W.H. Chiefs Battle Teams in Gettysburg

There was an intense battle happening on the fields of Gettysburg Pennsylvania this past weekend, but there were no muskets or cannons, just a few balls and some very competitive youth soccer players.

Ten teams from the West Hempstead Chiefs soccer program made the trip to compete in the 21st Blue Gray Cup hosted by the Gettysburg Youth Soccer Club. 

They faced clubs from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC and West Virginia. Two West Hempstead teams - the U15 Girls Wildcats, coached by John Nedelka and Steve Salmon and the U14 Girls Lady Chiefs under the leadership of Rich Waterhouse and Mike Chambers - even brought home division championships.

Chiefs Coach Brendan Smith said club pride was exhibited at all levels, as players constantly checked in with one another to see how their fellow hometown teams were performing. 

"Between matches teams were constantly checking up on how other age group teams were faring by either texting or calling club members on the other fields," Smith said. "It was great to see other teams supporting my team on the sidelines."

The idea of sending several travel teams to one tournament was proposed by Salmon, the Chiefs' travel director, and the rest of the club pulled together to make it possible. Club members Stephanie Acosta and Joe Magaracci arranged for hotel stays while board members Loraine Magaracci coordinated the banquet and Dean Orlic arranged the registrations.

The tournament kicked off Saturday at 9 a.m. with a grueling schedule of three tense, qualifying mini-games and one 50-minute championship round match. The Wildcats, Lady Chiefs, U10 Girls Red Wings and U9 Wolverines all recorded first day points. Once in the championship round of play, many of the teams participated in "sudden death" overtime periods in which the goalkeepers were removed from the field of play, resulting in some anixous moments on the sidelines.

Saturday evening the teams met back at the Hotel Eisenhower and sat down to a barbeque dinner, where they discussed the day’s events with great passion.  The players and their families then split up with some touring the historic town of Gettysburg and others opting to race go-carts on the Eisenhower facility grounds. 

"Everyone was pumped for the next day’s championship round," Smith said.

Sunday dawned and the first matches were scheduled for 8 a.m. West Hempstead's Wildcats, Lady Chiefs and Red Wings continued their success on the field while the U13 Girls Firebirds, U12 Girls Panthers and U11 Boys Blackhawks finished the morning with three victories. 

In the afternoon, the Wildcats won their Division 1 championship game against Maryland’s Eastern Shore Blitz, and the Lady Chiefs defeated Philadelphia’s M.O.T. Dynamite.  The U14 Boys Tomahawks concluded the day with a 3-0 Victory over the Hershey PA Blue Phoenix.

The other teams - the U11 Girls Warriors and U8 Girls Lil’Cheetahs - both competed in close matches the entire weekend. 

"I was extremely pleased with the players, coaches and parents who competed at the tournament. All of the families represented the club so well, "Coach Smith said. "Every parent on every team was thrilled with the way their children carried themselves both on and off the field."

He said many of the paricipants kept asking if they could do it all again.

"The answer will be a definitive 'yes'," Smith responded. "The West Hempstead Chiefs will make this event an annual tradition."

Smith said that in the future he hopes more players and their families will join the Chiefs soccer club for both tournament and regular season play.