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U-14 Boys POTOMAC STING
Team Contact Information
Dave Butler - Head Coach
Gabor Szemzo - Assistant Coach
Alan Kelly - Assistant Coach
Robert Kelly - Manager
TRY-OUT SCHEDULED
THE STING HAS A FINAL JUNE TRY-OUT SCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY, JUNE 22, AT 10:00 AM AT HADLEY PARK, aka FALLS ROAD LOCAL PARK, 12600 FALLS ROAD, POTOMAC.
If you can't make it to this session, please contact coach Dave Butler or manager Bob Kelly in the event that try-outs are scheduled for later in the summer.
STING TRY-OUTS
The Sting, presently concluding its second season as an NCSL Division 1 team, will participate in the NCSL this fall and is looking for a limited number of exceptional players (boys born between August 1, 1993 and July 31, 1994) to complement our existing squad. We will hold try-outs during June and throughout the summer. Please call Coach Butler at 410-960-4794, or manager Bob Kelly at 202-445-7097, for specifics regarding the time and place of our next try-out session.
Since our boys will be entering high school this fall, our present plan is to confine our tournament participation to local high-quality tournaments before and after the season, and participate in the NCSL. We will practice once a week, on Saturday, with an emphasis on tactics since the boys will get plenty of physical work during the week with their high school teams, and play NCSL games on Sundays.
The Sting is the only NCSL team in our age group that can say that it has consistently improved season by season, reaching DIvision 1 from our initial placement in Divsion 5 through hard work, perserverenece, and excellent coaching. The Sting offers a terrific opportunity to boys willing to put in the effort and share in that vision.
Alan Kelly Honored in Ireland as a "Legend" of the Game
At a recent friendly match in Ireland on February 6, 2008 between the Irish and Brazilian national teams, the Sting's own Alan Kelly was recognized in a halftime ceremony as a "Legend" of the game.
Born in Dublin, Alan won an FAI Cup winners medal in 1957 with Drumcondra. From there, he moved to England to become the goalkeeper for Preston North End, where he played from 1961 until 1973, when a shoulder injury ended his playing career. He was Preston's Player of the Year in 1967-68, and won a Third Division championship medal in 1970-71. He still holds the club record of 513 appearances over a 14 year period. When the Preston North End stadium, known as Deepdale, was reconstructed in 2001, three of the stadium's four sections were named after famous Preston players; one of the three named sections is the "Alan Kelly Town End." He also played for Ireland, winning the first of his 47 caps against England in a 1958 World Cup qualifier. In 1980 he managed the Irish national team, and from 1983 to 1985 returned to Preston as its manager. After moving to the US, Alan was the goalkeeper coach for DC United for five seasons from 1996 until his retirement 2001.
Lured out of retirement to help coach the Sting, Alan brings a lifetime of experience at the highest levels of soccer to help our boys learn the game and develop their full potential as players. We all offer Alan our most sincere congratulations for his "legendary" achievements.
Welcome New Sting Families
Three new boys have joined the Sting this winter. We are very pleased to welcome Aaron Gottesman, Daniel Perlis and Franco Vega, and their families.
Our anticipated roster for our U-14 spring season is: Dean Arabov, # 5; Sergio Ballón, # 18; Jack Butler, # 7; Brendan Carney, # 12; Devin Gajewski, # 17; Sam Gasbara, # 6; Max Goldschein, # 15; Aaron Gottesman, # 20; Braeden Kelly, # 14; Eric Ossola, # 23; Daniel Perlis, # 2; Sebastian Romero, # 8; Nathan Shi, # 11; Robert Strand, # 9; Deniz Ulusan, # 16; Franco Vega, # 10; and Toby Wiederkehr, # 22.
We wish our departing players and their families well, with our best wishes for their future success.
Fall 2007 Tournament Record
The Sting went to the Fifth Annual August Cup as the number three seed in the top bracket for U-14 boys. Playing excellent competition, the Sting beat Team America SC 93, 2 - 0, then the Delaware State Cup Champion Hockessin SC Strikers Premier, 1 - 0. On Sunday, however, we lost to the number one seed, Reston NoVa FC 93 by the score of 0 - 2. Our final round robin game clearly featured the two best teams in the tournament.
Over Labor Day weekend, the Sting participated in the Olney Capital Cup. Although relegated to the second division, the competition was still extremely good. Giving up only one goal in four games, the Sting had an exciting up and down weekend. We won the first game against BRYC Blackhawks, 4 - 0, then lost a heartbreaker to the Heroes FC Black Stars, 0 - 1, when the Heroes scored with 12 seconds remaining in what had been a scoreless tie. The Sting won the wildcard as the best second-place finisher on tiebreaker points, then played to a 0 - 0 tie with SAC Premier in a semi-final game, which we won on penalty kicks to advance to the final. Against a very good FSC United team, the Sting came away with a convincing 2 - 0 win on Monday morning for the championship.
CONGRATULATIONS STING PLAYERS AND COACHES, SPRING 2007 DIVISION 2 CHAMPIONS!
