The Lower Merion Soccer Club is the result of the merger of four small soccer
clubs in Lower Merion Township, those being Gladwyne Sports Association,
Wynnewood Soccer Club, Penn Valley Soccer Club and the
Narberth Athletic Association. The following article describes the events that
led up to the club in it's present day status.
The Gladwyne Sports Association formed their first soccer program in 1968, under the direction
of Mr. John Wynn. John called the township and told them that he would like to get combination
soccer and football goalposts at Gladwyne Playground.
Almost immediately, the soccer goals were up and the program was running.
The first teams in the program were boys
teams, which competed in the Delco Soccer League (which started in 1959). Gladwyne was the
first youth soccer program in Lower Merion Township.
In 1972, Gladwyne soccer added a girls team, also formed under the direction of John Wynn. The boys
program continued to expand as more and
more teams were organized. The girls team also competed in the Delco League (the girls PAGS League
would not form for several years).
The first league
Delco League championship for Gladwyne came in 1974 when their U-19 team
took the Division One League Championship. The U-19 Gladwyne Rams also
reached the fourth round (quarterfinals) of the State Cups.
The leading scorer on Gladwyne was future LMSC President Biff Sturla who would get involved with
the club again in the fall of 1982 as a travel team coach.
Almost ten years after Gladwyne Sports Association started a soccer program,
the Penn Valley Soccer Club was created. Soon after, the Wynnewood Soccer
Club and the Narberth Soccer Club were formed.
With each new age group, it was inevitable that the four clubs would compete
for the best players in the township. Often times, the best players in an
age group would jump from their club to another to be with the best coach.
The four small clubs always seemed to
be filing complaints within the Delco League that the other clubs were
illegally "recruiting" players away from them.
The Delco League offered travel team leagues in the fall at Under 10, 12 and 14,
as well as winter league teams at Under 16 and Under 19. A separate travel
league for girls, the Tri-County League was formed
With soccer growing in the 1970's and more and more youth players getting
involved, the Gladwyne Sports Association formed an intramural program for
boys and girls. Initially, the intramural program was purely co-ed.
In order to increase the number of female participants, the Gladwyne Sports
Association created separate intramural divisions for girls. This became a
small source of controversy as some people thought that it was better for
girls to play with the boys while others thought that separate programs would
be better. The controversy quickly faded as the number of female participants
in the program quickly grew from 10% of the program to 30% of the program.
After years of battle, Gladwyne Directors Ed Hochreiter and Biff
Sturla, along with Penn Valley Directors Dietmar Kohler and Mike
Mandarino, got together and decided it would be in the kids best interest
if their two clubs would merge into one club and combine forces. This seemed
to solve their ongoing feuds of player raiding. The two clubs combined
forces under the name of "Gladwyne-Penn Valley Soccer Association", run
under the banner of the Gladwyne Sports Association. Kohlers son Will first
played in the Penn Valley program in 1985. He would later progress to playing
in the Under 17 World Cup, being named Ivy League Player of the Year and finally
playing professionally.
Two years later, GPVSA officers Sturla and Joe Hopkins (who had moved into the area
after coaching for many years at another club), talked with Wynnewood
President Bruno "Chick" Ceccarelli about combining Gladwyne-Penn Valley with the
Wynnewood Club. The reasoning
was that in addition to minimizing player raiding, one large club would allow
the "top level" players to play 'A' division ball and lesser talented players
to play 'B' divisions. Also by joining forces, a solid intramural program
could be formed since more players would mean more age divisions.
The three finalized the merger early in 1989, deciding to call the new entity
"The Lower Merion Soccer Club". They decided that it was best to run the program
independent of Gladwyne Sports Association since Gladwyne was a multi-sport
club. Having an independent club would allow the program to concentrate
fully on soccer. Ceccarelli was unanimously voted to be President of LMSC and
head up the girls Travel Team Program.
Hopkins would serve as Treasurer and Vice President in charge of the Boys
Travel Team Program while Sturla would be Vice President in charge of the
Intramural Program and Director Of Coaching.
That spring, Hopkins led his Under 10 boys travel team, "The Dragons" to the
Outdoor State Championship, as Trevor Walker scored the lone goal in their
1-0 semifinal win and the lone goal in their 1-0 championship win over Delco
League rival Greater Chester Valley.
Following on the footsteps of the LMSC Dragons, the Under 13 boys team,
the Lower Merion Gorillas, coached
by Sturla, became only the fourth team in the history of the state to win
the Indoor State Cup Championship and Outdoor State Cup Championship in the
same year. The Gorillas allowed only 1 goal in 6 games in the Indoor State
Cups, defeating Northampton 1-0 in the final game on a goal by Hans Davies,
assisted by Jobey Hollinger. Goalie Jon Conway recorded 5 shutout in the
competition. Years later, Conway would be a goaltender for the USA Under
20 National Team.
The Gorillas followed up their Indoor State Cup championship by winning
the Outdoor State Cup which was competed for by 46 of the best teams in the
state. Conway again backed a very stingy defense, recording 5 shutouts in 6 games.
