As part of an effort to highlight our orientation emphasizing the team’s partnership with the Potomac Soccer Association and its Academy teams, we are reforming the Potomac Sting as "Potomac 94," to be composed of former Sting players plus Potomac Academy prospects. Our primary goal is to support the Potomac Academy program to the greatest extent possible by developing talented, highly motivated and committed Academy prospects while preserving and extending the team’s own winning tradition.

FALL SEASON:

We plan on one two-hour practice on the weekends when we do not attend tournaments, and have tentatively decided on Sunday afternoon from 3 to 5 pm.  This will be adjusted to avoid conflicts as needed, and a calendar will be circulated.

We will participate in the August Cup, August 28-30, and the Olney Capital Classic over Labor Day weekend.  We expect to play in a Columbus Day weekend tournament (SAC or Virginia Beach) and one or even two in mid-November (Richmond Strikers and Bethesda tournaments, over the weekends of Nov. 14-15 and 21-22, respectively). 

WINTER TRAINING: 

We are considering applying to the Disney tournament in December.  If we decide to go and are accepted, we will issue a training schedule for late November and December at that time.  If we do not go, we will take a break from our last November tournament until early January, when we will resume weekend training.

We will attend the Triangle (North Carolina) Friendlies the first weekend in February.

SPRING SEASON:

We will apply for the Colonial League as Potomac 94, a new team comprised of former Sting players and Academy prospects, and hopefully will be admitted.  We will apply to the NCSL as back-up, and ask for D-1. 

We will enter the following tournaments - Jefferson Cup or alternate in mid-March, probably Baltimore Bays March Madness in late March, then Potomac Memorial in May.  We will of course enter Maryland State Cup competition as well.

BUDGET:

Our annual budget calls for contributions from each participating player of $750 per season, once in the fall and again in spring.  New players will have the additional expenses of Potomac uniforms, etc. 

Returning from the former Sting team roster are:  Jack Butler (#7 - co-captain); Brendan Carney (#12); Nick DiFazio (#5); Robert Hernandez (#19); Braeden Kelly (#14 - co-captain); Daniel Perlis (#2); Sebastian Romero (#8); Nathan Shi (#11) and Robert Strand (#9). 

Joing the Potomac 94 roster are:  Spencer Adametz; John Dabbs; Geoff Danilack; Peyton Kliefoth; Brandon Maruca; Alex Rush; and Dylan Smith.  We expect to make one or two more offers before the roster is set.

It saddens all of us to pay our last respects to Alan Kelly, an internationally renowned keeper who has helped us as an assistant coach the past two seasons.  Alan lost his battle with cancer earlier this year.  Even those who thought they knew him well are still staggered by his accomplishments in the sport.  A brief summary of his career follows below:

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 in a 1958 World Cup qualifier against England.  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.  At a friendly match in Ireland on February 6, 2008 between the Irish and Brazilian national teams, Alan was recognized in a halftime ceremony as a "Legend" of the game.