Our spring season started on an unfortunate note. Both of the March tournaments we entered were rained out. The lack of competitive games just before the beginning of our season was in sharp contrast with last year, and we dropped the first game of the season to SYA Nova, on the short end of a 3 - 2 score. Still, we were missing several players, and the boys’ play was encouraging if rather rusty.
Following a long break, we returned to NCSL league play on April 28. Playing four games in eight days, the Sting made up for their lackluster start by winning three (against Azul Real, SAC United and ABGC United) and tying one (Bravehearts). The following weekend the Sting vaulted into first place by defeating TASC 93 White in a close contest. The Sting went on to tie Takoma Park, and was in second place when we reached Memorial Day weekend.
In the Potomac Memorial Day Tournament, the Sting participated in the Chesapeake Division of the U-13 Boys group. With a round robin record of 1 - 1 - 1 against excellent out of state competition, the Sting advanced to the semi-final match on a tie-breaker and lost a tough game to the eventual champion, Beachside.
Returning to NCSL play, the Sting beat McLean Speed and finished the season with a victory over FSC United. After losing their first game, the Sting went unbeaten for the remainder of the season and finished four points ahead of the second place finisher. Now bound for Division 1 in the fall, the Sting celebrates the culmination of a journey that commenced in Division 5 back in the fall season of 2004, their U-11 season.
FALL 2006 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
In its first game of the 2006 Fall season, the Sting made a successful debut into Division 2 competition with a hard-fought 2 - 1 win over the Olney Flames.
On Saturday September 16 the Sting fell behind the Loudoun Strikers on their home field, but came back to forge a 2 - 2 tie. The next day, we saw a 1 - 0 halftime lead evaporate in the second half, but scored with only seconds left in the game for another 2 - 2 tie with the MSC Wildcats.
Sunday September 24 saw the Sting defeat Annandale’s ABGC United by a score of 1 - 0.
The Sting won again on October 1, by the same 1 - 0 score over the FASA Hotspur.
Resuming play after the Columbus Day break, Sting tied Takoma AC United with a score of 0 - 0.
We tied MCSA Jr. Royals on their home field, 1 - 1.
Regretably we ended the season with losses in two close games, losing to Azul Real 1 - 0, and to FSC United, 2 - 1.
The Sting finished respectably with a 3 - 2 - 4 record in its first season in Division 2. Every game was close, either a tie or decided one way or the other by one goal.
STING IS UNDEFEATED IN SPRING 2006 SEASON
TO MOVE UP TO DIVISION 2 IN THE FALL
With a 1 - 0 win over DCST Blue Lightning, the Potomac Sting ends its Spring 2006 season undefeated in Division 3 with a 7 - 0 - 2 record. With five shutouts (most in Division 3) and only 5 goals against (least in Division 3) the Sting’s defense kept us in every game, and the offense (21 goals) finished the job throughout the season. The Sting is officially the undisputed Champion of Division 3 and will move to Division 2 for the Fall 2006 season.
CONGRATULATIONS STING - PLAYERS, COACHES AND PARENTS !!!!
Sting Reaches State Cup Final Four
This is the Potomac Sting's first year to be eligible for Maryland State Cup competition. We had a first-round bye (just luck of the draw) then played Bethesda Real, generally acknowledged one of the best U-12 boys team in Maryland. We have played them many times and never won - until this spring. In our game on April 22, the Sting went down 2 - 0 in the first half, cut it to 2 - 1 at the half, tied it up in the second half and went through two 10 minute overtimes with the score still 2 - 2. We made three of our first four penalty kicks and they made only 1, so the game ended at that point and we won, 3 - 2.
The next day, the Sting played a second game against another NCSL Division 1 team, Freedom United. Our guys showed a lot of character in fighting through their fatigue from the Bethesda game, and won, 2 - 0.
Having advanced to the Final Four of the Maryland State Cup in their first year of eligibility was a tremendous accomplishment, not diminished by being eliminated by a very strong Baltimore Bays team on May 6 by a score of 2 - 0.
POTOMAC STING SPRING 2006 TOURNAMENT RESULTS
This winter and early spring the Sting participated in two friendlies tournaments and two formal tournaments. At the Triangle FC Friendlies in Fayetteville, NC on February 4-5 (yes, it was Super Bowl weekend) we won one game and lost two against extremely good opposition. At the Frederick Play-Day on March 12, in Frederick Maryland, the team won two games and tied a third, even though we were a player or two short for some of the games. All in all the boys got in plenty of good work at these friendly matches.
On March 18-19 we competed in the Stafford St. Patrick's Day tourmament. In our three games at Quantico, Virginia, we won the first two and tied the third in regulation, only to lose that semi-final elimination game on penalty kicks. The following weekend, that of March 25-26, we competed in the PWSI Icebreaker tournament, again in northern Virginia. Against excellent competition, the Sting won all three of its divisional games but lost the championship to FC United from Worchester, Massachusetts, with a score of 1-0. All in all a 5-2-0 record against NCSL Division 2 and 3 teams, as well as equally tough out of state teams.
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