The highlight of the cup was their
1-0 win over two time defending State Champion Fox Chase. In the State Championship
Game against Simpson A.A., Matt Quinn scored the only goal. Captains Adrian Cox,
Jobey Hollinger and Nathan Laver were once again handed a State Championship
trophy. The Gorillas finished the 1990 season by winning the Fall Delco
League's Under 14 Division One Championship. Another Conway shutout, along
with a goal by Davies on an assist by Cox gave the Gorillas the league
championship.
With the popularity of soccer continuing to grow at a rapid pace, LMSC created
the Spring Intramural Program in 1990. The program was geared towards players
ages 5-7, those players who were too young to participate in the Travel Team
Program. It was decided that the Spring Intramural Program would run on
Sundays so as not to conflict with all the youngsters playing baseball
on Saturdays.
Former LMSC player Will Kohler (son of former Penn Valley
Director Dietmar Kohler), made the Under 17 National Team and started every
game for the USA in the Under 17 World Cup over in Europe. Kohler later
became an All American at Harvard University and was drafted by the New York / New
Jersey MetroStars of the Major League Soccer (MLS).
In the fall, the club put out their first newsletter in an attempt to keep
players and their families more in tune with what was happening in the local
soccer community. Later, starting in 1993, the club would send out a
newsletter three times a year (March, June and November).
In an attempt to better communication with the public, LMSC secures the services
of a telephone hotline (215-953-8060). The club would leave pre-recorded messages on the hotline
regarding relavent information and also allow people to leave messages. One of
the biggest benefits of having a hotline was enabling the club to record messages
about whether fields were closed and games canceled due to weather related issues.
Later, starting on January 1, 1995, when the telephone company area split the 215 area code into two
by adding the 610 area code, there was a bit of confusion as the hotline continued to be a 215 area code.
Four years after Joe Hopkins led the LMSC Dragons to the Under 10 State
Championship, he led another team to a State Championship as his Under 17
boys team, the LMSC "Psychos" took the Indoor State Championship. The team
was led by the excellent goal scoring of Jon Hanks and Eric Hopkins. In the
final, the Psychos defeated Danubia from Philadelphia 2-1 on goals by Hanks
and Hopkins.
Also in 1993, LMSC added a "Special Needs Program" for youngsters who had
physical limitations that prevented them from competing successfully with
other children. The program was founded by Susan Reynolds whose daughter suffered
from Cerebral Palsy. The program was a great success in its initial year
and continues to run every fall.
The following year, saw the club's first success in the Girls Travel Team
Program as the Under 11 LMSC Firebirds, coached by Lance Laver, were
runners-up in both the Indoor State Cup and the Outdoor State Cup. Both cups
went to a very powerful Council Rock team.
The Outdoor State Cup game was a thriller. Council Rock was holding on to
a 1-0 lead late in the when Claire Laver ripped a 25 yard left footed rocket
into the net to tie the score. The game went into overtime, both teams
having great chances but only Council Rock could score.
Despite the loss, the Firebirds became the flagship team for the Girls
Travel Team Program.
Also in 1994, the Under 11 boys, the LMSC Lunatics,
coached by Sturla, took second in the Indoor
State Cups but rebounded to win the Outdoor State Cups. The semifinal was
a hard fought 2-1 win with Matt Skipper scoring the winner with only three
minutes left in regulation on a great pass from Richard "Fuzzy" Zeller.
The State Championship game was probably the greatest game ever played by
a Lower Merion team as the Lunatics defeated Hulmeville 6-0. Bernard
Horshaw scored two first half goals and Zeller added a third in the first
half. It was estimated that midfielder Adam Chesbrough ran 15 miles in
the game, helping goalie David Hanlon earn the shutout.
The Fall Intramural Program expanded in 1994 to include 12 year olds. Previously,
the oldest players were 11 year olds.
The Majors Division was created for 11 and 12 year old boys while the
Cosmos Division was created for 11 and 12 year old girls. Previously, the
oldest divisions were for 10 year olds. In 1995, these two divisions
would expand to include 13 year olds.
The Delco Soccer League honored two long time LMSC people by inducting Ed
Hochreiter and Bruno "Chick" Ceccarelli into their Hall Of Fame. Hochreiter
was active for many years running the Gladwyne Program while Ceccarelli was
active for many years running the Wynnewood Program. Ceccarelli also served
as LMSC's first President after the four smaller clubs merged to create LMSC.
Hopkins earned his third State Championship with LMSC in 1995 as his Under
16 boys team won the Indoor State Championship. His son Justin netted the
State Championship goal in sudden death overtime to defeat York United.
Also, coming into being in 1995 was the Adult Women's Program. This program,
founded by Karin Sturla and Nancy Worby, was designed to give adult women
a chance to play soccer. Many of the players were mother of players who
stood on the sidelines hundreds of times watching their children play.
Known as the LMSC Moonlight Ladies, the team plays outdoors in the fall and
spring, separated by an indoor season. The team regularly schedules games
against other similar programs, plays in a league in Northeast Philadelphia
and occasionally enters women's soccer tournaments.
The 1995 Fall Intramural Program set a new record with 1557 participants.
