On October 15, 2022, our club attended the Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer (SEPA) Hall of Fame 75th Anniversary Banquet. The event was held at Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein, and it began at 5pm with a cocktail hour which was where everyone had the chance to say hi to friends they might not have seen in a while. This banquet has not taken place in a few years due to the virus.
Once everyone took their seats Joe Krantz who was the master of ceremonies took the podium. He started with the Pledge of Allegiance and then got right into it with introductions of the SEPA board. Joe kept the evening lively with constant jokes and after every joke he would say, “true story.”
Each year this banquet takes place they induct men and women into the hall of fame. This year there were 10 people inducted. Those names include Mike Churchville (posthumous), Josh Friskey, Steve Groeber, Maureen Hawkins-Teal, Jerry Oesterreich (posthumous), Greg Oldfield, Blaise Santangelo, Steve Schmidt, Chris Schreiner, and Biff Sturla.
After that there were a few awards given out and those awards and winners are:
- High school female player of the year: Alyssa DeGeorge – Archbishop Wood
- High school male player of the year: Sabastian Tis – Conestoga
- Coach of the year female team: Tom DeGeorge – Archbishop Wood
- Coach of the year male team: Dave Simpson – YMS
- Club of the year: FC Bucks Dominion
- Referee of the year: John Lynch
- Young referee of the year: Hope Barrist and Luca Bracalenti
- Administrator of the year: Werner Fricker III – United German Hungarians
- Service to soccer: Mike Barr
Werner accepted the Paul Stilley administrator of the year award. As the manager of our men’s major team he has been in that position for over 10 years. Often times the manager position is one of those thankless jobs but Werner received the recognition he deserves with this award. Our club had about 25 members in attendance to celebrate.
Once the awards concluded everyone went back to the bar to enjoy the open bar and mingle with soccer people they might not see very often. This is always a nice event which makes you take a step back and realize how much of a rich history of soccer we have in our area. We are very lucky to have had great contributions to the game which include players, coaches, referees, administrators, and builders of the game.
Looking forward to next year’s event!
Sasha Malofiy Jr.
A run in with Mr. Sieggy
The above downloadable spreadsheet lists individuals inducted into the Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame who have played, coached, refereed, or managed soccer programs at the German Hungarians or have been members of the United German Hungarians.
