local high school whose season ended with a loss in post-season play last week.  No more sitting at games in all weather, washing uniforms, driving to practices, working the snack bar and all the other things soccer moms and dads do.

While being a soccer mom (or dad) for a high school team is different than for a club team with its travel and year-around play, the ideas about which Dolan writes are the same.  But the piece is about more than supporting your kids' activities be they soccer, ballet, ice hockey or whatever.  It's about kids growing up - her son is off to college next fall, she wrote - and parents aging.  She quotes from "Landslide" by Stevie Nicks: "even children get older, and I’m getting older too."  As one who has watched countless games my kids played in countless rec league, travel team and high school games and is now a soccer granddad, I can identify.  

As much as I enjoyed the story, I take issue with Dolan's statement, "I must confess, I was not a very good soccer mom, at least not in the stereotypical imagining" because she did not have a team decal on her car or wear a team shirt.  But she goes on to say, "I was there for my son, to support him in a sport that he enjoyed and in which he found meaning and friendship. That is what moms do, soccer moms, football moms, ballet moms, field hockey moms, the dads too, you name it. Show up and offer support, win or lose."

Sounds like she was the best soccer mom to me.

Focus Football" last Chance For 11 year olds

Recent story in New York Times about the so-called "academy" youth programs of British Premier League clubs and Focus Football, founded to help those youngsters who were released from the academies.

Parents pay Focus $100  a month for two training sessions and one game a week in the hopes their son will get back to an EPL Academy.  But the odds are overwhelmingly against it.

The Times article quotes author Michael Calvin, who wrote a book about the academy economy as saying only 180 of the 1.5 million boys who play organized youth soccer in England at any one time will ever play in the Premier League.

“You are like a piece of meat really,” one Focus parent said of her son’s dismissal by a Premier League academy. “They need you until they don’t.”

Happy Mother's Day to All Soccer Moms

As I recall the term "Soccer Mom," was coined by a political reporter during the Clinton years and referred to (mostly white) suburban middle class women carting their kids around to soccer games (and basketball, Little League and a myriad of other youth activities).  To me it refers to the group of mothers of the girls I have coached over the years.

I have fond memories of most of the soccer moms whose daughters I was privileged to coach.  A few my wife and I still see socially.  I keep in touch with many more on Facebook.

Right now my favorite soccer mom is my step-daughter, Sarah.  And the soccer mom I will never forget is Kirsten and Scott's mother, Louise, who left us too soon more than 10 years ago.  She was Scott's first coach (when he was 6) and was at countless games played by Kirsten and Scott at school and on club teams.

Happy Mother's Day to soccer moms everywhere.

Pay Attention, Parents

The sign below was posted on a family member's Facebook page as we get ready for baseball season.  Although it is from a Little League Baseball field, its message is just as important to youth soccer and for that matter all other youth sports.



Enjoy the spring season!

Russ Rogers, noted S.J. High School Soccer Fan, dies

Another fan just took a seat in Heaven's grandstands.  I just learned that Russ Rogers, a fixture at South Jersey high school girls sporting events for many years, passed away on July 28 at age 88.

Russ was a retired tool and die maker with a distinctive gravely voice that frequently mentioned Jesus.  As in the time I was sitting with him in a packed Haddonfield High School gym before the Haddonfield - Sterling girls basketball game back in the '90s.  You had to arrive by halftime of the JV game to get a seat, but Russ had already watched the freshman and JV games.  As he looked around at the crowd, the excitement building as game time neared, he said to me, "Jesus Christ!  This is great!  This is great!"

Or the time Strikers coach and president Len Imielinski was busting Russ about how many games he saw every week between high school and club teams and said how difficult it must be to keep track of it all.  Russ took the remark very seriously and replied, "Jesus Christ, yes."

Russ was well-known by parents, coaches and officials at girls high school basketball and soccer games and club soccer games over the years, and I think he watched softball, too.  One year a freshman parent wondered how some old guy knew so much about his daughter and should he be worried and was assured by another team parent, "It's just Russ."