This was the seventh straight year that the program increased in size.
Enrollment in previous years was: 382 (1988), 440 (1989), 578 (1990), 749 (1991),
790 (1992), 1077 (1993) and 1350 (1994).
Sports Rink indoor soccer made its debut in January. The program, founded by
Haverford School varsity head coach Kevin Seits ran in the Parker Gymnasium
of The Haverford School. A portable set of PVC boards, structured like ice hockey
boards was used. Seits and LMSC Vice President Biff Sturla ran the two month
program in January and February. The program provided indoor soccer for over
450 children, mostly LMSC players ages 6-10. Sports Rink also ran 14 indoor soccer
tournaments for various travel team ages.
In 1996, Hopkins led yet another team to a State Championship as
his Under 11 "Derelicts" won the Indoor State Championship in their first
ever State Cup. Goalie Robert Machnicki recorded a shutout in every game,
including the 4-0 final over Nether Providence. Playing standout soccer
for the Derelicts was Jared Kahn, Ryan Kelly and Ryan Westman.
With the Internet becoming more and more widely used in the world, LMSC created
their own web site and got their own e-mail address. The original web page
address was www.netreach.net/~lmsc and the original e-mail address was
lmsc@netreach.net .
The United States Soccer Federation mandated that all Under 9 and Under 10
leagues switch from playing full sided 11v11 soccer to playing small sided
8v8 soccer. The girls Tri-County League had already been pro-active and
played 8v8 during the fall 1995 season for Under 9 teams. The 1996 season
saw all U-9 and U-10 teams, both boys teams and girls teams, play 8v8.
Our youngest intramural divisions, the Atoms (5 year old boys) and the Neutrons
(5 year old girls) were run by Jim Van Dusen for the third straight fall season.
Helping him in 1996 was Michael Marks, a former player in the Wynnewood program.
This would be the first of well over a dozen years for Michael as a coach in
LMSC. Michael would take over the running of the Atoms and Neutrons Divisions
the following year, heading up our youngest divisions in both the fall and the spring.
With the growth of the club, LMSC added two more Officers in 1996 to help the
program run properly. Nancy Worby joined the Board, helping to run
the Girls Travel Team Program. Allan Greaves, a former player
in the Gladwyne Sports Association, also joined the Board, helping to run
the boys Travel Team Program.
LMSC took over operations for Sports Rink Indoor Soccer. LMSC paid a rental fee
to Sports Rink owner Kevin Seits in exchange for the use of the Parker Gymnasium
at The Haverford School and the
facility. Sports Rink provides indoor soccer league for over 500 children ages 6-10
on the weekends in January and February. Sports
Rink also runs 14 indoor soccer tournaments for travel teams each year.
Also in 1997, LMSC acquired the Philadelphia Freedom Professional Soccer Team
which competes in the D3 Pro League in the USISL. Joe Hopkins became the
President of the Freedom and Biff Sturla became the General Manager. Also
on the Board Of Directors is Bruno Ceccarelli whose son Justin was a player
on the Freedom for several years before joining the Cape Cod Crusaders, another
team in the USISL, in 1995.
LMSC also took over control of the Philadelphia Frenzy, the women's team which
competes in the W-League of the USISL.
Four former LMSC were playing professional soccer in 1997. Will Kohler was playing
for the New York / New Jersey Metrostars of MLS, our country's top professional league.
Justin Ceccarelli was playing with the Worcester Wildfire of the 'A' League (our country's
second division professional league) while
Richard Wilmot was playing with the Reading Rage and Allan Greaves was playing with the
Philadelphia Freedom, both of the USISL (our country's third division pro league).
For the eighth straight year, LMSC sent the boys Under 8 Developmental Team to
compete in Hulmeville Soccer Club Under 8 tournament. For the first time ever, LMSC came home with the championship
trophy. The championship LMSC Red team was led by Alex Gushner, Ryan Goldman, Nikhil Gregg,
Benny Schwartz, Reid Whelan and goalies Nick Wilson and Rich Hoffman. Hulmeville also offered an Under 8 girls
tournament for the first time ever, which LMSC participated in.
LMSC Director Biff Sturla, head coach for the Conestoga High School Boys Varsity, was
named Central League Coach Of The Year.
The Travel Team Program continued to grow. Tryouts for the Under 10 boys teams saw 108
kids tryout. Because of this, an unprecedented EIGHT teams were formed
in this division. This was by far the most teams ever entered in a single age
group by any club in the history of the Delco League.
One of the reasons for this success was the continued effort by the club to
help educate the coaches so that we would not only have a sufficient
number of coaches, but a sufficient number of high quality coaches.
The LMSC Rebels, our Under 9 'B' boys team coached by George Moore, became the first LMSC 'B' team ever to compete in Delco
League's extremely tough first division. Thanks to George's great leadership, the Rebels finished a very respectable 3-4-2.
Due to the large demand for soccer in the spring, LMSC expanded the Spring Intramural Program to include older children.
The boys Seniors Division and girls Electrons Division (ages 9 and 10) were added to the spring program lineup which was previously
limited to children ages 5-8. The Spring Program grew by 160 players, reaching the 600 mark for participation.
