Brooks, Sabatura score one for the cure
Amber Brooks and Heidi Sabatura (back row) helped raise money in memory of Charlotte Moran through a tournament they helped host recently at Macclesfield.
By Steve ShermanSports Editor
Pennington School senior soccer standouts Amber Brooks and Heidi Sabatura might be the closest thing Bucks County currently has to the evidence of the good works performed by Charlotte Moran.
Moran is the recently deceased Churchville, Pa. resident who acted as a national advocate for women’s soccer for the last 30 years.
A member of the US National U-17 girls team that made it to the finals of the FIFA World Cup tournament held last year in New Zealand, Brooks, who hails from New Hope, will play women’s soccer this fall at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a national power that’s won 20 national titles over the last three decades.
And Sabatura is a Lawrenceville resident and member of the FC Bucks Vipers team that qualified for the US Youth Soccer National Championships that took place last summer in Little Rock, Arkansas. Heidi is headed to Villanova in the fall where she hopes to play forward.
Until her death on May 18, Moran, was the executive director for the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association (EPYSA) and administrator for the Region 1 Olympic Development Program (ODP), a position she held for more than 20 years.
There was no mountain that couldn’t be moved by Moran. From her start as the Lower Southampton AA soccer league secretary, she attained the professional ranks in 2001. For the next three years, she acted as Director of Team Operations for the Charge, the Philadelphia affiliate for the now defunct Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA).
In November 2007, Moran finally met a foe she could not overcome – pancreatic cancer. On May 18, After an 18-month battle, Moran finally succumbed to the deadly disease.
The two girls were so moved by Moran’s death they stirred their cause to action, raising thousands of dollars collected through a recent youth soccer tournament held at Lower Makefield’s Macclesfield.
They called it Score for the Cure and 80-some girls, ages 8 to 13 played dozens of 3-on-3 soccer games held June 12 on nine different fields. Everyone pitched in including Yardley-Makefield Soccer (YMS) Director John Greaves and Coaches Mike DeMaio and Davey Simpson, who guide the Comets U17 girls premier team.
The support tents were erected alongside the fields and tables lined with merchandise set up underneath. The lines were drawn and the games began.
All of the members of the six-time NJ Prep A state champion Pennington School girls soccer team assisted with the officiating duties. Two members of the Red Raiders boys team helped out as well – Evan Bruccoleri and Billy Hawkey. Area soccer moms – from Pennington and YMS – worked the concessions.
When the dust settled, more than $8,000 was collected – funds headed for the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.
“All this money donated shows how great she was for soccer across Pennsylvania and across the East Coast,” stated Sabatura in a recent interview. “We had a great turnout. The girls loved it – each of them got medals. It was a great event all the way around.”
Over the years, Brooks, an ODP Region 1 player, became close to Moran, the Region 1 ODP director.
“She was like a second mom to her,” stated Sabatura.
Heidi says she was recruited by Brooks to work on the project as part of the student-athlete’s senior internship. The tournament was the culmination of three month’s work.
***
While the WUSA folded in 2003, that never stopped Moran from continuing her quest for women in the sport. Still a member of the NSCAA Women’s Committee, she was elected to the NSCAA Board of Directors in January 2008. Later that year, she received the Women’s Committee Award of Excellence, a tribute established a decade ago to recognize those who have brought honor and distinction to women's soccer.More recently, Moran was bestowed with the Youth Long-Term Service Award At this year’s NSCAA Convention in St. Louis. She was also given the Glenn Myernick Service to Soccer Award dedicated to Glenn "Mooch" Myernick, a Lawrence High graduate who spent a decade playing pro soccer in the North American Soccer League.
It was all done for love of the game, said Moran in a 2001 interview.
“We were a soccer family – that’s what we did all weekend and that’s how we spent our vacations and holidays. Giving something back for all the years of enjoyment is why I do it.”
On June 12 at Macclesfield, Brooks and Sabatura gave some of that love back to Charlotte Moran.
***
A soccer fund in memory of Ms. Moran has been established. Those wishing to contribute can do so by sending donations to EPYSA-Charlotte Moran Foundation; C/O EPYSA; 2 Village Road, Suite 3; Horsham, PA 19044.
Labels: Pennington
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home