A Personal Observation
I am reasonably sure that by now most members and friends of the United G.H. are aware that the month of July 1999 was probably the most exciting and eventful time period in the 89 year club’s history.
Attending 3 weekends of soccer and dancing competitions and observing our young men and women in action, accumulating 3 first places and 1 second place spots in the United States left me personally in awe.
Our Schuhplattler dancers had to perform first in the competition. I had seen enough to be convinced that there was no stopping them. After the performance I saw the look of pride on their faces knowing they had done well. I had to wait until Sunday afternoon for the official announcement declaring our group (what I already knew or “hoped”) the winner of first place in the United States.
There are 80 plus groups that form the North American Gau who all have the same opportunity to enter the competition. That some choose not to enter is their prerogative but makes me believe we won first place in the U.S. “Wow.” The tears of joy could be seen on the faces of many of the dancers and fans and needless to say that was properly celebrated afterwards. They shall and I am sure they will carry their first prize medals with pride and dignity for this memory will be with them for the rest of their lives.
The following week I attended the Pa. Champions Cup match in Hershey, Pa. Our team win the cup but we had no time to celebrate and off we were to St. Louis, Mo. To compete for both the U.S. Open and Amateur Cup. The results UGH winner of the Open Cup and runner up of the Amateur Cup were mentioned in the Progress last month. A fine article about our team was in the North East Times ( the inquirer apparently does not find amateur soccer worthy of writing about even though we all know that to become a Pro, you have to be an amateur first.)
I like to focus on the last game on Sunday (final in the Amateur Cup) After playing 2 games on Friday to qualify for the finals in both cups, Saturday the final in the Open Cup, our team faced their opponent on Sunday in 100 plus degree weather which was consistent the entire weekend. I was astounded in the caliber of play, the team spirit, and its obvious talents displayed in this game by our team. The support they gave each other realizing that only a team effort could bring them through this game. There were situations when a pass was made to a player, you could feel that mentally he was running faster than his body, but alas the 2 extra games we had to play, compared to all other teams, made it’s appearance. This was not fatigue, this was total exhaustion. As the seconds ticked away in the double overtime and the final whistle blew I for one was fortunate and extremely proud to have witnessed one of the finest soccer games ever. Till the very last second our team gave their best to win even though the body said it had enough. One spectator was overheard saying that we, our fans, were complete “a.h.” in the way that we verbally supported our team (no foul language) and finding fault with some of the bad calls the referees made and there were plenty. This all belongs to a soccer game. Let me be an “a.h.” every time I see our team perform the way they did. The most emotional moment came when we applauded our team and the entire team applauded us the fans. A Class Act, I am extremely proud to be associated with our Schuhplattler Group and our Soccer Team and wish them the best in their future.
AW
Andy
EDITOR’S NOTE: this piece was written and originally published in Monthly Progress, Volume 54, No. 9 – September 1999. It has been re-published here in 2025 with minor edits.
Want More?
Find links to all our archived photo albums at our Photo Archive Access
