Metuchen soccer club breaks membership record this year
BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Top to bottom: Dominique Caba, 9, deflects a shot by Miranda McKiernan, 10, as the Metuchen Recreational Soccer Club held its final game of the season Nov. 17. Miranda McKiernan, 10, declares the season a success. Parents get to cheer one last time.

METUCHEN - The borough's town soccer recreational club brought in a record number of participants this year with more than 550 kids.

"We were just dumbfounded," said Scott Greenfeder, who has been president of the club for three years and will hand off the position to Roman Tiu for the next season. "This has been an exceptional year with a good turnout … we don't know where all these kids - kindergarteners to eighthgraders - came from. We had 110 kindergartners this year."

The Metuchen Town Soccer Club started in February 1991 after it split off from the Edison-Metuchen Soccer Club.

"We reached into our pockets for a couple hundred of dollars, and it all started from there," said Larry Boyce, who was one of the founders of the club and sat on the board for about six years. "One night, Tony Black [who passed away in 1998] and I were sitting having coffee when he looked me in the eye and asked me, "What if only 10 kids show up? I said, 'Well, I guess we will teach those 10 kids how to play soccer.' "

To their surprise, there were well over 300 kids who signed up to participate in the club in 1991.

"I remember we had to go to Home Depot and buy piping to build the soccer goals because we couldn't afford them," he said.

Boyce said Black was the one who introduced him to the sport of soccer.

"I was walking down the street and Tony stopped me and said, "Hey, do you want to play soccer?" said Boyce, who was about 6 years old at the time in the 1970s. "And as a little kid, I said, 'Yeah, sure … what's that?' In our country at that time, no one knew what soccer was … Tony was from a place [Scotland] where soccer was huge, and it's not just a sport, it's a religion over there."

After Black received permission from Boyce's parents for Boyce to play soccer, the Metuchen-Edison Soccer Club began with 20 or more kids playing pick-up soccer games on the Metuchen High School fields.

"It was my first experience with soccer … it was a neat thing," he said.

Boyce said even though he doesn't have children, being a board member was a way to give back to his community.

"I just have a love of the game, but the true driving force of the club was Tony," he said. "I just can't say enough about the man … all his intentions were purely for the kids in town."

Boyce, who helps out the club when needed, said the club's success has been quite a surprise, and the success wouldn't have been possible without the founders of the club.

The club, which averages 510 to 515 boys and girls each year, held their final games of the season Nov. 18.

"Our philosophy is for the kids to have fun and learn some soccer," said Steven Frowenfeld, who was president for six years and has been involved with the team as a board member for 10 years. "There are no score tables, no judgments are made. … This gives the kids not in competitive sports an opportunity to play."

The kindergartners to second-graders play individual games, while the third- to fifth-graders play together and the sixth- to eighth-graders play together.

"The older kids play a regular soccer game with 11-on-11 and the younger kids play with six-on-six to even two-on-two," said Greenfeder.

Every child has the same amount of playing time whether they missed a practice or not.

"A player is not going to sit on a bench the whole time if he or she missed a practice or if one player has better soccer skills than the other," said Frowenfeld. "Everyone plays an equal amount of time."

There are no goalkeepers for the kindergarten games, which has been in place for the past five years.

"The kids just had so much fun kicking the ball, we decided to take away the goal keepers," said Frowenfeld. "It sometimes looks like a game of rugby where eight kids are chasing one ball."

The fee for the kids is $30, which allows the players to get a T-shirt and a trophy.

"The kids can get soccer cleats if they want, but they can play with sneakers, said Frowenfeld.

The club welcomes all types of soccer players, whether they are new to the game or a traveling soccer player.

"We have a good relationship with the borough's traveling team," said Frowenfeld. "Most of our games don't overlap."

Tiu, whose kids are on the traveling team, said they love playing in the recreational club.

"Here they can play with their friends that may not be on the traveling teams," he said.

The coaches and parent volunteers also don't have to have experience with soccer.

"Most of our board members do not have experience with the game," said Frowenfeld.

Greenfeder said most of the parents still come from the era of football and basketball.

"Fifteen years from now, these kids will have more soccer experience than we do," he said.

The club plays their games on Saturday mornings at the Hampton, Myrtle and Oakland fields.

"The older kids practice one night a week during the season and the young kids practice before they play their games on Saturday morning," said Greenfeder.

"During the season we get over 200 parent volunteers and 70 team parents," said Greenfeder. "It shows the good will of the town."

The coaches get together in October and have a game for fun and hold a photo day for the kids.

The club also gives out an average of $3,500 a year in scholarships to high school senior soccer players.

"It depends on how many seniors are there," said Frowenfeld. "We look at their grades and their community service. The seniors don't know if they received a scholarship until the end of the school year."

Frowenfeld added that Black always believed education and community service is just as important as soccer.

The club is also looking for volunteers for the club's board.

"We get together once a month except for January, and all members of the public are welcome," said Greenfeder.

For more information about the club visit www.metuchensoccer.com. Online registration for the club starts in May.