In the fall season, LMSC had their four youngest boys 'A' travel teams
(Under 9 through Under 12) reach the championship game in the Delco
League Division One playoffs.
Several new people became officers in LMSC. After 10 years of excellent, well appreciated service to LMSC,
Hopkins stepped down from LMSC as an officer. Marty Rubenstein replaced Hopkins on the LMSC Board Of Directors
Bryan Richardson took over for Hopkins as Treasurer.
Dan Sutton was also named as a Director. Dan has served as a Division Commissioner in the
intramural program and head coach in the Travel Team Program.
Dan also was named to the new position of Travel Team Registrar.
The Adult Women's Program (a.k.a. The Moonlight Ladies) were crowned champions of the
Adult Women's League at Rocket Sports, defeating Swarthmore 5-0 in the finals.
With the growing demand for women's soccer, a new outdoor league was formed. The founder and first president of
the new Tri-County Women's League was LMSC's Karin Sturla. The 1998 spring season was the first for
the new league. The Moonlight Ladies entered two teams in the league. Other clubs represented
in the league were Downingtown (two teams), King Of Prussia (two teams) and Nether Providence (one team).
The 1998 fall season saw the United States Soccer Federation require all coaches (travel and intramural) to submit to
criminal background checks in order to help ensure the safety of all youth players in the country.
LMSC instituted a new program of offering all travel team goalkeepers specialized goalkeeper training. The training was offered
was a week and was designed to teach goalkeepers the proper techniques and tactics of the position in order to minimize the
possibility of injury.
Steve Spencer replaced Susan Reynolds as the head of the Special Needs Program which continues to grow each year. The program
offers about 25-30 children a chance to play soccer, who otherwise would probably not be able to participate.
The 1999 season started off well as the Boys Under 12 team, the Delinquents, coached by Dan
Grauman, took 2nd place in the Indoor State Cups. The Boys Under 11 team, the Lasers, coached
by Marty Rubenstein and Gary Smolen, reached the semifinals of the Indoor State Cups in their first ever cup competition.
After 23 of service to the program, Chick Ceccarelli retired from LMSC. He was replaced on the LMSC
Board Of Directors by Noah Gorson, one of LMSC's girls travel team coaches. The three person
Board Of Directors now consisted of Biff Sturla, Marty Rubenstein and Noah Gorson.
Harold Goldner became the newest LMSC Officer, taking over as head of the Boys Travel Team Program.
Former LMSC player Suzie Grech was selected as a goalkeeper for Spain's Under 18 Women's National Team. Grech, the daughter of
long time LMSC coach Jo Grech, holds dual citizenship. She also served as the intramural referee assignor for many years. Grech
would later play goalie at the University of Michigan and then go on to coach at the college level.
Todd Herman made history in the club when we was selected for the Under 12 'A' travel team. Todd had moved up steadily
through the ranks at LMSC, playing on the 'D' team at Under 9, the 'C' team at Under 10 and the 'B' team at Under 11, before
making the top team in 2002. Also making significant progress was goalkeeper Drew Kotler who moved from the Under 10 'C' team
up to the Under 11 'A' team. Several years later, Kotler would be selected for the Under 16 National team pool.
The Spring Intramural Program grew from 635 participants to a staggering 803 participants. Many
other players had to be turned away due to the limited field space that the program has access to.
The girls Protons Division (7 and 8 year olds) more than doubled from the previous spring.
The Fall Intramural Program also reached new participation records with 1767 kids playing. The Travel Team
Program had a very successful year, a total of 5 boys teams and 4 girls teams won League Championships. The highlight
of this feat was the crowning of the Under 9 Hammerheads as Division One champions. The Hammerheads went 12-0-0,
outscoring their opponents 56-4, enroute to being the first LMSC team since 1996 to win a Division One championship.
The Under 8 Developmental Travel Team won the Hulmeville Under 8 Tournament for the second year in a row. The two LMSC teams
combined for a record of 6-0-1.
In its fourth year of operation, Sports Rink Indoor Soccer had a very successful year in early 1999. Unfortunately, that summer,
The Haverford School began a huge renovation effort that would see Parker Gymnasium torn down. 1999 would be the last year for
Sports Rink Indoor Soccer. In September, LMSC President Biff Sturla left his job at Lockheed Martin to become a manager at
Rocket Sports in Wayne. Rocket Sports has two indoor rinks, each much larger than Sports Rink's playing area and each
with an artificial turf playing surface. Many LMSC wound up playing in the Rocket Sports House League starting in the
1999-2000 winter.
The 2000 season saw a record number of participants in the Spring Intramural Program as a total
of 935 players ages 5-10 signed up to play.
In the Indoor State Cups, LMSC saw two boys teams reach the semifinals, the Under 11 Rovers
and the Under 15 United team. Both teams were coached by long time LMSC coach Allan Greaves,
a former player in the program.
Also in the winter, the Under 9 Boys team, the LMSC Hammerheads, won both indoor soccer leagues
playing 'up' a year. They also won two outdoor tournaments and placed second in another while
playing up a year in Under 10 tournaments.
