Dear Barbarians;
You would have to be there to believe it! The Barbarians entered 9 teams into the competition of the USFF Northeast Mid-Atlantic Region One Tournament. There was only one club who had more teams SMFC (10) from Maryland. When it rolled around to Championship Monday as some refer to it, the Barbarians still had 5 teams of the 9 with a chance to make the semi-final matches. Of those five, three made it through to the finals facing familiar rivals and three well known coaches from our mutual past rivalries where so much of what we have in common and at odds is our mutual love and respect for this game!
When it was all said and done, the Barbarians ended the day with two silver medals as Regional Runner’s Up for our U16G and U19B, and one Regional National Champion who brought home the Cup, our U16B. Congratulations! While my remarks here may be brief due to my current mental state, I must express my sincere appreciation to each of you who believe in what the Barbarians do and how we do it and for your continued support by remaining with us through what some perceive as, and while others attempts are to manipulate, understand that we remain steadfastly committed to this club and its competitive environment for the betterment of the team and this club.
This was not the first out of town regional in which we had the support of Barbarian families who traveled even though they did not have a player actively involved with any of the teams participating from our area but it was most peculiarly noticeable this weekend since they did so in support of the club and not one team in particular, and for that we must acknowledge the Holt and the Mihalchik families for there being there and proudly displaying their Barbarian fashion! While we also express our sincere thanks to all of the families who made this journey as members of the various teams we must let you all know that these acts on the part of these two families provide an even greater hope for the sport to continue to grow and for our potential for growth within the game and for that the Barbarians say, ‘thank you’. It is more than we could hope for from anyone. Thank you!
Member and family included over this past weekend as well as personal notes:
U11B (2-2); Michael Armenio, Christopher Batey, Trevor Bubin, Austin Kreutzberger, Jacob Tarosky, Zach Vaughn, and Albin Wells.
U12B (2-1); Jamie Beiriger, Michah Griffin, RJ Heaps, Josh Kucmeroski, Matt Prezioso, Timothy Pugh, Matt Rytel, and Chad Wright
U13B (1-2); Justin Beiriger, Sam Bonnell, Stuart “Beef” Curry, Kevin Fitchwell, Michah “DD” Griffin, Joey Klonicki, Galen Kreutzberger, and Jakob Wells.
U14B (0-3-1); Matt Baleno, Vincent Barone, Sebastien Carreau, Galen “ED” Kreutzberger, Dakota Lange, Dylan Malazich, Tyler Novotny, Caleb Tarosky, and Bryce Tramuta.
U14G (4-1) Third Place; Kara Batey, Kirstie Branthoover, Abby Churchfield, Brieann Cook, Madison Fisher, Chloe Heaps, Anna Riddle, Jordan Toohey, and Morgan Vensel
U15B (0-3); Vincent “ST” Barone, Christian Beech, Sebastien “TT” Carreau, Chris Curran, Alexander Guie, Dakota “BU” Lange, Aedan Marty, and Giovanni Roscoe.
U16G (4-1) REGIONAL RUNNERSS-UP; Kara “QF” Batey, Carley Bogan, Brieann “DT” Cook, Gina Culbertson, Sierra Davis, Katie Gamble, Magail Heaps, Elizabeth Merlino, Kara Novotny, and Carly Seneca
U19B (2-1-1) REGIONAL RUNNERS-UP; Rooney Columbus, Matt Dziak, Joe Fearer, Eric Fitchwell, Brett Gwosden, Jordan Redfield, Vincent Reginella, and Nicholas Scioscia
THE NORTHEAST MID ATLANTIC REGION ONE U16 BOYS FUTSAL CHAMPIONS (2-1-1)
Jake Ebbitt, Ben Gallina, Andrew Greenway, Jeffrey Kelly, Brendan Kopko, Shane Rings, Tyler Schrenker, Steven Sieber, and Jeremy Thomas!
In order for any of our teams to achieve success it requires the cooperation of many, in ways that most will never comprehend. Even our teams that did not medal, or for that matter those who did not participate in any way, shape, or form, there is always the need for cooperation. One thing that we use to measure anything that involves our club members, players, or parents is based on the “A and E” scale, something many of you have heard me speak of in the past but fail to understand. It is the scale that is based on Attitude and Effort. We remain positive in our Attitude and Approach toward you, and give an honest Effort wherein each of you who comes our way is concerned. For you to remain here, in this club, it is imperative that each one of you, parent or player, make certain that you exhibit the proper attitude and give the best effort you are able to give at all times but specifically when you are in our presence.
Auspiciously there were several teammates from the 9 teams who were either unable or unwilling to attend for various reasons. Everyone who did attend would attest to the fact that you missed some outstanding futsal and some of the best was exhibited by the teams that represented the Barbarians. Several other teams/clubs from our area had a nice showing making for an overall good exhibition for Pennsylvania West Futsal in general for which we are happy to be a part of and help promote.
Some of what we were able to accomplish as a club would not have been possible without the willingness of several players to participate on more than one team and for one who was “brand new” to our midst to travel with a team and contribute mightily to that team with a tremendous attitude and outstanding effort allowing our team to advance to the semi-finals where the team suffered its first and only defeat of the weekend to another of our futsal regional rivals, the Explosion of Massachusetts. It is doubly significant because the player is a goalkeeper and was asked to attend with lest than two weeks prior to the engagement and then, while she graciously accepted, there was no opportunity for her to play in a single game before attending the regional with us, nor the opportunity to meet the team because of the inclement weather we endured!
To the Riddle family and in particular, Anna thank you for allowing the U14G Barbarians to travel to York and find out they are quite capable of competing with even the best our region has to offer and thank you even more for availing yourself to help “save” the day. We are extremely grateful and hope that you will be able to participate with us in the very near future. The Barbarians thank you for this selfless act and we want you to know you are a Barbarian in every way!
As an addendum you must know that the U14G team ended the tournament in third place with a record of 4-1, not 3-1. The team should be recognized as the third best team in the Northeast Mid Atlantic Region and should know how very proud we are of them for their Bronze Medal performance even if USFF decided to not do third place acknowledgments, this year.
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As usual, I will see you on the pitch!
David W. Sayles