Four teams competed over a two day period that included Edge Athletics 16u and 17u, the Golden Eagles 16u from Hyde Park and the Killesters from Dublin, Ireland.  Following the final game on Thursday, the teams were treated to a barbecue and swim at the Santoro house.  “We were hoping to find some teams that were a bit better than us,” said Coach Gordan.  Although dropping all three games to the US teams, coach Gordan was pleased and excited for his team.  “it’s was a great for us to compete against the teams that Edge set up for us,” he said.  The Killesters are considered one of the top teams in their country and feature one of the top point guards for their age division.  All four games were competitive and had value for more than just the visiting team.  “This has been a great experience for our teams as well,” said Santoro.  “They were a class act on and off the court and our kids had the opportunity to socialize with athletes from another country in a  non competitive environment,” Santoro added.

Coach Gordan had been in the United States since mid June working at various camps and clinics in the US.  He is working towards his degree in Sports Management at a university in Dublin and hopes to make coaching his career.  For now, he coaches at the high school level and for the AAU equivalent in Dublin, Ireland.

The Killesters played the Edge 16u team on Thursday and exchanged t-shirts and stories over burgers and hot dogs, a typical all-American barbecue. The athletes found as many similarities in the their two cultures as there are differences.  Food was one thing both could relate to.  “We ate at Wendy’s last night after the games because we pretty much have everything the US has as far as fast food and chain restaurants go……except Wendy’s.  We don’t have that,” coach Gordan said.  But the barbecue added a warm friendly touch to the experience.  “It was a pleasure having them.  We had a chance to talk with coach Gordan, the athletes, and some of the parents that accompanied them,” Santoro said.  That talk has already lead to planning next years trip.  Only this time, Edge has been invited to come to their country.  “We will see what develops.  It takes enormous coordination, commitment, and of course money,” Santoro said.  Edge is already in the planning stages for 2011.  Only time will tell if those plans include a trip to Ireland.

From the Poughkeepsie Journal…..

GETZVILLE — The soccer ball took an indirect route and found its way to unfamiliar territory in the 72nd minute of Sunday’s gold-medal match: The back of the New York City net.

Once it crossed the line, Patrick Noonan embraced his teammates — some of whom he knew well before the Empire State Games and others he didn’t — as he slid on both knees to the left corner in complete joy.

Noonan’s shot from 18 yards out in the box snapped a scoreless tie and sent Hudson Valley’s scholastic men’s soccer team to a 1-0 win over New York City at the Amherst French Road Soccer Complex. For the Hyde Park resident, the results couldn’t have been sweeter.

“Luckily, it just bounced to me at the top of the 18,” said Noonan, who attends Franklin D. Roosevelt High School. “I knew that 65 days of training came down to that one moment. I hit it as hard as I could right down into the net.”

Noonan’s ball deflected off a New York City defender before going over goalkeeper Christopher Herrera’s left shoulder for the game’s only score.

“It’s still a goal,” Noonan said, laughing. “It’s probably the best feeling of my life. I won it for the team.”

Noonan’s score was the only goal New York City allowed in the tournament, as the team finished 3-1. Hudson Valley finished 3-0-1.

This was Hudson Valley’s second-straight gold medal and ninth since the Games started in 1978.

Getting the team to come together was a task coach Tim Hourahan didn’t take lightly. At the start of camp, he had players introduce themselves to each other. After a week of team building at the United States Military Academy at West Point, things started to come together.

“It was more than just becoming great soccer players,” said Hourahan, the boys varsity coach at Lakeland High School. “It was about becoming a team and being united and having one focus and one goal.”

The team even came up with a mascot name, since it did not have one. “Snow goons!” was what they yelled out after huddles. No one on the Valley sideline could explain its origin, other than it might have been a local hip-hop reference

“Our only mission was to win a gold medal,” Hourahan said. “These kids dug deep. They just wanted to win so badly and they found a way.”

Play was tight in the first half as New York City played a defensive game with a formation that had one forward. The shots on goal at halftime — Hudson Valley, 3, New York City 2 — indicated the type of challenge Hudson Valley was in for.

In the second half, Hudson Valley hit two crossbars. Again, there weren’t many shots, two for Hudson Valley and one for New York City, but one shot decided the game.

“It was a tough game. We knew they were going to be hard,” said Christian Dominguez of Suffern. “We just gave it all we could. It means a lot to me. I’ve never been in a championship game like this. It feels great. It’s indescribable.”

“It’s awesome,” said Chris Metz of Hopewell Junction, who plays soccer at Our Lady of Lourdes. “We’re never going to be on the same team again, but we’ll remember this the rest of our lives. We came together as a team quicker than all the other teams.”

Hourahan said he knows some of the players will continue local rivalries, and some of them will play against his Lakeland team. But they will still have this moment when Hudson Valley was the superior team in men’s scholastic soccer.

In addition to Noonan and Metz, seven other players were local products: Matt Daeumer (Wappingers Falls), Matt Garcia (Wappingers Falls), Matt Koziol (Poughkeepsie), Tim Ryan (Poughquag), Codey Stetler (Hopewell Junction), Conor Tasciotti (Poughkeepsie) and J.P. Veliz (Wappingers Falls).

