Volunteers, parents and athletes woke up to a 35 degree day for the 15th Annual New Hyde Park Wildcats TOP Soccer tournament on Saturday, Oct. 13
No one seemed to mind the cold and once the sun came out around 7:30 am, it was a gorgeous soccer day.
Over 150 athletes participated in the tournament with 45 players from New Hyde Park.
Other clubs that attended the tournament were Garden City, Rockville Centre, Sachem, Commack, Smithtown, HBC, Hauppauge West Hempstead, and Plainview Old Bethpage.
The New Hyde Park athletes had some tough competition but held their own throughout the day.
The Seniors were coached by Danny Naso and Matt Bletsch. Samantha Duggan, Stefani Egre, James Fahey, Sebastian Garcia, David Glass, Mary Glass, Sebastian Gonzalez, Charlie Hinz, Samuel Ho, Nicolas Marangoudakis, Andrea Matteo, Billy Russo, Matt Saraiva, Patrick Williams, Tristan Yang, and Jefferson Yen played their usual game of teamwork, passing the ball, and showing good sportsmanship throughout their matches.
The Intermediates consisted of Chris Cooney, Kyle Hanratty, Annaliese and Ashlyn Jurena, Demetri and Sederi Georgedakis, Josh Hom, Sophocles Gianakis, Frank LaPinta, Alex Laroia, Matthew Lausev, Christopher Menendez, Lucas Mitacchione, and Sebastian Pinto. The Wildcats played against strong teams but the intermediates were able to put some balls into the back of the net and everyone showed excellent defense. Coach Maiken Bursig was very proud of the performance of all her players at the tournament.
The Juniors had some back and forth games but Jhaisyn Almanzar, John Bertuccio, David Cheung, Brando and Brian Cisneros, Ariel and Samuel Huang, Desmond O’Callaghan ,Luke Schwartz, Brian Lawrence, Daniel Menedez, James and Jesse Sarro really showed off their improved soccer skills and had fantastic defensive plays. The athletes were unbelievable, taking offensive runs down the field which resulted in many well placed goals. Their coach, Katie Bletsch, kept the team together and they played some great soccer.
After the athletes left the field, they all were given medals for their participation in the tournament. I would like to thank all the people behind the scenes, without whom we would not be able to hold this tournament every year. The athletes had their fill of hot dogs which were deliciously prepared by Eileen Stevens and Brenda Bletsch. Thanks to my field marshalls Rich Bletsch, Brian Evers and Kevin Oster.
A week before the tournament, our field committee, Sean McGognicle, Jay Abberton, Dave Gilroy, Brian Evers and Rich Bursig, spent four afternoons setting up and lining the fields. The rain, dark and cold did not stop these men from their appointed job of getting the fields ready for the tournament.
The day of the tournament, before the sun even rose, Dawn Ward was there with the nets along with Mike Horan, Rich Bursig, Brian Evers, Kevin Oster, and Danny Naso who setup the goals for six fields. Thanks to our refs John and Kyle Tripptree and the NHP Memorial High School Key Club who refereed games, were buddies to the athletes, and helped with the food and awards.
The New Hyde Park Wildcats are very fortunate to have Matt and Jessica Bletsch, Katie Bletsch, the Ferrante Family, the Abberton Family, the Marrano Family, the Horan Family, the Choy Family, the Rodgers family, the Bursig Family, Neil Duggan, Lucas Reddock, Tessie Waldron, Eileen Stevens, Kevin Oster, Rich and Brenda Bletsch and Brian Evers who are always there for the athletes and keep this tournament running.
Once again, thank you to all of the above and those I may have left out. We like to acknowledge a special thank you to the New Hyde Park Wildcats Soccer Club who funds the tournament. Without the support of the club, we wouldn’t be able to hold this tournament yearly.
I am personally very grateful for all our volunteers who are such caring people and are willing to take the time to give back to the community. Congratulations to all the athletes on a successful tournament!