With the Internet becoming a way of life for most people, LMSC acquired their own domain name.
The club web page address became www.lmsc.net (it was formerly www.netreach.net/~lmsc). The club
also changed hotline numbers to 610-527-3940.
In Outdoor State Cup action, the Girls Under 12 'A' team, the LMSC Warriors, got to the State Cup
Championship game before falling to Back Mountain (Wilkes Barre), 3-1 in the final. The
Warriors had a 1-0 lead at halftime and hit the goalpost twice on other shots but bad luck in
the second half kept them from becoming state champions. The Warriors were coached by Rich
Schwab and D.J. Jones.
In the fall season, the Under 10 'A' boys team, the Hammerheads, completed their second perfect
season in Delco League action, going 13-0-0, scoring 54 goals and allowing only 6. This gave
them a two year record of 25-0-0 in Delco League action.
LMSC also created the "Rachel Savett Memorial Scholarship Fund" to honor one of our club's
fearless soccer players who died from a severe reaction to a food allergy. This Scholarship
Fund will be awarded annually to a former LMSC player, referee or field crew person who is
currently in college.
Former LMSC player Ben Olsen represented the United States in the summer Olympics as he started
for the Men's National Team in the Olympics. Olsen signed with D.C. United of MLS, our country's
top professional team. Long time LMSC goalkeeper (and teammate of Olsen at LMSC), Jon Conway was
drafted by the San Jose Earthquake of MLS. Conway had been a second team All-American selection the previous
fall at Rutgers University. Another former teammate
of theirs while at LMSC, Nick Harmelin, would join the San Jose Earthquake's marketing department.
Both Olsen and Conway would still be in MLS in 2008 and Harmelin would still be working in MLS.
LMSC had it's best ever showing in the Indoor State Cups in 2001 as four LMSC teams reached the
semi-final round of their competition. The highlight of the Cups was the Under 13A boys, the
LMSC Ocled, who were crowned Indoor State Cup champions. The Ocled went 5-0-1 enroute to winning
the 28 team tournament, defeating F.C. Bucks 1-0 in the championship game on a goal by Chris DiLullo.
Our LMSC U-11A girls, the Fireballs, took 2nd place in their competition while the LMSC Rovers,
our U-12A boys, and the LMSC Rage, our U-12A boys, each reached the semifinals of their
competition.
In the fall of 2001, LMSC introduced the new "Pee-Wees" program for four year olds. In it's
first year of operation, the Pee-Wee program had over 200 participants.
The Boys Travel Team Program had two teams win Division 1 championships. The LMSC Vélez,
coached by Miguel Nuila, won the U-10 Division 1 championship with a 5-1 win over T/E. The
Vélez went 12-0-1 during the fall.
After the terrorist attacks on our country on September 11, 2001, LMSC donated 50 cents per player
(a total of $1400) to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The club also made a $150
donation to a scholarship fund for the children of a coach in New York who died that day. Long time
LMSC coach Bob Overhiser was inside of the World Trade Center when the planes struck the buildings.
Fortunatly, despite being on the 61st floor of the South Tower (the first to be hit),
Bob was able to get out of the building unharmed. Bob later wrote a very interesting article for our
2001-2002 Winter Newsletter (page 18).
The Delco League's Under 12 Division 1 championship game saw two LMSC teams play each other.
The U-11 Hammerheads, playing up a year, faced the U-12A Disasters. This was first time ever
in Delco League history that two teams from the same club played each other for a Division One
championship. The game went into overtime with the Hammerheads finally winning 2-1. The
Hammerheads were the first team in 10 years to win a Division One championship playing up a
year. They finished the season ranked #1 in the nation. Two members of the team, Danny DiLullo and
Alec Weiss, made the EPYSA Olympic Development Program playing up a year.
The Boys Under 11 Indoor State Cups saw not one, but two LMSC teams reach the semifinals. The
Hammerheads won the Indoor State Cups, going 6-0-0 and defeating Spirit United 6-2 in the
championship game. Our 'B' team, the LMSC Spider Monkeys (coached by Tom Pillion and Miguel
Nuila) also won their bracket and their quarterfinal game, before losing to Spirit in the
semifinals. The Spider Monkeys became the first 'B' team to ever place in a State Cup
competition.
In Outdoor State Cup competition, the Lower Merion Hammerheads were crowned Under 11 State
Cup Champions, becoming the first LMSC team since 1990 to win both the Indoor State Cup and
Outdoor State Cup in the same year. Sincer their inception at Under 9, the Hammerheads won
62 straight games against teams their own age before losing to the Richmond Strikers a week
after winning the state cup.
The LMSC Natural Disasters reached the Under 12 Boys
State Cup semifinals, while the LMSC Ocled reached the semifinals of the Boys Under 14
State Cup competition. This was the first time that LMSC had three teams reach the semifinals
of the State Cups.