“They’re all going to go on and have great high school careers and great soccer careers,” Hourahan said. “I’m proud of them.”

Wednesday

5:30 - Golden Eagles vs Ireland
6:45 - Edge Athletics 16u East vs Golden Eagles
8:00 - Edge Athletics 17u vs Ireland

Thursday

1:30 - Edge Athletics 16u East vs Ireland
3:00 - BBQ at 4 Ledge Way - All are welcome

If you are interested in purchasing tickets to one, two or all three of the premium games, you must contact Chris Fields IMMEDIATELY.  Chris can give you more details.   Home number is 462-8790 and cell is 845-206-3068.  The best way to reach Chris is via cell.

The essay contest required applicants to write about “something difficult in your life that your faith helped you to overcome.”  Accordingly, John wrote about how he was diagnosed with a learning disability several years back and how difficult it was for him to deal with it. His essay centered around how he looked to his faith and prayer to help him through the years.

During those years, John also discovered something else about himself…..that he was pretty good in sports.  In addition to basketball, John runs track and plays baseball, excelling in all three.  Playing three sports, however, requires perseverance, commitment, and time management.  John wrote how perseverance in sports helped him in the classroom and to ultimately overcome his disability.  Today, John is one of the top student-athletes in his class, sporting an amazing 99.3 GPA.  He has been on the high honor roll every semester since starting middle school.

Jim Santoro, the Director of Edge Athletics is not surprised.  “He was selected to play on  this team as direct result of the work ethic and determination he demonstrated during tryouts last year,” Santoro said.  “Each team member brought with them a special unique quality that has defined them as a whole,” he added.

Edge Athletics promotes three fundamental objectives…..respect, skill development, and work ethic.  Winning takes a backseat. “Although winning is important, we feel that the athletes development as players, student-athletes, and as people should come first. The winning part will take care of itself,” Santoro said.  Well the winning part has certainly done just that as John’s team compiled a two year record of 57-8.

John keeps all of that in the right perspective.  “He prays before every game… but he never prays to win… he just prays to not get hurt and to use the gifts that God gave him to the best of his ability, “ said Mrs. O’Donnell.  Those feelings were clearly reflected in his essay which not only won him the award but also caught the eye of Alec McCauley, the Director of CYO for New York. McCauley thought it was such an amazing essay, representing exactly what CYO was all about, that he invited John down to NY to read his essay at the 74th CYO Club of Champions Tribute at the USS Intrepid.  This year’s honorees were Roger Staubach, Eli Manning (who couldn’t be there, but was there via video feed) and Christopher Gallagher.  Greg Kelly from Good Day New York (Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s son) was the MC.  “It was an amazing evening… Johnny was treated like a celebrity… being escorted in to the VIP room for interviews and photos, spending time with Roger Staubach and Greg Kelly,” said a very proud Mrs. O’Donnell.  And very proud she should be as her son John opened the evening by reading his essay to an audience that gave him a standing ovation at the conclusion.

At the end of the three day session, each athlete leaves with an advantage.   “Learning how to play the game of basketball at a high level is a process.  And it requires an investment of sweat,” Santoro added.  “We don’t kid ourselves into thinking that our athletes make significant strides by the end of the three days.  But we do give the athletes the tools they need for them to work on their own so that they can begin to separate themselves from other athletes.”  They also leave pretty tired as many of the athletes describe the days as six hour varsity level practices.  In addition to the skills camp, Edge runs its traditional camp that includes the newly introduced “Get an Edge” Division designed for serious athletes. It also runs sweat shops inside of the traditional camps for any athlete looking to get additional workouts.

The camps and clinics have attracted athletes from many of the local schools including Arlington, Our Lady of Lourdes, and Spackenkill, as well as more distant schools like Monroe Woodbury and Marlboro.  Although the approach that Edge takes to training certainly is an attraction, the staff, equipment, and facilities also adds to the quality of the sessions.  The traditional camps and the Shooting and Offensive Skills staff includes Varsity coaches Ernie Verdis, Marc Kutchma, and Santoro to name a few, as well as Junior Varsity Coaches and assistants.  All are very dedicated and focused on a common objective. In addition, Edge uses top facilities and state of the art equipment. This summer, sessions were held at Our Lady of Lourdes High School, the Poughkeepsie Day School, and New Paltz college.  The sessions employed the use of two shooting machines called the “Gun” as well as the newly acquired shooting analysis system called “NOAH.”

When added all together, it appears that Edge Athletics has the right formula to keep on growing. “We were oversold this summer for our skills camp and had to turn athletes away,” Santoro said.  With this summer coming to a close, they are already planning on next year to increase the capacity and offerings.  “The trick is to grow slowly so that we do it without sacrificing the quality that we are able to provide,” Santoro said.  Between now and next summer, Edge will offer individual, small group, and team shooting, skills development, and basketball conditioning programs beginning in September.

For more information on offerings, you can call  845-264-5078.