Back when I was coaching the '79-'80 Medford Strikers girls with Jerry Ciser and then Len and Dave Rauer, it was not unusual for me to get a phone call the day before a game that would start out with, "This is Russ.  From soccer."  Like a) I wouldn't recognize the voice; and b) would not know who he was.  He was usually calling to check a game time and location.  Len and I and others used to bust on him about reading about him on some of the on-line forums, and he would rise to the occasion with something like, "Jesus Christ.  You guys and that internet!" 

As often as I saw Russ at Strikers and Haddonfield games, I never knew much about him other than he was retired and lived in Pennsauken.  My late wife, Louise, once asked if there was a "Mrs. Russ" and I never knew until I read his obituary today that he was married at one time and had three kids.

I also never knew how Russ began watching the Medford Strikers, why he seemed to confine his high school following to Shawnee and Haddonfield girls and why he eventually switched allegiance to Haddonfield's big-time conference rival, West Deptford.  But none of that mattered.  He was enjoying himself at all the games and we should all be so lucky to relax and enjoy life.

I hadn't seen Russ in a number of years - probably was at a Haddonfield - West Deptford girls soccer game a few years ago - when he told me he didn't like to go out at night much any more. 

Russ probably never knew that he lent his name to a breed of older sports fans who follow teams.  I think it was the summer of '93 when a Strikers girls team played in a tournament up in Ottawa and their coach, Hank Roberti, told us of an older local gentleman who somehow began following their team at the tournament.  The next summer our team played in the same tournament and this guy recognized the club name in the program and came out to root us on.  Thus was born "Canadian Russ."

My friend, Mark Adlen, whose daughter played on that same '79-'80 Strikers team then went on to Ferrum College, told me of meeting "Ferrum Russ" at her games down in Virginia.  So of course when I met an older gentleman at a women's college soccer game in Brunswick, Maine, and he told me how he followed the college teams, he became "Bowdoin Russ."

I am sure wherever Russ is he will be cheering for his favorite teams in the upcoming soccer season and there will be another generation of Russes just like him in the stands at games around the country.

For The Parents

Dan Shaughnessy's column in Saturday's Boston Globe should be required reading for every youth soccer parent in the country - not to mention for every youth baseball parent, youth swimming parent, every . . . you get the idea.

Shaughnessy, one of the country's best sportswriters in my book, reminds parents ". . . that it’s about the kids. It’s not about the parents."  Amen.  The column should be on the website of every youth team in the country and every coach should print it and give a hard copy to every parent on his or her team just in case they didn't look at the website.

Shaughnessy summarizes: "Try not to care about the game(s) more than your child cares."  He then offers eight reminders that are valid in every sport, in club or school games, at every age group and in every season.  And concludes: "Embrace the spirit of sportsmanship and competition. Frame these moments in your cerebral cloud and enjoy the games." 

If you have a kid - or grandkid - playing on any team in any sport, click on the link at the beginning and read the column.  It will make you a better fan and your kids will appreciate it.

Balloons

It's windy in NJ today and while I did not watch any soccer games, the windy day reminded me of many years ago - more than 50 - when I was in 10th grade and played one spring for First German Sport Club Phoenix in Feasterville, PA.  We had a coach named Otto, who, when he wasn't keeping us from trying to get a beer at the bar after games (this was a German club, after all) tried to teach us soccer. 

And he must have been a success because to this day I can remember him on breezy days like today saying in his thick German accent, "It's vindy today boys.  Keep der ball on der grund.  Don't balloon der ball."  In other words, short passing game, don't just boot it as far as you can  - still good advice today and I've passed it on to teams I've coached.  I hope someday my former players will hear the voice saying, "Don't balloon der ball," and pass it on to their sons and daughters. 

R.I.P. Kara

The card that arrived in yesterday's mail was heartbreaking.