At the conclusion to travel team tryouts, Alex Cope became the second player in club history
to move from a 'D' team to an 'A' team. At Under 9, Alex was selected for the 'D' team. The next
year, at U-10, Alex was selected for the 'C' team but was moved up to the 'B' team at the end
of the fall season. At Under 11, Alex was selected for the age group's 'A' team, LMSC Velez
After four years as a Director, Noah Gorson stepped down from his position at LMSC. He was
replaced by Jay Dubow on the club's list of Directors.
The number of girls in attendance at the Under 10 tryouts was so high that LMSC formed it's
first ever 'D' girls travel team. The number of girls participating in LMSC continued to
grow. 45% of the participants in 2002 were female.
The 2002 Fall Intramural Program set a new record with 1834 participants. The fall program
saw a lot of major program format changes, as recommended by
the United States Soccer Federation. Our 4 and 5 year old divisions switched to playing 4 vs. 4
with no goalies on smaller fields. Smaller Pugg goals were used in place of regular goals. This
change eliminated the stress of young players playing goalie and increased the number of goals
scored, making for more smiling face.
Our 6-8 year old divisions switched to playing two
simultaneous games of 4 vs. 4 with goalies. Previously, teams of this age played 7 vs. 7.
These format changes were made to enable all
players to be more involved in the play and get many more touches on the ball each game,
leading to faster skill development.
Former LMSC player Justin Ceccarelli returned to the area and took over the Pee-Wees program.
Ceccarelli had been playing professionally for the Worecester Wildfire (second division) for
five years. Ceccarelli is the son of long time LMSC President Chick Ceccarelli.
Two LMSC teams were crowned Indoor State Cup Champions. The LMSC Vélez, coached by Miguel
Nuila, won the Under 11 Indoor State Cups. The Under 12 Hammerheads, coached by Biff Sturla,
won the Under 12 Indoor State Cup. This was the second straight indoor state cup
championship for the Hammerheads.
The Hammerheads became the first LMSC ever to win back to back outdoor State Cup championships
as they defeated Lower Dauphin 3-0 to win the State Cup for the second straight year. The
Hammerheads won the Region One Championships, which is contested by the State
Champions from Maine through West Virginia. The Hammerheads posted shutout victories in
their final four games of the Region One Championships, which were held in Providence,
Rhode Island.
Female participation in the Spring Intramural Program reached an all time high as 48% of the
players who registered were girls. At the conclusion of tryouts, two of the girls age groups
had enough players for 'D' teams.
Matt Piltch became the third LMSC player to move from a 'D' team up to an 'A' team. Matt tried
out for the travel team program at Under 11 and did not make a team. He made the 'D' team at
Under 12, then the 'B' team at Under 13 and finally made the U-14A team.
With almost every family having Internet access, LMSC no longer posted printouts of intramural
team assignments on the front windows of Sneaky Pete's Discount Sneakers. Team assignments and
schedules were now found exclusively on the Internet. The posting of team assignments on the
Sneaky Pete's windows had been doing for the past 15 years.
Due to the start of massive renovations to many of the public schools in the township, field
space would be very tight. The school district informed us that this problem would last for
as many as eight years. To make matters worse, a tornado touched down on South Ardmore Playground
during the winter season, destroying trees and leaving the fields unplayable for over a week.
LMSC organized several travel teams to come to the park one afternoon and remove all the broken
tree branches from the field so that the fields could be used again.
In the fall season, LMSC had a record five top division league champions. Winning the Delco
League's top division were the U-9A Cannibals, the U-11A Roadkill and the U-12A Vélez while
the U-10A Bocas lost their championship game in overtime. On the girls side, the U-12A
Chili Peppers won the top flight in their age group while the U-9A Heart finished with a
perfect 10-0-0 record in division one play. The Heart's coach, Casey Ichniowski, became the
first two time winner of the LMSC Coach Of The Year Award.
Long time Associate Director Harold Goldner retired after many years of valuable service. Harold
was an officer in the club for five years. He was our Boys Travel Team Coordinator for many years,
before handing this off to Jay Dubow. Nikki Posillico became a club officer in 2003 and became
the club treasurer and bookkeeper.
The Vélez repeated as indoor state champions while the U-11A Roadkill took second place in
their age group. The newly formed Leagues United Indoor Cups made their debut with the U-9A
Cannibals defeating CASA (Harrisburg) in the Cup final of their age group. The Roadkill also
took first place in their age group. The Vélez also won the prestigious Jefferson Cup in
March. This tournament, played in Richmond, Virginia, is considered the Premier Tournament
of Eastern United States.
In the EPYSA Outdoor State Cups, the Roadkill won the U-11 boys age group while the Vélez
won the U-12 boys age group. The Vélez became the second LMSC team in two years to qualify
for the Regional championships. The U-13A Arsenal dropped a 2-1 decision in their EPYSA
State Cup final to the FC Delco Hammerheads. The Hammerheads team originated in LMSC. The
Under 13 State Championship game was thus comprised of two local teams. On the girls side,
the U-12 Chili Peppers lost their semifinal state cup game in overtime.
In addition to winning the state cup, the Vélez also won the very prestigious Jefferson Cup
(Richmond) and the FC Delco Players Cup (Downingtown), two of the toughest tournaments on
the east coast. The Vélez won their bracket at Regionals and advanced to the semifinals before
losing a tough game to the Virginia state champions.
