Sports

Fort Lee Soccer League's Peewee World Cup Tournament

Four teams of 5- and 6-year-olds represented England, Italy, Brazil and USA and competed for "The World Cup Sunday"

The Fort Lee Soccer held its “Peewee World Cup Tournament” Sunday at the field on Stillwell Ave. for the boys and girls in the league.

The four teams comprised of players born between Aug. 1, 2005 and Aug. 1, 2006, represented the countries of England, Italy, Brazil and USA competed for the Cup. The players marched onto the field waving their country’s flags, and then played multiple round-robin matches to an ultimate final.

“This event was a great success,” said Fort Lee Soccer League board member Rich Finizio. “All the players had a great time and received participation medals at the end.”

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Always a strong supporter of youth sports in the borough, Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich addressed the fans, and Fort Lee Councilman Michael Sargenti was also in attendance.

“Both U8A and U8B travel teams were present to help out, practice and be positive role models for the peewee up-and-coming players,” Finizio said.

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Fort Lee Soccer board members who attended Sunday were Alan Keller, Ralph DiMeglio and Finizio; the referees were Antonio DiMeglio and Sam Keller of the Fort Lee U14 travel team; and the field Marshal for the event was longtime Fort Lee Soccer referee Cindy Alba.

Organizers and coaches included Marcia and Sebastian Novero, coaching the USA team (with Ryan Finizio of the U8A team stepping in to play goal); Dan Hojay and Jose and Idalia Domingues coached the England team (Eddie Payan of the U8A team was England’s goalkeeper); the Brazil team was coached by Anthony Apezzatto and Dave Epstein (Brazil utilized the skills of Preston Kaplan of the U8B team and Hunter Waldow in goal); and Mike Tsugranis and Axel coached Italy (with Ethan Bogg of the U8A team minding the net).

The U8A coaches are Mike Payan and Finizio, and the U8B coaches are Tom Kaplan and Dion Waldow.

For more information on Fort Lee Soccer’s U8 Travel program, visit their Facebook page

All photos courtesy of the Fort Lee Soccer Club.


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