The front showed a photo of a girl dribbling a soccer ball and the text at the top read, "In Loving Memory of Kara Lynn Lemanowicz July 11, 2001- September 5, 2015."

Kara was the Eastern H.S. freshman who died at a sleepover with friends from her club team shortly before the school season began last September.

The card came to me as treasurer of Haddonfield's girls soccer program because many of our families contributed to send a donation to the Lemanowicz family in Kara's memory.

I did not know Kara or her family and cannot imagine the grief they felt and surely still feel to this day.  I can only hope there was some comfort in the support from the Haddonfield team and so many others in the South Jersey soccer community and that Kara's spirit lives on.

The inside of the card read:

A friendly smile
A casual touch,
These are the things
That mean so much,
To know you are with us 
In our time of sorrow,
Sharing our prayer,
Today and tomorrow,
God gives us comfort 
In the form of good friends,
May his peace be with you,
His love never ends.

The family of 
Kara Lynn Lemanowicz

NFL Runs Over Kids Soccer

Fifteen hundred youth soccer players in California will be looking for a new place to play, unless a court blocks the National Football League's plans to convert the 11-acre Santa Clara Soccer Park into a media center for Super Bowl 50.

Seems when the City of Santa Clara bid to host the February 2016 Super Bowl it agreed to the condition of making the city-owned soccer park available to the NFL.  Now, as the soccer league battles the 49ers and the NFL in court, work has begun on covering the fields and building the mediae center on top of them.

As the San Jose Mercury News reported today, a court will hold a hearing next Monday on whether to issue a permanent injunction banning the NFL from taking over the soccer fields.  The judge who will hear the case has already turned down two requests for a temporary injunction.

No JAGS Tournament Again This Year - Or Ever?

As readers of this blog know, the JAGS Tournament was a big part of my life for many years, as a parent, coach and for more than 10 years as college coordinator.  During that time I had the pleasure of working with so many good people dedicated to the sport and the girls, most of whom I saw only once a year; and of getting to know many many college coaches from around the East Coast.

Last year it was announced that after 33 years there would be no JAGS Tournament because the fields were being used by the Special Olympics and no other weekend would work.  Some said it was the end of JAGS, others held out hope it would return in 2015.  There was a glimmer last September when long-time director (and JAGS League VP), Rick Firth e-mailed committee members inquiring as to their interest in working in 2015.  Count me in, I'll be there.  Looking forward to see everyone.

In January Rick sent another e-mail around saying the tournament would be U9 through U15.  OK, some colleges are looking at U15s in the spring these days and it would have been a good excuse for me to go watch soccer for a weekend.

But two days ago came the death blow when Rick e-mailed us:
 

It comes with great regret that we are forced to cancel this years event. We do not have enough teams in any age bracket to make it work. For those who have paid, you will receive your original check back as they have not been cashed. You should have them by Monday. Enjoy the rest of your season and best of luck to all.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of for your time and effort in this and previous years tournaments. I wish continued success to you and your teams.

Thanks again,

Rick

While I still hold out hope of a return in 2016, I am afraid two years in a row with no tournament will be more than any event can survive, even one as long-running and with as dedicated people as JAGS has.  But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

Heads up play

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on August 29  that The Shipley School, a private school in Bryn Mawr outside Philadelphia, has banned its middle school soccer players from heading the ball, the first school in the country to do so.

"We've seen a growing trend of injuries in our students, severe head injuries," athletic director Mark Duncan is quoted as saying. "They're sitting out weeks to months from school."  But interestingly, when invited to join in the ban, other schools in Shipley's conference (the Friends School League) declined. 

Although the ban applies only to middle schoolers, some high school players who had already begun practice last week were not high on the idea.  "I don't love the idea, and if it were me, I would be upset," said Hope Roehrs, 16, cocaptain of the varsity team. "Sometimes you need to head the ball, like into a goal."