LMSC created a new program, the LMSC Summer Soccer Program, for travel team players U-8
through U-11 who wanted to get additional training during the summer months. The program
was run by Nikki Posillico who oversaw a staff of several high level soccer coaches.
In the summer, long time LMSC coach Danielle Fagan took a group of 18 LMSC girls over to
Sweden to compete in the Gothia Cup, one of the largest tournaments in the world. A total of
1525 teams, ages U-11 through U-19. A total of 61 countries were represented and a total of
32,110 players participated. There were 4320 games played over a 7 day period. The team, known
as FC Liberty, spent several days training in Denmark. The team reached the quarterfinals
before losing to a team from California. For more information on the Gothia Cup, visit their
website at www.gothiacup.se.
In the fall, the Lower Merion Nimrods won the Under 9 Delco League division one championship,
finishing with a perfect 11-0-0 record. Their opponent in the championship game was none other
than the Lower Merion Mini-Madrid, our U-9B team, making for an all LMSC Delco League division
one championship game. The Nimrods won the hard fought game 2-0 on goals by Michael Diehl
and Sammy Ramadane.
The Under 10 LMSC Cannibals captured their second straight division
one league championship, going a perfect 13-0-0.
On the girls side, the U-10A Heart had their second consecutive
undefeated season enroute to another league championship.
Tom Gallagher joined the coaching staff, helping long time LMSC veteran Michael Mark to run the
five year old divisions. Gallagher would help continue to coach those age groups in both the
fall program and the spring program for many years.
In 2005, the Lower Merion Pink Panthers (boys U-11A team) won an unprecedented three indoor state
cups as they won the EPYSA U-11 indoor state cup, the Leagues United U-11 indoor state cup and the
EPYSA U-12 'B' flight indoor state cup. The LMSC Roadkill (boys U-12A team) also won their EPYSA
indoor state cup. The Roadkill became the second LMSC boys team to ever compete in the Dallas Cup,
considered to be the toughest tournament in the country.
In the fall season, the Under 11A Lower Merion Cannibals won their third straight Delco Soccer League division
one championship. The LMSC Lightning won the Delco League Under 9 division one championship in
their first year of play.
Former LMSC player Justin Ceccarelli was named LMSC's newest officer. Justin is the son of former
LMSC President Bruno Ceccarelli. Justin has run the PeeWees program in the fall for many years and
was given the responsibility of running all LMSC four and five year old programs.
Two LMSC boys teams reached the state cup finals. The LMSC Vélez, our U-13A boys team were state champions
in 2004 but were unable to make it two in a row, losing 1-0 to the YMS Xplosion in the state final. The
LMSC Arsenal reached the state finals for a second year and again dropped a one goal decision to former
LMSC team, the FC Delco Hammerheads.
Another former LMSC travel team player returned to coach in the club. Ted Domers was a member of the 1994
LMSC Lunatics who won the U-11 state championship (Domers scored in the championship game). Ted returned
to coach in the club in 2005.
The U-11A LMSC Cannibals won their third consecutive Delco League division 1 championship, becoming only
the second LMSC team to win three straight division one league championships. (The Hammerheads won first
division league titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002).
The Lower Merion Heart became the first LMSC girls team to win an EPYSA state championship as they won
the Under 11 EPYSA Indoor State Cups. Congratulations to head coach Casey Ichniowski and the Heart.
The LMSC Cannibals, our U-11A boys team, won the top flight of the Jefferson Cup in Richmond, Virginia.
The Jefferson Cup is ranked as the third toughest tournament in the United States.
The Under 12A Pink Panthers became the third LMSC team in three years to compete in the Dallas Cup.
In outdoor state cup play, LMSC had four teams reach the state cup semifinals and one reach the state cup finals.
LMSC instituted a new program in 2006, the Under 8 Developmental Travel Team Academy. This program was designed
to give the club's top seven year olds a chance to work with a high level coaching staff and spend a year
preparing for the travel team program. The staff for the Under 8 program consisted of no parents of players.
Unlike the previous U-8 Developmental Progam, the Academy schedules tryouts in June. Players making the team
play in the Academy Program in the fall, instead of the Fall Intramural Program.
Ben Olsen became the first LMSC alum to play in the World Cup as he represented the USA in Germany. Olsen played in
the third game for the USA, against Ghana. Olsen also represented the USA in the 2000 Sydney, Australia Olympic games.
On August 29, 2006, LMSC was officially granted 501 (c) 3 status by the Internal Revenue Service. With this status,
LMSC can now accept contributions and donations that are tax deductible to the donor.
The Cannibals became the first team in club history to win four consecutive Delco League top division championships
when they won the Under 12 age group in the fall. The LMSC Cannibals won the Delco League every year in their team history,
Under 9 through Under 12. During that four year span, the team went 43-1-2.
The LMSC Heart (U-12A girls) won their third PAGS League top division championship in their four year history.
The Harriton High School Boys Varsity soccer team was crowned District One Champions (AA flight). Almost all of
their players were current or past LMSC players.
