On Saturday December 14, our club hosted night to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Major Team’s 1999 USASA Open Cup National Title. This achievement marked the club’s second National Title in soccer and it as well as the 1965 US Amateur Cup Championship represented on our club logo as a gold star.
The event, held at Trifecta Sporting Club was very well attended by a number of former players (not just from the 1999 team) as well as friends of the program. From the 1999 winning team, the following were in attendance: Kurt Schmid, Ed Woehlcke, Dan Ryan, Bob Wilkinson, Pat Morris, Harold Ivery, Pat McCallion, Andrew Barrett, Terry Malone, Joe Veneziale, Dave Steinbach, and Paul Centofanti.
Back in the spring of 1998 while I was still in high school, I was invited to join in practices with the major team as a way to get recruited to LaSalle University. Even after joining LaSalle, I continued to come up to practices during our off-season so I was able to get to know some of these guys fairly well. On the field, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more committed and close knit team. I joined the major team as a full time player in 2002 and took over as head coach in 2018. During that time, I have always looked at this team as a model for all future teams. This team had it all; the effort during training sessions, camaraderie in the club-house after training sessions and games, personal friendships both old and new, and a constant desire and expectation to win every time they stepped on the field.
With the success of this event, we will look forward to hosting a similar alumni event every year or two. Thank you to everyone that was able to attend, and hopefully everybody else can make the next one. Also, a special thank you to Joe and Cindy Proll for being excellent hosts. I heard many compliments regarding the recent upgrades to the facilities!
Until next time,
Jason Karasow