Personal opinion here is that heading the ball, especially if taught the right way, is less of a problem than head-to-head collisions when two players are going up for a ball.

Missing JAGS

For the first time in more than 10 years I am spending Fathers Day weekend at home rather than at a soccer field.  As reported last year the 33rd JAGS was the last one.  So instead of watching girls chase their college dreams at Mercer County Park, I'm home watching the World Cup.  Not a bad second choice, but I miss seeing all the college coaches, my fellow committee members and the athletes, from 8 years old up to 19.

My daughter. Kirsten, played her first JAGS at age 14 for the Medford Strikers.  Now she's 35 with two kids.  Many of the girls I coached with Joe Dadura are mommies now and those who played for me with the Medford Strikers Xtreme will become parents in the coming years.  (At least one already is.) 

There are many many soccer tournaments and there are many college showcase tournaments, but JAGS was always special.  In the past five years or so it was my lone connection to the sport aside from the high school and this blog, and I looked forward to it each year. 

The End of JAGS

It begins with registration at the Mercer County Park HQ Tent. 

Nobody else is dwelling on the last JAGS, so I guess I shouldn't either.  But I'll miss it.

It was a great run - 33 years - for the tournament and for me as the college coordinator for more than 10 years.  Next year for the first time in nearly 20 years I won't be spending Father's Day on a soccer field.

Of all the long-time committee members at Mercer County Park this past weekend, no one really said anything about the end of an institution in youth soccer.  Work Friday and family commitments 

The sun is coming up at MCP at 7 a.m.

Sunday prevented me from going to breakfast or dinner with everyone on those days, which was my loss because they are such good people.  As I have often said, the tournament seems to run itself because everyone knows his or her job very well and does it very well.  But that would not be giving enough credit to tournament directors Tom Bayless and Rick Firth, who along with many others have put in countless hours every year to make this event work so well.

On my end, I've enjoyed meeting many college coaches, many of whom such as Joe Russo (TCNJ), John Sumoski (Wilkes), Christa Racine

Setting up the HQ tent early on Saturday.

(Drew), Erik Burstein (Kutztown), Rick Brownell (Arcadia), Nick Juengert (Stockton), Tim Dempsey (Mansfield), Kevin Davies (Centenary) and others, I consider friends even though I see them only once a year.  Many return year after year with the same school, others show up new to the job.  Now, many are younger than my own kids.  One who was here this weekend was a teammate of my son's in Medford nearly 20 years ago and is married to one of my former players.  I love hearing the coaches stories of the season just past, of seasons to come, of their own backgrounds in the sport.

The sausage sandwich with pepper and onions is huge.

The weekend was not without nostalgia.  I followed some of the same rituals I have for years: an early stop at the Dunkin Donuts at Sloan Avenue and Quaker Bridge Road before heading over to Mercer County Park; carrying the box of college coaches' profile books across the grass slickened by morning dew and setting up the table at the headquarters tent; the Italian sausage sandwich lunch at the concession stand Saturday, riding the golf carts around the site to make sure all the college coaches were happy.

And watching the games brought back memories.  There were smiles and laughter: The joy of scoring a goal, winning a game, advancing to the championship,  parents and girls hanging out with friends between games.  There was tension.  Players being a little nervous if a coach from one of their colleges was there.  And there were some tears: the frustration of giving up a goal, of losing, or worse, of an injury.  They are scenes played out thousands of time each year on soccer fields around the country.  They are scenes that have been part of my life for so long.

Sunday John Esposito and I talked about my good friend, Joe Dadura, who died last December.  Not surprisingly, John mentioned what a good age group coordinator Joe had been, trying to do the best for all the teams, not just his own.

But it's over.  I watched a good U16 championship game between the Randolph Rampage and the South Jersey  Elite Barons '96 (Barons won, 2-1) and that was it.  I drove my cart back to the HQ tent, said goodbye to John Esposito, Bill Gosselin and Tom Bayless and drove home for a Fathers Day dinner.

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.