Grant Myers was named the newest club officer and took over as the club's Travel Team Coordinator. Grant also took
over as the head of the club's Summer Travel Team Program.
The LMSC Cannibals become the fourth team in four teams to play in the Dallas Cup, considered to be the toughest
tournament in the country. The team reached the quarterfinals before losing to Guadalajara Chivas (Mexico). The
Cannibals also played teams from Houston, Florida and Southern California.
Adrian Cox became the first person in club history to win a state championship as both a player and a coach as
he led his Under 10 boys Lightning team to the EPYSA State Cup championship. Adrian was also a member of the
Under 13 LMSC Gorillas who won the state championship in 1990. The Lightning defeated Warrington 3-0 in the semifinals,
then defeated the Ukranian Nationals 4-0 in the state championship game.
LMSC President Biff Sturla was honored by the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association as the Coach Of The Year
for 2006. Sturla was also honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) as their Regional
Coach Of The Year and was a finalist for their National Coach Of The Year Award.
Thanks to an anonymous donor from within LMSC, a generous college scholarship program was created. The program was
setup so that two current or former LMSC people (players, referees or field crew workers) who would be entering college
in the fall, would each receive a $2500 scholarship to help the their freshman year expenses. It is hoped that this
generous scholarship will become an annual event. Our thanks to our anonymous donor for this great gift.
The Lower Merion High School Boys Varsity soccer team was crowned District One Champions (AAA flight). All of their
starters were current or past LMSC players.
Five former LMSC players (now with the FC Delco club) were invited to the Reegional ODP and National Teams.
Max Kurtzman and Jimmy McLaughlin of the FC Delco Roadkill (formerly LMSC Roadkill) made the U-14 National Team
pool. Harrison Kendall and Matt Pontecorvo of the FC Delco Pink Panthers made the U-14 Regioanl pool with Kendall
getting an opportunity to train with the national pool. Long time LMSC player David Dubow made the Under 16 Regional
team and played in a tournament in Argentina.
LMSC changed their e-mail address to soccer@lmsc.net (originally it was lmsc@netreach.net).
In the fall season, LMSC had three teams win top flight division championships. The trio of teams was led by the
LMSC Heart (U-13A girls) who won their second consecutive top division league championship as well as their fourth
championship in their five year history. During their five year history, the Heart are 38-5-8 in the PAGS League's
top division. The Heart are coached by Casey Ichniowski.
Also claiming top division
championships were the LMSC Rat Pack (Grant Myers, head coach) who won the Under 9 Delco League championship
in their first year of league play as well as the LMSC Magic (Mark Weinmann, head coach), our Under 10A boys team.
Miguel Nuila became the second coach in LMSC history to be a two time winner of the LMSC Coach Of The Year Award.
Nuila previously won the award in 1999. The other two time recipient of the award is Casey Ichniowski, head coach
for the LMSC Heart.
The LMSC Gorillas held a huge reunion in late December with almost all
players attending along with many of their parents. The players, now 30 years of age came from all over the USA.
The Reunion was held at the Boathouse in Conshohocken, followed by a reunion indoor game three days later. In 1990,
the Gorillas became the first LMSC team to win the indoor and outdoor state championship in the same year.
The LMSC Rat Pack, our Under 9A boys travel team, won the Indoor State Cups, making 2008 the eighth year in a row
that LMSC has had at least one team win an EPYSA State Championship (indoor or outdoor).
The LMSC Heart, our Under 13A girls travel team, took second place in the Indoor State Cups, playing up
a year in the Under 14 age group. The Heart were unable to play in their age group due to a team conflict
so they played up a year and still took 2nd place.
The Spring Intramural Program saw a record high number of participants, topping the 1000 mark for the first time ever.
The total of 1034 players was significant in that it was over 50% female.
The LMSC Vélez, our Under 16 boys travel team, won the Region One Premier League. This league is comprised
of the top 16 teams in Region One which extends from Maine through West Virginia. The Vélez are coached
by Miguel Nuila.
In outdoor state cup competition, LMSC had three teams win state championships, the most in club history.
Winning state championships were the LMSC Magic (Under 10 boys, coach Mark Weinmann), LMSC Heart (Under 13 girls,
coach Casey Ichniowski) and LMSC Vélez (Under 16 boys, coach Miguel Nuila).
Also reaching the state cup finals were the LMSC Rat Pack (Under 9 boys, coach Grant Myers) while the LMSC
Fightin' Freedom (Under 11 girls, coach Danielle Fagan) reached the semifinals and the LMSC Lightning (Under 11
boys, coach Adrian Cox) reached the quarterfinals of their state cups.
At Regionals, the LMSC Vélez defeated Seacoast Costal (Maine State Champions) in the finals and advanced to Nationals.
The Vélez went undefeated in their five games at Regionals and became the first LMSC team ever to advance to Nationals,
held in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The LMSC Heart went 2-0-1 at Regionals but did not advance to the semifinals. Their tie was to New Jersey State Champions,
PDA. The Heart were winning 1-0 when PDA tied the score with only 10 seconds left in the game. Had the Heart won that game,
they would have advanced to the semifinals.
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