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| Anderson Monarchs Crowned At Golden Goal |
This summer, Philadelphia’s Anderson Monarchs Girls Soccer Club scraped together enough funds to send two teams to Golden Goal Soccer Tournament Park in Lake George, New York. Dozens of street corner fundraisers, a partial scholarship and a few small grants were patched together to pay the tournament fee, rent a 15 passenger van and pay for the fuel to get there. All the hard work paid off: both teams returned a week later with new hardware: the championship trophy in the U11 division and the runner trophy in the U13 age group. More importantly, these city girls returned with experiences they will remember for a lifetime. The Monarchs are an inner city soccer club that competes in the Philadelphia Area Girls soccer League. The club is based in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia and is thought to be the only African American female travel soccer club in America.
Golden Goal Tournament Park has just completed its second summer of tournament competition. It is soccer heaven. Teams from all over the United States descend on Lake George, New York for six day, eight game soccer tournaments held throughout the summer. Athletes live with their teammates in an Olympic Style Athlete’s Village nestled on a hill overlooking the facility’s fantastic turf fields. With breathtaking mountains in the background, and under the watchful eye of a few puzzled deer, the event began on Saturday with all teams parading into the championship stadium for opening ceremonies and skills competitions. After a spirited skills competition, game balls were dramatically delivered by a pair of precise skydivers. The players were then divided for the first games into mix and match teams so they could get better acquainted with the girls they would be living with and competing against for the week.
Tournament play began on Sunday and continued through Tuesday. By Wednesday, teams were seeded for single elimination games leading to climactic championship games in Thursday’s Adirondack evening air. In between games, the tournament directors built ample time into the schedule to take advantage of the many attractions in the Lake George area. During the week, the Monarchs were able to visit Lake George Village and beach twice, scaled Prospect Mountain for its breathtaking views of the Adirondacks and Lake George, and spent most of one afternoon at a nearby Six Flags amusement park. Positive coaching clinics, team building exercises, and speed and agility clinics were also spread throughout the week.
This was the Monarchs second visit to Golden Goal, having finished runner up in Golden Goal’s very first tournament in July 2007. During their trips to Golden Goal, the Monarchs have had the opportunity to compete against teams from Canada, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. In other weeks, teams have come from as far away as Washington State and India.
During the Monarchs’ trip this year, five teams proudly and successfully represented EPYSA at Golden Goal: the two Anderson Monarchs teams from Philadelphia, the Under 11 North Valley Girl Power from Luzerne County, the U11 Westmont Pride from Collegeville, Montgomery County, and the U12 Wilson Junior Chaos from Berks County. The Monarchs had to defeat the tough North Valley team in a Wednesday semi-final to set up a showdown with the Westmont Pride, a PAGS Premier team, in the Thursday night championship match. In a mostly even match, the Monarchs were able to protect an early 1-0 lead and win the U11 championship. The U12 Wilson Chaos also reached their championship game, losing 1-0 on a penalty kick to the Pierrefonds Cobras of Montreal, Canada. The Monarch’s U13’s advanced to Thursday’s championship match with a 2-1 semifinal upset of the Marlborough, Massachusetts Lady Panthers, placing at least one EPYSA team in each of the week’s final matches.
After the last of the championship games, all teams gathered for a final parade into the championship stadium. Champions and runners up received their generously sized trophies and each participant was recognized by name and given a hall of fame ring symbolizing their induction into the World Youth Soccer Hall of Fame to be built at Golden Goal. The week concluded with an impressive fireworks display followed by some late into the night packing for an early departure the next morning.
While the tournament was wonderful, the setting magnificent and our results impressive, the most meaningful aspect of the Golden Goal experience will be the life-long relationships the Monarchs were able to develop with players from around the country. Double-dutch became a favorite past-time with a few players from settings less urban than the Monarchs learning to make one or two jumps by week’s end. A few coaches gamely tried their hand at double-dutch, without success. The Monarchs had the opportunity to live for the week next door to the team from Westmont, Pennsylvania. While their western Montgomery County locale is not that far physically from the Monarchs’ Point Breeze section of Philadelphia, (maybe 30 miles) the demographic gap is wide. For this week at least, the gap was bridged. We also became particularly close to a young lady from rural Ohio who has asked to guest with the Monarchs next summer; another bridge crossed. During our 2007 trip to Golden Goal, the Monarchs were befriended by an older team from Lansingburgh, New York, near Albany. The girls’ friendships were nurtured by correspondence during the intervening year but both clubs were disappointed that the age groups didn’t line up and the New York team had to compete in a tournament a few weeks earlier. No matter: the bond was so strong that the Lansingburgh coaches made the long drive to bring their team up to visit and support the Monarchs twice during the week; a touching display of the relationships that soccer can create when given a chance.
(To see video of the Monarchs’ 2007 visit to Golden Goal, or for more information about Golden Goal Tournament Park, go to the Golden Goal web site at www.goldengoalsoccer.com . Of interest to EPYSA members, Golden Goal has been discussing a PAGS pre-season tournament and training week to take place in August 2009. More information can be obtained at info@goldengoalsoccer.com . If you would like to support the Anderson Monarchs and their mission to bring soccer opportunities to inner city girls, please contact Walter Stewart at walterstewart159@msn.com or call at 215-519-9227.) |
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