Annapolis Soccer Club Kicks Off Fall Season

How do you get ready to host 1,000 pint-sized soccer players? The Annapolis Soccer Club (ASC) folks will tell you that it takes a lot of work. Twenty-five volunteers met last Saturday for a "work party" to prep the fields at Annapolis Middle School for the start of the fall 2010 season. Fields were measured and lined while goals were assembled. Jesse Simmerman, the team commissioner and general manager at ASC, was on hand to make sure everything was set in time for the opening weekend on Sept. 10 to 12.  

When Simmerman first volunteered with ASC in 1987, there were 75 players. Twenty-three years later, more than 1,000 children ages 3 to 18 take over fields throughout the city every weekend in the fall and spring, sporting a crab-legged soccer ball logo on a rainbow array of T-shirts. ASC has 60 teams this year, and, according to its website, fields more teams in the Anne Arundel County Youth Soccer League than any other club.   

ASC's clinic division is for children from 3 to 8 years old. There are no goalies, no score keeping and no win/loss records. Coaches are allowed on the field to guide players. George Peabody, ASC president and clinic coordinator, has a message to coaches: "The more fun you have coaching and playing with the kids, the more fun they will have and the more they will want to learn and compete."

The ASC County division is for boys and girls from 8 to 14, followed by high school-level teams. While play is more competitive at this stage, ASC pledges to find a place for every player who wants to participate. Three years ago, the club developed a placement process to set up teams for players who want to compete on a higher level. Some placement teams have moved into the Baltimore Beltway travel soccer league.    

While ASC has won championships and titles over the years, Simmerman dismisses the accolades.

"That's not the idea of our organization," he said. "We want the kids to have fun, meet friends and enjoy the sport."

Jim Cardillo,  ASC coach for ages 8 and under (8U), puts this into practice with lots of encouragement and high-fives to his players. Cardillo has been coaching since his sons were in the ages 4 and under (4U) division and has moved up with them each year. Although 8U is a transitional year, with rotating goalies and referees, it's still about recreation.     

"We tell them (players) we won't keep score," Cardillo assured parents at a recent organizational meeting."We want them to have fun and learn."

And many players do have fun, learn and return year after year. At the work party on Saturday, Simmerman pointed to volunteer Eric Johnson, who was measuring fields. Johnson joined ASC when he was 8 years old and played through high school. His ASC coach, Buzz Winchester, attended his wedding. This fall, Johnson is back as a 4U coach, leading his own son Gil in his first season of ASC team play.
 
With Simmerman's own sons in their 30s and former players coming back as coaches, it begs the question  — after 23 years, why continue to do it?

He says, "My wife asks me that all the time …"

Simmerman is interrupted by a parent who is having trouble assembling goals and asked, "Do you know how to do that?"

"Yeah, I know a little about it," he said and walked off to teach a new group of volunteers.